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Environmental
Standards &
Recommended Practices
Environmental Principles for Minimising the Impact of
Aircraft Operations (including Noise)
the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth)
Document Number : AA-NOS-ENV-2.100
Approved By:
Prepared By:
Section 1-3: s47F
Section 1-3:
ursuant to
s47F
Section 4:
Environment Standards;
s47F
Directorate of Safety and
Environment Assurance
Section 4: s47F
Manager, Environment Services,
Approving Position:
Air Traffic Management.
Section 1-3:
Manager, Standards and
Environment Branch., Directorate of
Safety and Environment Assurance
Section 4: Manager, Environment
Services, Air Traffic Management.
Issue No: Issue 2
Issue Date: 29/5/2002
by Airservices Austral
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Note:
·
This document forms part of the "AA-NOS-ENV-2.000" series of documents that form the
Released Standard: Environment Assessment Process for ATM Changes
© Airservices Australia 2001.
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CONTENTS
CONTENTS ............................................................................................................................... 2
1.
PURPOSE......................................................................................................................... 3
2.
ENVIRONMENTAL OBJECTIVE ..................................................................................... 3
3.
ENVIRONMENTAL PRINCIPLES FOR MINIMISING IMPACT OF AIRCRAFT
EMISSIONS............................................................................................................................... 3
4.
ENVIRONMENTAL PRINCIPLES FOR MINIMISING IMPACT OF AIRCRAFT NOISE . 4
PART A:
FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES ........................................................................ ........... 4
Total Noise Dose .............................................................................................. . ............ 4
Spatial Distribution of the Noise Dose ................................................... ..... .................... 4
Upper and Lower Limits of Noise Exposure ..................................................................... 4
Timing / Historical issues .......................................................... ...................................... 5
PART B STRATEGY FOR WORKING THROUGH A HIERARCHICAL SET OF ENVIRONMENTAL
STANDARDS .......................................................................... .. ............................................... 6
Assessment Process ............................................ . ......................................................... 6
A.
JET AIRCRAFT ........................................ ............................................................... 6
the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth)
B.
NON-JET AIRCRAFT ENTERING/DEPARTING TERMINAL AREA....................... 7
C.
HELICOPTER OPERATIONS.................................................................................. 8
D.
FLIGHTS WITHIN TERMINAL AREA ...................................................................... 8
E.
AIRWORK AIRCRAFT ............................................................................................. 8
ursuant to
5.
AMENDMENT RECORD SHEET ................................................................................... 10
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1. Purpose
To establish the fundamental principles to be used as a basis for:
· Design and redesign of Airservices air traffic management practices that may affect
aircraft operations, including new air routes and selecting preferred noise abatement
procedures;
· ATM practices; and
· Environmental Assessments.
2. Environmental Objective
To ensure that:
· As far as is practicable, the environment is protected from the effects of the operation and
use of aircraft; and the effects associated with the operation and use of aircraft; and
· Appropriate formal assessment is implemented for all proposals with potentially
significant impacts in accordance with the Environment Protection and Biodiversity
Conservation Act
the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth)
3. Environmental Principles for Minimising Impact of
Aircraft Emissions
The environmental principles for minimising the impact of aircraft emissions are to, as far as is
practicable, facilitate:
ursuant to
· Use of optimal (fuel efficient) ascent regime
· Use of optimal (fuel efficient) cruising regime
· Use of optimal (fuel efficient) descent regime
· Use of the most direct route
· Minimal holding time
· Minimal taxi ng delays
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4. Environmental Principles for Minimising Impact of
Aircraft Noise
Part A: Fundamental Principles
The following fundamental principles are to be used in environmental assessments (of
proposals for new air routes and for changes to existing arrangements) and as the basis for
selecting preferred noise abatement procedures.
TOTAL NOISE DOSE
Principle 1:
Noise abatement procedures should be optimized to achieve the lowest possible
overall impact on the community
.
SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION OF THE NOISE DOSE
Principle 2:
Noise should be concentrated as much as possible over non-residential
areas.
Principle 3:
Noise exposure should be fairly shared whenever possible.
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Principle 4:
No suburb, group or individual can demand or expect to be exempt from
aircraft noise exposure
.
ursuant to
UPPER AND LOWER LIMITS OF NOISE EXPOSURE
Principle 5:
Noise is not considered significant when selecting noise preferred options if
exposure amounts to less than 40 Leq 24 and there are less than 50
overflights per day.
Principle 6:
No residential area should receive more than 60 Leq 24, i.e., no residential
area should receive more noise exposure than that which is considered
“unacceptable” for residential housing under Australian Standard AS2021.
