Regulations Regarding Restrictions on the Operation of Aircraft at Aerodromes in Conformity with the Requirements of Environmental Protection

Issued pursuant to Section 24.¹
of the Law On Aviation

1. These Regulations prescribe restrictions on the operation of aircraft at aerodromes in conformity with the requirements of environmental protection.

2. These Regulations shall be applicable at aerodromes where more than 50 000 aircraft flights (taking-off or landing) per calendar year take place and apply to civil subsonic jet aeroplanes, maximum certified take-off mass of which is 34 000 kilograms or more or certified maximum internal outfit of which for the aeroplane type in question is designed for more than 19 passenger seats (hereinafter - civil subsonic jet aeroplanes).

3. The State agency "Civil Aviation Agency" (hereinafter - Civil Aviation Agency) shall be the competent authority in issues within the scope of application of these Regulations.

4. The impact of the noise created by civil subsonic jet aeroplanes at an aerodrome shall be assessed in accordance with the procedures and the requirements for the assessment of environmental noise specified in regulatory enactments.

5. A balanced approach - the operation of aeroplanes appropriate for the environment, planning, use and control of the territory adjacent to the aerodrome, as well as the introduction of special operating procedures and restrictions for aeroplanes - shall be implemented for achievement of the objective of these Regulations.

6. In planning the specification of operating restrictions for a particular aerodrome, the Civil Aviation Agency shall assess the potential financial effects, advantages and disadvantages of such restrictions, taking into account the specific peculiarities of the aerodrome.

7. Operating restrictions shall be a partial restriction of the operation of civil subsonic jet aeroplanes depending on the time period, as well as a prohibition to operate marginally compliant aeroplanes at the specific aerodrome.

8. Marginally compliant aeroplanes shall be civil subsonic jet aeroplanes that meet the certification limits laid down in Volume 1, Part II, Chapter 3 of Annex 16 to the Convention on International Civil Aviation by a cumulative margin of not more than five EPNdB (Effective Perceived Noise in Decibels), whereby the cumulative margin is the figure expressed in EPNdB (Effective Perceived Noise in Decibels) obtained by adding the differences obtained at each of the three reference noise measurements between the certificated noise level and the maximum permitted noise level.

9. Operating restrictions shall be determined, taking into account aircraft noise, which has been detected during the certification procedure if it has been conducted in accordance with Volume 1 of Annex 16 to the Convention on International Civil Aviation.

10. The Civil Aviation Agency shall apply operating restrictions, taking into account the factors referred to in the Annex to these Regulations.

10.¹ Paragraph 10 of these Regulations shall not be applicable in relation to partial operating restrictions which have been introduced after 1 April 2002 and do not significantly affect the costs of an aircraft operator at an aerodrome.

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11. In order to prevent the operation of marginally compliant aeroplanes at a specific aerodrome, the Civil Aviation Agency, after assessment of all the measures, may introduce additional operating restrictions in the following manner:

11.1. within six months from the completion of the assessment and taking of a decision regarding the introduction of an operating restriction the number of flights performed by marginally compliant aeroplanes shall not exceed the number of flights in the respective time period of the preceding year; or

11.2. after the expiry of six months from the introduction of the measures referred to in Sub-paragraph 11.1 of these Regulations, each aircraft operator may be requested to reduce the number of flights of marginally compliant aeroplanes at the specific aerodrome by at least 20% from the initial total number of such flights per year.

11.¹ Paragraph 11 of these Regulations shall not be applicable in relation to marginally compliant aeroplanes registered in developing states, except if:

11.¹ 1. the aeroplane has received a noise certificate according to the requirements of Volume 1, Part II, Chapter 3 of Annex 16 to the Convention on International Civil Aviation and it has been used at the relevant aerodrome between 1 January 1996 and 31 December 2001; and

11.¹ 2. in the time period referred to in Sub-paragraph 11.¹ 1 of these Regulations, the aeroplane was registered in the aircraft register of the developing state concerned and it continues to be operated by a natural or legal person registered in this state.

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12. The Civil Aviation Agency may allow to perform flights with a marginally compliant aeroplane if they are exceptional by nature and if flights are not performed while moving, repairing or operating the aeroplane for commercial purposes.

