How is airport noise in the local communities going to be considered in the EIS?
The purpose of the airport noise analysis in the communities of St. George and Washington City is to describe anticipated future conditions, with and without the proposed replacement airport, so that people can understand how noise is likely to change in the future. Airport noise will be analyzed using the FAA’s computer noise analysis model, known as the Integrated Noise Model (INM). The noise consultants will prepare data to enter into the model, including the number of takeoffs and landings by aircraft type, flight track locations, climb and descent profiles, runway use, local weather conditions, and topography. The analysis will consider existing conditions at the present airport and forecast future conditions at both the existing and the proposed future airport in 2010 and 2020. Noise contour maps will be prepared for each study year and each airport. In addition, noise levels will be computed at many points in neighborhoods outside the noise contours. For the 2010 and 2020 foreca
