Noise Study

A Better Way To Go Akron Canton Airport

Part 150 Noise Study

Welcome. The "Part 150" Airport Noise Compatibility Planning Study Update for the Akron-Canton Airport (CAK) is underway. We strongly encourage all potentially interested parties to participate. As the study progresses, you will find updates here, so please bookmark this page and check it often.

The Akron-Canton Airport Authority and Airport Administration are committed to making CAK the best neighbor possible, including minimizing any environmental impact on the surrounding community. Noise from airport operations is clearly one of the most significant environmental issues for an airport to consider.

The most formal way that an airport can address noise issues is through the performance of a comprehensive noise study under the voluntary Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) "Part 150" program. The Part 150 program provides airports with access to related FAA funding, planning and implementation support. CAK has taken advantage of this opportunity twice before, in 1987-9 and 1995-7. Airport layout, aircraft operations and surrounding land uses have changed significantly over the past 15 years, and will continue to change in the future. Therefore, CAK is embarking on a third Part 150 study, to ensure that the noise compatibility program is up-to-date and sensitive to current and forecast conditions as feasible.

The Part 150 Update began in the fourth quarter of 2012 and is anticipated to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2014. The study will include a multi-element public consultation process, and will be conducted with input and guidance from a Part 150 Advisory Committee representing the full range of relevant "stakeholders."

The Part 150 Update is being conducted in parallel with an airport Master Plan Update, which is considering ways to meet the growing demand for traveler facilities with the highest level of service feasible, again under current and forecast conditions. That study is discussed in greater detail in the Master Plan Update section of the CAK website. Conducting the two studies in parallel ensures that the airport development and noise compatibility programs complement each other.

The Part 150 Update is being led by Harris Miller Miller & Hanson Inc. (HMMH), in association with R. W. Armstrong (RWA). The firms have extensive experience in planning for airport noise compatibility and physical planning, and for aviation development. RWA is leading the ongoing Airport Master Plan Update. HMMH led CAK's 1995-7 Part 150 Study.

Website Guide: What's here and where to find it

Please take a moment to explore the following information on the other sections of the CAK Part 150 website and feel free to contact us with you questions and/or comments.

Part 150 Basics: Describes the overall Part 150 regulation, study process and CAK-specific background.

Part 150 Update Study Documents: Presents background documentation. In addition, as elements of the Part 150 Update are completed, Working Papers or draft chapters will be posted for review and comment by any interested party.

Part 150 Public Outreach: This section presents an overview of the public outreach program. Upcoming elements, such as public meetings, will be announced here, with links to related background material. In addition, summaries of completed meetings and copies of presentations will be posted.

Part 150 FAQs: Please look here to find answers to frequently asked questions about the Part 150 Update Study and more.

Part 150 Contact: Please use this link to submit input, request information and sign up for email updates, or to be added to the newsletter mailing list.

Federal Aviation Regulation (FAR)

Federal Aviation Regulation (FAR) Part 150, titled "Airport Noise Compatibility Planning," defines standards for airport operators to use in documenting noise exposure in the airport environs and establishing programs to minimize noise-related land use incompatibilities.

Part 150 Overview

Part 150 sets forth a process for airport proprietors to follow in developing and obtaining FAA approval of programs to reduce or eliminate incompatibilities between aircraft noise and surrounding land uses. The regulation is formally codified under Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR Part 150). The Documents section of this website provides links to the regulation and related FAA guidance.

Part 150 prescribes specific standards and systems for:

  • Measuring noise
  • Estimating cumulative noise exposure
  • Describing noise exposure (including instantaneous, single event and cumulative levels)
  • Identifying non-compatible land uses
  • Coordinating Noise Compatibility Program development with airport users, the FAA, local land use officials and all other stakeholders or otherwise interested parties
  • Documenting the analytical process and development of the Noise Exposure Maps and Noise Compatibility Program
  • Submitting documentation to the FAA
  • Public consultation
  • FAA and public review processes
  • FAA approval or disapproval of the submission

A formal submission to the FAA under Part 150 includes documentation for two principal elements: (1) the Noise Exposure Map and (2) the Noise Compatibility Program, as summarized below.

Noise Exposure Map

The Noise Exposure Map documentation describes the airport layout and operation, aircraft-related noise exposure, land uses in the airport environs and the resulting noise/land use compatibility situation. The Noise Exposure Map documentation must address two time frames: (1) data representing the year of submission (the "existing conditions") and (2) a forecast year that is at least five years following the year of submission (the "forecast conditions").