13. Paragraphs 10 and 11 of these Regulations shall be applied after consultation with the interested parties. The interested parties shall be the persons affected or likely to be affected, or having a legitimate interest in the introduction of noise reduction measures, including operating restrictions.

14. Upon the introduction of a new operating restriction the Civil Aviation Agency shall provide a public notice to the interested parties, which includes an explanation of the reasons for introducing it:

14.1. six months before the performance of the measures specified in Sub-paragraph 11.1 of these Regulations;

14.2. one year before the performance of the measures specified in Sub-paragraph 11.2 of these Regulations; or

14.3. if the measures specified in Paragraph 11 of these Regulations are introduced - two months before the flight intensity planning for the respective period.

15. The Civil Aviation Agency shall inform the European Commission and all competent authorities of the European Union Member States without delay regarding the introduction of operating restrictions at aerodromes of the Republic of Latvia.

16. Civil subsonic jet aeroplanes in the State joint stock company "International Airport "Riga"" shall observe the following procedure for the reduction of departure noise:

16.1. until reaching the height of 1500 feet above the ground an aeroplane shall fly with a speed which has been increased by 10-20 knots in relation to the takeoff safety speed (V₂), and the flaps thereof are in the take-off position; and

16.2. upon reaching the height of 1500 feet above the ground, the flaps shall be pulled in and the aeroplane shall continue to ascend.

17. These Regulations shall come into force on 1 January 2006.

18. Paragraph 11.¹ of these Regulations shall be in force until 31 March 2012.

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Informative Reference to European Union Directive

These Regulations contain legal norms arising from Directive 2002/30/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 March 2002 on the establishment of rules and procedures with regard to the introduction of noise-related operating restrictions at Community airports.

Prime Minister A. Kalvītis

Minister for Transport A. Šlesers

Annex
to Cabinet Regulation No. 1041
27 December 2005

Factors for Specification of Operating Restrictions

1. In performing a case study, the following shall be taken into account:

1.1. a description of the airport, including information regarding capacity, location, surroundings, air traffic volume, pavement and runway pavement thereof;

1.2. requirements for the environmental quality specified for the airport and the respective region;

1.3. details of the noise contours for the current and previous years and methods for the calculation thereof, as well as the number of people affected by aircraft noise; and

1.4. the measures performed for reduction of aircraft noise, planning and management of the use of land adjacent to the aerodrome, noise insulation programmes, including procedures for air navigation services, operating restrictions, including specified noise limits, evening and night flight restrictions, payment of noise fees, preferential procedures for runway use, special routes for the reduction of aircraft noise.

2. Measures for forecast of the situation:

2.1. drawing up of an airport development programme, including therein information regarding an increase of capacity and the benefit derived from the increase of the capacity, runway or terminal construction works, the type and number of planned flights and the anticipated increase of the number of flights;

2.2. a description of the effect on the noise level if subsequent measures for the reduction of the noise level are not performed, and a description of the efficiency of the referred to measures;

2.3. a forecast of the noise contour, indicating therein the number of persons affected by aircraft noise, as well as assessing individually the number of the persons already affected by aircraft noise and the number of persons to be affected by the noise in a newly constructed residential area; and

2.4. evaluation of the consequences and possible costs of not taking action to lessen the impact of the continually increasing noise - if it is expected to occur.

3. Assessment of the application of additional measures:

3.1. a list of all the alternative measures for the reduction of aircraft noise and justification of the selection, including therein complete information regarding the costs of introduction of the selected measures, the number of persons who will benefit from the introduction of the selected measures and an assessment of the overall efficiency of these measures in a specific time frame;

3.2. an overview of the possible effects of the measures on the interested parties in the field of environmental protection and competition; and

3.3. justification of the selected additional measures.

4. Noise exposure at an aerodrome shall be assessed in accordance with the procedures and requirements for assessment of environmental noise specified in regulatory enactments.

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Minister for Transport A. Šlesers

Translation © 2008 Tulkošanas un terminoloģijas centrs (Translation and Terminology Centre)