To the Mayors of the Cities and Towns of
Atherton, Belmont, Brisbane, Burlingame,
Colma, Daily City, East Palo Alto, Foster City,
Half Moon Bay, Hillsborough, Menlo Park,
Millbrae, Pacifica, Portola Valley, Redwood City,
San Bruno, San Carlos, San Mateo, and
South San Francisco, and the President of the
Board of Supervisors of the County of San Mateo

Mesdames and Sirs:

We, the undersigned, are residents of the cities and counties that approved the San Francisco International Airport Master Plan, including the Final Mitigation Plan ("FMP") dated November 3, 1992. We are increasingly concerned about the high level of aviation noise over the Peninsula generated by Airport operations, and the failure of the Airport to take any significant action reduce this noise despite our numerous complaints and attempts to work through the Airport/Community Roundtable.

Pursuant to the FMP, the Airport agreed to perfrom a number of the aviation noise mitigation measures as part of the Master Plan. It is our underatanding that the Airport has not fully performed the noise mitigation measures described below. We hereby request that our respective cities and counties require the Airport to implement these noise mitigation measures immediately and provide a report by January 15, 1998, confirming the completion of each measure, and describing the means by which that performance may be verified by representatives of the cities and counties.

The following are the mitigatin measures we understand are incomplete (items are referenced by the corresponding paragraph number in the FMP, a copy of which is attached):

B.1.e. Expanded Use of PASSUR Tracking System

The Airport's PASSUR system is still unable to provide "sufficient flight identification information to facilitate follow-up and correction of overflight problems." As a result, no progress can be made toward identifying and correcting single event noise and flight path violations, as is possible at other airports, such as Oakland International Airport.

B.1.f. Tracking Late Night Air Carrier Operations

The Airport has never reported late night noise levels and, therefore, there is no evidence that the Airport is performing any tracking of late night noise levels. This information is needed to implement efforts to abate such noise.

B.2.e. Regional Study of Air Traffic Control

The Airport has not performed the required "Regional Study of air traffic control requirements, contraints, and opportunities, with the goal of minimizing noise impacts." Performance of this item includes "identifying the flight patterns and routes region-wide that are most environmentally desireable, determining how to establish and coordinate use of the routes while maintaining aircraft safety, and working with area airports, the FAA, and pilots to implement any changes to flight patterns or procedures." We expect that a good faith performance of such a study and implemntation of the resulting recommendations would have a significant mitigating effect on aviation noise related to Airport operations. The Airport's failure to perform the study and implement results is prolonging the damaging effect of Airport noise on surrounding communities.

B.2.g. Additional Nighttime Restrictions on Stage 3 Aircraft

No restriction of the nighttime operations of Stage 3 aircraft have been developed or implemented. In fact, late night operations at the Airport are increasing, as is the size and noise generated by aircraft using the Airport at night.

B.2.h. Runway 1R Noise Barrier

The Airport has not made any noise improvement to the barrier for Runway 1R.

B.2.l. Additional Noise Monitors

The Airport has not installed any additional noise monitors, despite repeated requests of various cities and citizens' groups. This thwarts efforts to obtain accurate records to use in noise abatement efforts.

B.2.m. LDA/DME Noise Abatement Approach Procedures

Although the LDA/DME was at one time funded, installed at the Airport, and found to meet FAA standards, we understand that the Airport later removed the equipment and has never replaced it. As a result, the surrounding communities have been denied the noise abatement benefit of the LDA/DME procedures.

B.3.b. Revise the Quiet Bridge Approach

The Airport has not effectively encouraged the FAA to amend this approach to allow use of the quieter flight path to Runway 28L when Runway 28R is closed. As a result, the surrounding communities have been denied the noise abatement benefit of this measure.

We hereby request that our elected representatives enforce the provisions of the Master Plan against the Airport and require it to fully perform the mitigation measures to which it agreed. Given the serious impact of aviation noise on the Peninsula communties, we must believe that the cities and counties that agreed to the Master Plan did so in part because it included specific aviation noise mitigation measures. We are sure that our elected representatives at that time believed that the Airport would honor its commitments and follow through on all of its obligations under the Master Plan. The fact that the Airport has not done so is distressing, but what is even more distressing is the prospect of the Airport approaching the Peninsula communities in the near future for approval of plans for further Airport expansion, with the Airport offering in exchange only the smae type of promises of action and assistance that have not ebeen fulfilled from the 1992 Master Plan.

As you may know, CEQA requires public agencies to adopt a monitoring program to ensure compliance with mitigation measures during a project's implementation. In addition, the agencies must ensure that mitigation measures are fully enforceable through permit conditions, agreements or other measures. (Cal Pub. Res. Code section 21081.6). We are asking our cities and counties to enforce the noise mitigation measures to fulfill the cities' and counties' legal obligations to their residents. Please forward to the appropriate resident signatory at the address below a copy of the Airport's report as soon as you receive it so that we may confirm completion of the Airport's obligations.