Part 150 requires more than simple "maps" to provide all the necessary information in a Noise Exposure Map. In addition to the graphics, requirements include extensive tabulated information and text discussion. The Noise Exposure Map documentation must describe the data collection and analysis undertaken in its development.

The anticipated year of submission for this update is 2014, with an existing conditions "map" for that year and a five-year forecast case map for 2019.

Noise Compatibility Program

The Noise Compatibility Program is essentially a list of the actions the airport proprietor proposes to undertake to minimize existing and future noise/land use incompatibilities. The Noise Compatibility Program documentation must recount the development of the program, including a description of all measures considered, the reasons that individual measures were accepted or rejected, how measures will be implemented and funded and the predicted effectiveness of individual measures and the overall program.

Official FAA acceptance of the Part 150 submission and approval of the Noise Compatibility Program does not eliminate requirements for formal environmental assessment of any proposed actions pursuant to requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). However, acceptance of the submission is a prerequisite to application for funding of implementation actions.

Noise Study Documents

Noise Study Outreach


The Akron-Canton Airport Authority is committed to conducting the Part 150 Update study in a highly "transparent" fashion. As discussed in this section, the study includes a broad range of public outreach elements to provide opportunities for all interested parties to both follow the study and be directly involved. Please use the Contact section to sign up to receive emailed notices of those opportunities and to be added to the newsletter distribution list.

Public Outreach

The Part 150 regulation (see the link in the Documents section of this website) sets forth the following minimum “consultation” requirements:

150.21 (b) [for Noise Exposure Maps]: 

Each map, and related documentation submitted under this section must be developed and prepared … in consultation with states, and public agencies and planning agencies whose area, or any portion of whose area, of jurisdiction is within the Ldn 65 dB contour depicted on the map, FAA regional officials and other Federal officials having local responsibility for land uses depicted on the map. This consultation must include regular aeronautical users of the airport. The airport operator shall certify that it has afforded interested persons adequate opportunity to submit their views, data and comments concerning the correctness and adequacy of the draft noise exposure map and descriptions of forecast aircraft operations. Each map and revised map must be accompanied by documentation describing the consultation accomplished under this paragraph and the opportunities afforded the public to review and comment during the development of the map. One copy of all written comments received during consultation shall also be filed with the Regional Airports Division Manager.

150.23 (c) [for Noise Compatibility Programs]

Each noise compatibility program must be developed and prepared … in consultation with FAA regional officials, the officials of the state and of any public agencies and planning agencies whose area, or any portion or whose area, of jurisdiction within the Ldn 65 dB noise contours is depicted on the noise exposure map, and other Federal officials having local responsibility of land uses depicted on the map. Consultation with FAA regional officials shall include, to the extent practicable, informal agreement from FAA on proposed new or modified flight procedures. For air carrier airports, consultation must include any air carriers and, to the extent practicable, other aircraft operators using the airport. 


The CAK Part 150 Update will include the following primary public consultation elements that significantly exceed those minimum Part 150 requirements:
  • Advisory Committee meetings and Authority briefings
  • Material posted on the CAK website
  • Three workshops open to the general public — informational newsletters distributed prior to each workshop
  • A final public hearing (held as part of the third workshop)

CAK is establishing a Part 150 Advisory Committee to provide input and oversight.

This committee will be the central focus of the public outreach effort. The committee membership will include representatives from all relevant “stakeholder” groups, including:

  • Local land use control jurisdiction officials, from surrounding counties and municipalities
  • Citizen representatives, Airlines, general aviation, Ohio Air National Guard (OANG), and other major aircraft operators
  • Local business interests, including airport tenants and local chambers of commerce
  • FAA representatives, including planning staff from the Detroit Airports District Office (ADO), air traffic control staff from the CAK Tower, and other FAA offices as appropriate, CAK staff representatives
  • Consulting team representatives

The Advisory Committee members are responsible for representing their constituents throughout the study process, including commenting on the adequacy and accuracy of collected data, simplifying assumptions and technical analyses. The Advisory Committee also will serve as a forum for the varied interest groups to discuss complex issues and share their differing perspectives on aircraft noise issues. As they are scheduled, Advisory Committee meetings will be announced in this section of the website, which also will present summaries of prior meetings and copies of presentation materials.

Noise Study FAQs

This is the place to find answers to frequently asked questions about the Part 150 Update Study and related matters. We will add to this section to address questions of general interest that are posed to us as the study progresses.

All interested parties are encouraged to participate in the study, through the processes outlined in the Part 150 Public Outreach section of this website. Please use the Contact section to sign up to receive emailed notices of those opportunities and to be added to the newsletter distribution list.

