Airport operators prepare NEMs using the integrated noise model (INM), a computer application designed to: (1) quantify current noise exposure; (2) look at abatement alternatives; and (3) forecast future noise exposures. For the purposes of the study, they create maps that represent baseline, or most recent conditions, and also maps that show five-year forecasted conditions. The future-anticipated contours help with long-term planning efforts. Here in the Atlanta area, the Department of Aviation (DOA) will produce contours for the years 2003 and 2008.

NCPs are menus of actions that the FAA, the DOA, and the communities that are near the airport can take to reduce aircraft noise exposure. What can an NCP consist of? Preferential flight tracks, preferential runway use, limiting the time and location of maintenance runups, the acoustical treatment or acquisition of edifices, special zoning, enhanced building codes, and disclosure requirements are all typical NCP elements. In fact, previous Atlanta area NCPs have contained very successful measures like Hartsfield-Jackson’s noise abatement departure tracks (NADTs); NADTs have been around for over thirty years and were an integral part of the 1985 NCP.

A Part 150 is an inherently collaborative process. The actual mix of NCP elements emerges only after an extensive scoping phase and after the airport conducts a public workshop and public hearing. To that end—to have the most successful Part 150 study possible—the actual process must be as transparent as possible.

It is our hope that this web-page will make that goal a reality.