TagFAA(484)

This July 2016 Federal Aviation Administration Letter of Agreement establishes coordination and control procedures between Seattle Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON) and Seattle Airport Traffic Control Tower, replacing a prior agreement from June 2013. It outlines responsibilities for managing air traffic, including pre-arranged coordination protocols, handling of Boeing Field arrivals and departures, and conditions under which those procedures may be suspended. The document governs how controllers at both facilities communicate and share airspace authority around the Seattle area.

Summary from Justia Petitioners challenged the FAA’s decision that no Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is necessary to commence operating commercial passenger service at Paine Field in Snohomish County. The court held that the scope of the FAA’s demand-based projections were not arbitrary and capricious. In this case, the FAA determined that there were no connected

FAA Order JO 7110.659C, effective February 29, 2016, updates air traffic control procedures for Wake Turbulence Recategorization (Recat), which changes how aircraft are grouped for safe separation purposes. Instead of the traditional three weight classes (heavy, large, and small), Recat introduces six categories based on wingspan, takeoff weight, and an aircraft's ability to withstand wake turbulence, allowing for more precise separation distances and improved airport efficiency. Facilities must obtain authorization, train personnel, and submit weekly wake encounter reports for the first eight weeks after implementing these new procedures.

This 2016 report by Palo Alto resident Mark Shull examines how the FAA's NextGen 'Optimization of Airspace and Procedures in the Metroplex' (OAPM) program, implemented between 2012 and 2015, led to dramatically increased aircraft noise over residential communities by redesigning flight paths to be lower, straighter, and more concentrated. The author argues that while the program was publicly marketed as improving efficiency, reducing fuel use, and lowering environmental impact, its primary purpose was increasing airport capacity by reducing separation between aircraft and simplifying flight corridors. The report traces the legislative, regulatory, and industry decisions that shaped the program, concluding that communities were left worse off and that genuine air traffic modernization will be harder to achieve going forward.

This FAA notice (effective August 2015) updates the rules for how air traffic controllers manage aircraft making simultaneous approaches to parallel runways. It introduces new diagonal radar separation distances between aircraft based on how far apart the runway centerlines are, ranging from 1 mile of separation for runways 2,500–3,600 feet apart to 2 miles for runways 4,301–9,000 feet apart. While focused on controller procedures rather than noise policy directly, these standards govern how closely aircraft can be spaced during parallel runway approaches, which is relevant to arrival patterns affecting communities near airports like Sea-Tac.

FAA Order 1050.1F, effective July 16, 2015, establishes the Federal Aviation Administration's policies and procedures for complying with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), covering actions such as grants, construction, rulemaking, and NextGen airspace improvements. The order outlines when environmental reviews, assessments, or full impact statements are required, and defines responsibilities for the FAA, applicants, and contractors. It is relevant to noise and environmental impact considerations at airports like Sea-Tac, as it governs how the FAA evaluates and documents the environmental effects of aviation-related actions.