13

CHAPTER
NOISE

MANAGEMENT

13

Noise
Management

13.1

NOISE MANAGEMENT
Chapter 13

1 3 . 1 I NT RO DUC T IO N
While the GTAA maintains and
promotes Toronto Pearson International Airport as an economic
asset for the Greater Toronto Area
(GTA), it remains sensitive to the
issue of aircraft noise and its
effects on surrounding communities. Since assuming management
of Toronto Pearson, the GTAA has
taken a leadership role in the
management and mitigation of
aircraft noise for aircraft operating
to and from Toronto Pearson
within an 18.5 km (10 nautical
mile) radius of the Airport, in
accordance with its Ground Lease
with the federal government.
The GTAA uses a number of
strategies to manage aircraft noise
at Toronto Pearson. These include
programs to operate Toronto
Pearson in a manner that minimizes aircraft noise impacts and
promotes compatible land use in
the vicinity of the Airport. In addition, the GTAA has worked with
other organizations to advocate
and promote a reduction in aircraft noise levels at the source
through the development of quieter engines and airframes, and by
adopting policies to restrict the
operation of older, noisier aircraft.

Chapter 13 > N O I S E M A N A G E M E N T

These efforts are balanced with

the objective of ensuring sustainable use of the Airport to support
economic development in
the GTA.

1 3 .2 COMMUNIT Y
CO NSULTATION
The GTAA is committed to working with communities on aircraft
noise issues through a number of
initiatives including the
Community Environment and
Noise Advisory Committee
(CENAC) and other public consultation forums.

13.2.1 Community Environment

and Noise Advisory Committee
In keeping with the GTAAs sensitivity to the noise impact of airport
operations on the surrounding
communities, and in compliance
with the Ground Lease with the
federal government, the GTAA
established the Noise Management Committee in 1996.
Recently, the Committees
role has evolved to also
encompass other important
environmental impacts of
airport operations that are
of concern to the GTAA
and local communities,
such as air quality and

greenhouse gas emissions. In 2007,

the name of the Committee was
changed to the Community
Environment and Noise Advisory
Committee.
This committee provides a forum
where community stakeholders
can meet with GTAA management and other aviation industry
representatives to discuss issues
relating to the mitigation of aircraft noise in the surrounding
communities and the operation of
Toronto Pearson in an environmentally responsible manner. The
Community Environment and
Noise Advisory Committee acts in
an advisory capacity to the GTAA,
and is an important mechanism
for collecting community input
that helps to continually improve
the GTAAs Noise Management
Program.

13.2

Chapter 3 Aircraft

The membership consists of resident and elected representatives

from the surrounding cities. The
Committee is supported by technical members from the GTAA,
Transport Canada, Nav Canada,
and the airline industry.
CENAC meetings are held on a
regular basis and are open to the
public.

13.2.2 Other Public Consultation

Forums
In addition to the regularly scheduled CENAC meetings, the
GTAA hosts public workshops
and public forums. These sessions
provide an opportunity for an
exchange of information between
the GTAA and residents regarding
airport operations, environmental
and aircraft noise impacts as they
relate to the Noise Management
Program. Interested community
members are able to learn more
about airport operations, and the
GTAA gains valuable feedback
from residents impacted by
those operations.

1 3 . 3 A I R C RAF T NO ISE
C E RT I F I CAT IO N
The International Civil Aviation
Organization (ICAO) has defined

Chapter 13 > N O I S E M A N A G E M E N T

a series of aircraft noise level categories. Since the early 1970s,

increasingly more stringent noise
categories have been introduced
by ICAO with which aircraft and
aircraft engine manufacturers have
had to comply. The evolution of
these categories is described in the
following sections. Technical
descriptions of the noise category
requirements can be found in
ICAO Annex 16 (Environmental
Protection), Volume 1 (Aircraft
Noise), Fourth Edition, July 2005.

13.3.1 Non-Noise Certificated

and Chapter 2 Aircraft
The initial category of noise certificated aircraft was adopted by
ICAO in 1971, and is known as
Chapter 2. All Chapter 2 aircraft
types were certificated before
October 6, 1977, such as the
Boeing 727, McDonnell Douglas
DC9 and older Boeing 737 aircraft. Aircraft that could not meet
the Chapter 2 noise standards are
known as non-noise certificated,
including the Boeing 707.

13.3.2 Chapter 3 Aircraft

All new aircraft types certificated
on or after October 6, 1977, were
required to meet the next category of noise standards, known as
Chapter 3. These include the
Airbus 300, McDonnell Douglas
DC10 and MD80, Lockheed
L1011 and Boeing 757, 767, and
newer 737 aircraft.