The Akron-Canton Airport is managed and operated by a lean and efficient staff. Running the Airport is a full-time job, with the highest priority placed on providing a high level of Customer service. A Part 150 Update requires significant time and special expertise in many technical and regulatory areas. The Part 150 Update is being performed by a team of firms with nationally recognized capabilities and experience in these areas, to ensure the study is conducted in a comprehensive, cost- and time-efficient manner and with appropriate attention to technical and regulatory requirements to ensure the most productive outcome feasible.

The Akron-Canton Airport is owned and operated by the Akron-Canton Airport Authority. The Authority is a government agency formed by Summit and Stark Counties under Section 308 of the Ohio Revised Code. The Authority is governed by an eight member Board of Trustees. The members serve four year terms, they serve at the discretion of the appointing county and they can be reappointed indefinitely. Four of the eight trustees are appointed by the Summit County Executive (and approved by Council) and four are appointed by Stark County Commissioners.

The Part 150 Update study is being paid for with a combination of federal grant funds from the Airport Improvement Program (AIP), Passenger Facility Charges (PFCs) and surplus airport revenue. The AIP is a federal program funded by fees collected from the users of the National Airspace System. PFCs are a tax on each passenger boarding at CAK that may be applied to airport-specific projects and studies approved by the FAA. CAK and this project are not funded by general taxpayer dollars.

In simple terms, all interested parties are encouraged to participate in the study. Please use the Contact section to sign up to receive emailed notices of those opportunities and to be added to the newsletter distribution list.

Several groups have pre-defined roles and responsibilities, largely based on Part 150 regulatory requirements, as summarized below:

Akron-Canton Airport Authority:
As the airport operator, the Authority has overall responsibility for all Part 150 related actions at CAK, including ultimate responsibility for determining what elements will be included in the revised Noise Compatibility Program when it is submitted to the FAA for review. The Authority is responsible for pursuing implementation of adopted measures.

The Authority established a Part 150 Study Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) to ensure that the appropriate outside entities and groups are given official representation in the study process. The committee is the key element of a comprehensive public involvement program that the Authority conducted over the course of the update, as described in Section 1.2.3.

Part 150 Update Study Advisory Committee:
CAK is establishing a Part 150 Advisory Committee to provide input and oversight. This committee will be the central focus of the public outreach effort. The Advisory Committee will include representatives from a comprehensive spectrum of entities with interest in the Part 150 update process and its products, including government agencies with aviation and land use responsibilities, private sector interests (particularly in the aviation industry) and representatives of affected communities in the airport’s environs. Advisory Committee members will be responsible for representing their constituents throughout the study process, including commenting on the adequacy and accuracy of collected data, simplifying assumptions and technical analyses. The Advisory Committee also will serve as a forum for the varied interest groups to discuss complex issues and share their differing perspectives on aircraft noise issues.

Federal Aviation Administration:
FAA involvement includes participation by staff from several agency offices.

FAA
Air Traffic Control Tower: The FAA tower staff at CAK provide significant input in several areas, including: operational data from their files, judgment regarding safety and capacity effects of noise abatement measures and input on implementation requirements. The tower staff also may solicit input from other FAA air traffic control entities with which it coordinates regularly.

FAA Detroit
Airports District Office: The FAA’s Detroit “ADO” will review Noise Exposure Map and Noise Compatibility Program submissions for compliance with Part 150, notify the Authority of their determinations, evaluate Noise Compatibility Program proposals, prepare a formal Record of Approval for the Noise Compatibility Program, publish related notices in the Federal Register and provide opportunity for public comment.

Other FAA Offices and Divisions
: The ADO may solicit review and input on more complex technical, regulatory, legal or other matters from FAA’s Washington headquarters or from other FAA divisions on a local or regional level. The study documentation will clearly identify that involvement.

Consulting Team: The Authority has retained a team of consultants to conduct the technical work required to fulfill Part 150 analysis and documentation requirements and to assist in public outreach and consultation. The Part 150 Update is being led by Harris Miller Miller & Hanson Inc. (HMMH), in association with R. W. Armstrong (RWA). The firms have extensive experience in planning for airport noise compatibility and physical planning and for aviation development. RWA is leading the ongoing Airport Master Plan Update. HMMH led CAK’s 1995-7 Part 150 Study.

The Master Plan Update will provide a significant amount of data on airport layout, existing and future operations and surrounding land uses. The most significant Master Plan input to the Part 150 will be forecast-related data, assumptions and results.

The Part 150 Update began in the fourth quarter of 2012 and is anticipated to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2014. The project scope presented in the Documents section of this website presents an anticipated schedule. An updated schedule will be posted on this website as appropriate. Dates, times and locations of public involvement opportunities will be announced in the Part 150 Public Outreach section of this website.