Principle 7:
There should be a current agreed aircraft noise exposure level above which
no person should be exposed, and agreement that this level should be
progressively reduced. In the short term the goal should be a level of 105
dB(A) maxim
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dB(A).
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TIMING / HISTORICAL ISSUES
Principle 8:
When comparing options, operations that are conducted at night or on
weekends should be treated as being more sensitive than those which
occur during the daytime or on weekdays.
Principle 9:
Both short-term and long-term noise exposure should be taken into account
in deciding between options.
Principle 10:
Options which allow for a gradual change from the current to planned
procedures should be given preference.
Principle 11:
In deciding between mutually exclusive, but otherwise equivalent options,
involving
(i) the overflight of an area which has previously been exposed to aircraft
noise for a considerable period of time (and which a large proportion of
residents would therefore have been aware of the noise before moving in);
or
(ii) a newly exposed area,
option (i) should be chosen.
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ursuant to
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Part B Strategy for Working through a Hierarchical Set of
Environmental Standards
The following strategy for working through a hierarchical set of environmental standards shal
be followed so that the highest order standard is met 'as far as is practicable'.
To the extent that higher order principles have been satisfied and there remains a need to
decide on operational arrangements, the following operational standards and procedures are
to be considered. These are presented as a hierarchical set, the most preferred
environmental condition being presented first.
In all cases, aviation safety, including
system safety through simplified operating arrangements, will be given priority over
noise abatement considerations. However, assuming safety conditions have been
satisfied, the sole test for moving to a lower level standard is that the higher standard is “not
operationally practicable”. If lower rather than higher standards are chosen, then well
documented reasons for the decision are required. The noise standard chosen should be
achievable for at least 90% of movements.
ASSESSMENT PROCESS
Standards have been developed for five operational categories:
A.
Jet aircraft operations
B.
Propeller aircraft entering/departing terminal area
C.
Helicopter operations
the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth)
D.
Flights within terminal area
E.
Airwork activities
For each category, the highest practicable standard is to be selected.
ursuant to
A.
JET AIRCRAFT
1.
No overflight of residential areas
Standard departure and arrival procedures should be designed so that jet aircraft do not
overfly residential areas. Radar headings and procedural tracks (in any form) should be
assigned to ensure jets do not overfly residential areas.
If this cannot be achieved, then;
2.
No overflight of residential areas below 5,000 ft AGL.
by Airservices Austral
A height of 5,000 ft AGL is considered to be the minimum acceptable altitude for the
avoidance of significant noise impact on residential populations by jet aircraft. (For reference,
the noise at ground level from a climbing B747 at 5,000 ft is about 75 dB(A)s maximum).
In all instances standard departure and arrival procedures should be designed to ensure that
jet aircraft do not overfly residential areas at altitudes below 5,000 ft AGL. Radar headings
Released and procedural tracks (in any form) that are assigned to jet aircraft should whenever possible
ensure the aircraft do not overfly residential areas at altitudes below 5,000 ft AGL.
If this cannot be achieved, then;
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3.
Minimisation of incidence of jet aircraft flying below 5,000 ft AGL.
Where jet aircraft flight below 5,000 ft AGL is unavoidable, procedures are to be designed
with due consideration for the preferences of the affected community, as determined through
a process of consultation with community representatives, in determining which areas will
receive greater noise exposure where there are mutually exclusive options for the flight
tracks.
The occurrences where departing or arriving aircraft are required to maintain level flight, when
below 5,000 ft AGL, are to be kept to a minimum.
If this cannot be achieved, then;
4.
Minimisation of noise impact on residential areas by Jet Aircraft below 5,000 ft AGL.
In choosing climb and descent procedures into and out of airports, options that produce the
minimum impact on the community which is overflown are to be selected (within the
operational capabilities of the aircraft in terms of performance and safety).
B.
NON-JET AIRCRAFT ENTERING/DEPARTING TERMINAL AREA
1.
No overflight of residential areas
Standard departure and arrival procedures should be designed so that these aircraft do not
overfly residential areas. Radar headings and procedural tracks (in any form) should be
assigned to ensure they do not overfly residential areas.
If this cannot be achieved, then;
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2.
No overflight of residential areas below 3,000 ft AGL.
A height of 3,000 ft AGL is considered to be the minimum acceptable altitude for the
avoidance of significant noise impact on residential populations by non-jet aircraft with a
maximum take-off weight greater than 5700kg. (For reference, the noise at ground level from
ursuant to
a climbing SAAB-340 at 3,000 ft AGL is about 70 dB(A)s maximum). In the case of multi-
engine piston aircraft with a maximum take-off weight equal to or less than 5700kg a height of
1,500 ft AGL is to be considered the minimum acceptable altitude.
