=20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This article was sent to you by someone who found it on SF Gate. The original article can be found on SFGate.com here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=3D/chronicle/archive/2002/08= /07/BA29920.DTL ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Wednesday, August 7, 2002 (SF Chronicle) SFO now less noisy, airport officials say/Abatement standards met for first= time Michael McCabe, Chronicle Staff Writer After nearly two decades of insulating Peninsula homes to protect them from noisy airplanes, San Francisco International Airport officials said Tuesday they had finally achieved a certain standard of silence. SFO has filed reports with the state and San Mateo County declaring that they have met state standards for noise abatement for the first time since the standards were set in the 1970s, said Jon Long, noise abatement officer for SFO. "We are seeing far fewer complaints now about noise," Long said. "The average number of noise complaints has decreased from an average of 3,600 a month last year to about 1,400 a month in 2002." The Airport/Community Roundtable, a group of local officials from San Francisco and nine other cities that meets regularly with SFO on noise issues, said it was auditing the report to make sure the claims were accurate. If it holds up, SFO would be the first major airport in California to comply with the state's Title 21, which requires SFO to achieve a zero noise impact on surrounding communities. San Francisco International and other airports are required to keep noise in nearby communities to 65 decibels averaged over 24 hours, with heavier weight given to noise in the evening and late at night. Sixty-five decibels is about the noise level of a normal face-to-face conversation. "This in no way means the noise problem is solved," said David Carbone, coordinator of the Airport/Community Roundtable and a senior planner for San Mateo County. "The airport has pledged to continue to work on efforts to cut noise." SFO began its home insulation program in 1983 and has completed work in nearly 12,000 homes at an average cost of $15,000 per home. The cities of South San Francisco, San Bruno, Millbrae, Daly City and Pacifica and the county of San Mateo have participated and managed their own program with airport and Federal Aviation Administration money. Along with the insulation program, SFO is relying increasingly on new technology and quieter aircraft to contribute to the overall noise reduction in the northern Peninsula area, Long said. Shifting flight patterns and a noise abatement program called "Fly Quiet," which grades each airline's compliance with the airport's noise reduction procedures, have also helped. In addition, SFO has set up 32 noise monitors between Redwood City and S= an Francisco to monitor airplane noise around the clock. "SFO has been very aggressive over the years on this issue," Carbone sai= d. "But it is a combination of things. It's a joint effort by the local residents, the Roundtable and the airport to make sure the skies quiet down."=20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright 2002 SF Chronicle