Rather than set a fixed time interval between Part 150 Update studies, the regulation requires that updates be conducted when there is likely to have been a change in airport operations that would either: (1) increase the yearly Day-Night Average Sound Level (DNL) by 1.5 dB or greater in a land area which was formerly compatible but is thereby made noncompatible or in a land area which was previously determined to be noncompatible and whose noncompatibility is significantly increased, or (2) reduce noise by the same margin over existing noncompatible uses. In both cases, the land areas to be considered are those addressed by both the existing and forecast Noise Exposure Maps on file with the FAA. The Part 150 Update study will consider these requirements and set forth processes for monitoring and implementing them on an ongoing basis. However, it should be noted that due to greatly reduced noise emission levels of modern aircraft that operate at the airport today, and are anticipated to operate there in the future, it is likely that few – if any – incompatible land uses will be identified for either the existing or forecast conditions noise contours. As a result, it is expected that future Part 150 Updates are likely to be conducted at relatively lengthy intervals.

The Akron-Canton Airport Authority has conducted two previous Part 150 studies for CAK:

• 1988 Noise Exposure Map submission, with Noise Exposure Map contours and related documentation for Calendar Years 1988 and 1993.

• 1988 Noise Compatibility Program submission, with revised Noise Exposure Map contours and related documentation for Calendar Years 1988 and 1993, which reflected implementation of the proposed Noise Compatibility Program.

• 1997 Noise Exposure Map submission, with Noise Exposure Map contours and related documentation for Calendar Years 1994 and 1999, reflecting implementation of the existing Noise Compatibility Program.

• 1997 Noise Compatibility Program submission, with revised Noise Exposure Map contours and related documentation for Calendar Years 1994 and 1999, which reflected implementation of the revised Noise Compatibility Program.

The Documents section of this website provides copies of the FAA Records of Approval for the two previous CAK Part 150 studies.

Part 150 requires that Part 150 studies be based on computer-generated DNL estimates developed using the most current release of the FAA’s “Integrated Noise Model” (INM). The DNL must be depicted in terms of equal-exposure noise contours (much as topographic maps have contours of equal elevation). Part 150 requires that the 65, 70 and 75 dB DNL contours be modeled and depicted. Information on the noise model can be found via the following link to the FAA’s website: INM.

DNL also can be measured. However, measurements are practical only for obtaining DNL values for relatively limited numbers of points for relatively short time periods. The FAA does not permit adjustments of the noise modeling process using portable noise measurements.

Despite these limitations, as discussed in the CAK Part 150 Update scope of services (see the link in the Documents section of this website), this study will include a measurement program to: (1) provide a basis for assessing the reasonableness of modeled estimates, (2) illustrate the effect of existing operations and potential alternatives, (3) compare aircraft and non-aircraft noise levels and (4) address other issues of interest to the Authority and Advisory Committee.

Noise terminology, modeling, measurement and other analytical topics will be discussed in detail in Advisory Committee meetings, public workshops and study documentation. Related presentations and documents will be posted on this website as they are developed, to permit all interested parties to learn as the study progresses.

Part 150 Appendix A, Table 1 presents land use compatibility guidelines as a function of DNL values (see the link to the Part 150 regulation in the Documents section of this website). Those guidelines suggest that all land uses are compatible outside of 65 dB DNL. However, the table includes a footnote the states the following:

The designations contained in this table do not constitute a Federal determination that any use of land covered by the program is acceptable or unacceptable under Federal, State or local law. The responsibility for determining the acceptable and perishable land uses and the relationship between specific properties and specific noise contours rests with the local land use authorities. FAA determinations under Part 150 are not intended to substitute federally determined land uses for those determined to be appropriate by local authorities in response to locally determined needs and values in achieving noise compatible land uses.

In the two prior CAK Part 150 studies, the Airport Authority and local land use control jurisdictions adopted the Part 150 land use guidelines to serve as the local standards. This study will reassess this position.

Part 150 requires that airports describe noise exposure using a measure of cumulative noise exposure over an entire calendar year, in terms of a metric called the Day-Night Average Sound Level (DNL). In simple terms, DNL is the average decibel (dB) level over a 24-hour period, except that noises occurring at night (defined as 10:00 p.m. through 7:00 a.m.) are factored up by 10 dB, to reflect the added intrusiveness of nighttime noise.

Contact Us

Please use the following form to submit any inquires, to request that you receive emailed notices on the Part 150 Update study process, to be placed on the newsletter mailing list or to provide any study-related input.