In all instances, standard departure and arrival procedures should be designed to ensure that
non-jet aircraft do not overfly residential areas at altitudes below 3,000 ft AGL (or 1,500 ft
AGL for multi-engine piston aircraft equal to or less than 5700kg). Radar headings and
procedural tracks (in any form) that are assigned to non-jet aircraft should whenever possible
ensure the aircraft do not overfly built up areas at altitudes below 3,000 ft AGL (or 1,500 ft
AGL for multi-engine piston aircraft equal to or less than 5700kg).
If this cannot be achieved, then;
3.
Minimisation of Incidence of Non-jet Aircraft flying below 3,000ft
AGL.
by Airservices Austral
Where aircraft flight below 3,000 ft AGL (or 1,500 ft AGL for multi-engine piston aircraft equal
to or less than 5700kg) is unavoidable, procedures are to be designed with due consideration
for the preferences of the affected community, as determined through a process of
consultation with community representatives, in determining which areas will receive greater
noise exposure where there are mutually exclusive options for the flight tracks.
Released The occurrences where departing or arriving aircraft are required to maintain level flight, when
below 3,000 ft AGL (or 1,500 ft AGL for multi-engine piston aircraft equal to or less than
5700kg), are to be kept to a minimum.
If this cannot be achieved, then;
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4.
Minimisation of Noise Impact on residential areas by Non-jet Aircraft below 3,000 ft AGL.
In choosing climb and descent procedures into and out of airports, those options that produce
the minimal impact on the community which is overflown are to be selected (within the
operational capabilities of the aircraft in terms of performance and safety).
C.
HELICOPTER OPERATIONS
The issue of helicopter operations is currently the subject of discussions between the
Department of Transport and Regional Services and Airservices Australia. The development
of environmental standards for helicopter operations will be considered following the
completion of discussions.
D.
FLIGHTS WITHIN TERMINAL AREA
Circuit Training
1.
Minimum height for level flight over residential areas.
A minimum circuit height of 1,000ft AGL is to apply for aircraft involved in circuit training.
2.
Limit the number of circuits and the number of aircraft permitted to overfly identified
areas.
In conjunction with operators, operations are to be designed to spread noise over different
the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth)
areas where practical options are available.
3.
Limit the hours that circuit training is permitted.
At locations where a noise problem exists circuit training may be limited. During week days, it
is proposed that circuit training be limited to 7:00 am - 8:00 pm except for 1 night per week
ursuant to
where circuits to may be conducted to 10:00 pm. At weekends and on declared public
holidays these operations would be contained within the period 9:00 am - 8:00 pm.
Consideration may need to be given to extending the times beyond those proposed to
account for daylight saving periods.
The actual times for circuit operations should be determined through consultation with
community representatives, industry representatives and airport operators.
E.
AIRWORK AIRCRAFT
1.
Built-up Areas
by Airservices Austral
Operators are to avoid residential areas
.
If this cannot be achieved, then;
2.
Sensitive Areas
Released Operators are to avoid areas identified as particularly sensitive (with advice from
representative community groups).
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3.
Minimum Limits
If it is not practicable to avoid operations over residential areas, operators are to conduct their
operations above 3,000ft AGL for propeller driven aircraft or helicopters and above 5,000ft
AGL for jet aircraft.
4.
Practice Instrument Approaches
Aircraft engaged in practice instrument approach training are permitted, irrespective of the
runway, provided there are no more than 4 approaches per hour between 7:00 am - 8:00 pm
on weekdays and between 9:00am - 8:00pm on weekends and on declared public holidays.
The actual number of approaches per hour should be determined through consultation with
community representatives, industry representatives and airport operators.
5.
Community Input
If heights below 3,000 ft AGL (propeller aircraft and helicopters) and 5,000 ft AGL (jet aircraft)
are required for airwork on a continuing basis, the number of operations per week permitted is
to be the subject of agreement with community representatives.
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5. Amendment Record Sheet
The control copy of this document is located on
http://fmamwww/osgdoco/search.phtml?format=verbose¤t=on&underreview=on&cance
lled=on&field1=docnum&value1=AA-NOS-ENV-2.100
A record of changes to this document is recorded below.
Amendment
Section Amended
Amended by
Date
Issue 1
Section 1-3 New
DSEA/ Env. Services
8/6/02001
Section 4 Editorial
(First issued by Env
Services 19/9/97)
Issue 2
Front Cover:
DSEA
29/05/2002
Document Number,
Directorate Title
the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth)
ursuant to
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