Toronto Port Authority launch Toronto City Centre Airport Community Noise Management Study Advisory Group

On Wednesday, February 18, 2009, the second Toronto Port Authority meeting was held with a community-oriented panel to participate in the ongoing Noise Management Study at the Toronto City Centre Airport.

The Community Noise Management Study Advisory Group will be providing feedback on the data collected during an ambitious noise-monitoring study that began last fall and continues on throughout the first half of 2009.

The majority of members on the Noise Advisory Group are community representatives and City Councillors from the areas adjacent to the Toronto City Centre Airport.

Working closely with airport staff and engineers from Jacobs Consultancy, who are experts in aviation-noise mitigation programs, the advisory group will function as a mechanism through which the TPA obtains community input into the Noise Management Study, with a view to assisting the TPA in identifying community issues; and provide feedback to the TPA on certain aspects of the study development in advance of the final community meeting and issuance of the draft study report.

In the coming weeks, a third community consultation meeting will be scheduled to report on the results of noise monitoring data collection, assess various strategies to reduce ambient noise at the TCCA, answer questions and solicit feedback.

In addition to the Noise Management Study, the February 18, 2009, meeting dealt with two ongoing issues that have been at the forefront of community concerns for some time:

• The noise certification data for Porter Airlines’ Dash 8-Q402 confirming that it is in compliance with the Tripartite Agreement; and
• The curfew period restricting aircraft operations at certain times.

On the issue of the Dash 8-402, Jacobs Consultancy reported that the aircraft’s noise data published by the International Civil Aviation Organization was within the acceptable range of noise levels and below the excessive-noise criteria contained in the Tripartite Agreement.

On the curfew issue, the TCCA’s management reported it is in the process of drafting a new curfew policy for private and commercial aircraft. A draft of the new curfew policy will be presented to the TPA’s Board of Directors in the coming weeks. The TPA is looking forward to sharing this new curfew policy with members of the community soon afterward.

A link to the presentation by Jacobs Consultancy outlines the progress and data collected to date:

Click here to download the Jocobs Consultancy presentation in pdf format

We encourage feedback on the study principles or any other issue of concern. You may contact us by email at TCCA_CF@torontoport.com