Resources

Meeting locations and start times will vary based on meeting room and member availability. So, please click on the “Meetings” link to see the upcoming meeting locations and dates.

A list of the Roundtable members and the jurisdiction they represent can be accessed by clicking on this link.

Roundtable Membership

FAA Noise Portal:

Because the FAA is no longer accepting noise complaints at its 9-awp-noise@faa.gov web address, please use the following link to the FAA’s noise portal for noise complaints, as well as for comments and concerns: https://noise.faa.gov/noise/pages/noise.html (for those aircraft operations not associated with a particular airport)

Click here to file a noise complaint with San Francisco International Airport.

Click here to file a noise complaint with San Jose International Airport. 

Click here to file a noise complaint with Oakland International Airport.

FAA Community Involvement:

To learn more about aircraft noise in this region and how to submit a noise complaint or inquiry, please visit the  Western-Pacific Region Aircraft Noise and Community Involvement Information website:

https://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/arc/western_pacific/noise_complaint/

The National Airspace System is very complex. Moving one flight track often effects many others. The FAA has a policy of not shifting noise from one community to another without the participation of all the affected communities. The SCSC Roundtable provides a forum in which these types of flight track changes can be discussed and shared with the FAA.

Due to federal and international noise standards, newly manufactured aircraft must meet increasingly stringent noise limits, which for large air carrier aircraft are currently Stage 5 in the United States and Chapter 14 internationally. Therefore, the aircraft fleet as a whole is becoming quieter. However, the regulations permit larger aircraft that carry more passengers to generate higher noise levels than their smaller counterparts.

Airlines have been “upgauging” their aircraft to carry more passengers on a single flight. Upgauging involves replacing a smaller aircraft with a larger aircraft of the small type. Twin-engine widebody aircraft (e.g., B-787 B-777, and A-350) have been increasing in airline fleets as their larger, less fuel efficient counterparts (e.g., A-380 and B-747) are replaced.

You are welcome to attend the SCSC Roundtable meetings and signup to provide comments during the public comment period. You can also send the Roundtable an email at scscroundtable@gmail.com.

The Roundtable represents a broad geographic area with differing viewpoints on solutions to aircraft noise concerns. The Roundtable will receive input from a broad range of viewpoints including the FAA, airport operators, aircraft operators, and concerned residents and then will strive to make decisions that provide the greatest benefits in terms minimizing aircraft noise without compromising safety and efficiency.

The aircraft operators (airlines, air cargo operators, commuters, and general aviation) determine how many flights are needed, which aircraft will be used, and when flights are scheduled. For commercial passenger service, airlines schedule flights and aircraft to meet passenger demand for air service.

Restrictions that were in place prior to November 1, 1990 were grandfathered under the Airport Noise and Capacity Act (ANCA). Only one airport, Naples Airport in Florida, has been successful in enacting a post-ANCA restriction. Many other airports have tried to enact restrictions, some spending millions of dollars, but all have failed.

In 1990, Congress passed the Airport Noise and Capacity Act (ANCA), which severely limits an airport proprietor’s ability to enact restrictions on aircraft operations including nighttime curfews.

Congress gave the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) the sole authority over the safe and efficient use of the National Airspace System in the United States.

The Roundtable has no authority over the FAA to force it to implement flight procedure changes. The FAA has the sole authority over the safe and efficient use of the National Airspace System in the United States. The FAA decides if, how, and when flight procedures are implemented. However, by providing a public forum for discussion and collaboration on flight procedure changes, the Roundtable holds the FAA publicly accountable for its actions or inactions. The FAA is accountable to the United States Congress and several congressional staff members actively participate in the Roundtable’s meetings.

The FAA is solely responsible for returning the SERFR STAR to the BSR ground track also known as the BSR Overlay. The FAA periodically updates the public and Roundtable members at Roundtable meetings, but it has not provided a schedule for when the BSR Overlay process will be complete. During its most recent briefing at the July 22, 2020 SCSC Roundtable meeting, the FAA indicated that it had completed its design of the BSR Overlay and started the environmental review process. The FAA also indicated that it would be conducting an extensive public outreach process during the preparation of its environmental documentation. The FAA’s July 22, 2020 update on its BSR Overlay process can be viewed by clicking on this link and going to video timestamp 00:14:00.