13.3.3 Chapter 2 Phase-out

A 1990 ICAO resolution called
for member countries to phase out
non-noise certificated and Chapter 2 aircraft by the year 2002. In
compliance with the ICAO recommendation, a Transport
Canada Air Navigation Order
required airlines to phase out nonnoise certificated and Chapter 2
jet aircraft with a maximum takeoff weight greater than 34,000 kg
by April 1, 2002. Transport
Canada has issued exemptions to
a very limited number of northern
Ontario operators of Chapter 2
jets for aircraft maintenance
requirements at Toronto Pearson.
Airlines met the Chapter 2 phaseout requirements by replacing
non-compliant aircraft with
Chapter 3 aircraft and by modifying Chapter 2 aircraft to meet
Chapter 3 standards, by means
such as the installation of hushkits
on the aircraft engines or the
replacement of the engines with
quieter models.
Together with its community
stakeholders, the GTAA actively
advocated for the federal Chapter
2 phase-out initiative through the
Toronto Pearson Noise Management Committee, now CENAC.
The percentage of jet aircraft
operations at Toronto Pearson that
meet Chapter 3 requirements has
increased significantly over recent
years, from 64 per cent in 1996,
when the GTAA took over responsibility for the operation and
development of Toronto Pearson,
to virtually 100 per cent in 2006,

13.3
F I G U R E 13 -1

% Chapter 3

Percentage of Chapter 3 Jet Operations at Toronto Pearson

100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

as illustrated in Figure 13-1. The

very few non-certificated and
Chapter 2 operations that remain
at the Airport (less than half of one
per cent in 2006) are associated
with small jets under the weight
classification applicable to the
Chapter 2 phase-out order and
military operations.
Hushkitted aircraft, which tend to
be noisier than aircraft of a similar
size that were designed to meet
Chapter 3 standards, accounted
for as much as 15 per cent of jet
operations at Toronto Pearson in
2001, but have since decreased to
approximately two per cent of jet
operations in 2006.

13.3.4 Chapter 4 Aircraft

In 2001, ICAO adopted the latest
and most stringent category of
noise standards to date, known as
Chapter 4. All new aircraft types
certificated on or after January 1,
2006, including the new Airbus
A380 and Boeing 787 aircraft, are
required to comply with the new
Chapter 4 standards. In addition,
some of the quieter Chapter 3 aircraft in operation prior to 2006,
including the Airbus A320, A330
and A340, Boeing 777 and new

Chapter 13 > N O I S E M A N A G E M E N T

models of the Boeing 737 and 747

aircraft, meet the tougher Chapter 4 standards. Due to the frequent use of these quieter aircraft
types at Toronto Pearson, approximately 80 per cent of the Airports
jet aircraft operations in 2006 met
the more stringent Chapter 4 standards. ICAO has not issued, nor
expressed an intention to issue, a
resolution calling upon member
countries to phase out Chapter 3
aircraft as they previously had with
Chapter 2 aircraft.

1 3 .4 NOISE MANAGEMENT
P R OGRAM
The GTAA has developed and
maintains a comprehensive Noise
Management Program. The program consists of a number of sitespecific operational initiatives
introduced to minimize the impact
of aircraft noise on the surrounding communities. The primary elements of the Noise Management
Program are described in the
following sections.

13.4.1 Night Flight Restrictions

A night flight restriction program
has been implemented at Toronto
Pearson to minimize aircraft noise

during the most sensitive nighttime period. Toronto Pearson has

the most restrictive night flight
restriction program in Canada.
Through an arrangement with
Transport Canada, limits have
been placed on the total number
of annual flights that may occur
during the restricted hours from
12:30 a.m. to 6:30 a.m. to ensure
that the number of flights during
this restricted time remains
proportional to overall traffic levels. The GTAA carefully manages
nighttime flights to ensure that
the annual limit is not exceeded.
Toronto Pearson is the only airport in Canada that has an annual
nighttime operations budget.
Restrictions on the hours of operation are shown in Table 13-1.
Restrictions are more stringent for
noisier categories of aircraft.
Operating extensions may be
granted within the restricted hours
on the day of operation for flights
delayed by weather, emergencies,
air traffic control issues, or
mechanical difficulties, but only
for Chapter 3 or 4 aircraft. In
addition, a limited number of
exemptions for Chapter 3 or 4
operations may be approved in
advance, depending on the ability
of the GTAA to remain within the
annual nighttime budget.

13.4

TABLE 13-1 RESTRICTED HOURS OF OPERATION

Non-Noise Certicated
Chapter 2
Chapter 3*

8 p.m. 8 a.m.
12 a.m. 7 a.m.
12:30 a.m. 6:30 a.m.

*Chapter 3 restricted hours also apply to Chapter 4 aircraft

Previously, the restricted hours

of operation only applied to jet
aircraft weighing more than
34,000 kg (74,970 lbs). As a
result, the GTAA was not able to
limit the number of operations of
smaller jet or propeller aircraft
during the restricted hours, many
of which were noisy and created
significant community impacts.
This problem was rectified in 2004
when, with the support of community stakeholders and the Noise
Management Committee, the
GTAA was successful in amending
Toronto Pearsons night flight
restrictions to include all aircraft,
regardless of weight or engine type.
The GTAA continually monitors
adherence to the annual nighttime
budget of restricted hour movements, and approves operating
extensions subject to the Airports
ability to remain within the
budget.

13.4.2 Preferential Runway

Utilization
The GTAA uses a preferential
runway system to minimize the
impact of aircraft noise at night,
when the surrounding residential
communities are most sensitive to
noise. In effect from midnight to
6:30 a.m., the system utilizes
approved flight paths that impact
the fewest people.

Chapter 13 > N O I S E M A N A G E M E N T

The preferred runways, in order of

priority, are Runways 23, 33R,
and 24R for departures, and
Runways 05, 15L, and 06L for
arrivals. Non-preferential runway
use during these hours is limited
as much as possible, but may be
necessary due to weather, airfield
maintenance, or other operational
circumstances.

13.4.3 Noise Abatement

Procedures
Noise abatement procedures have
been developed at Toronto Pearson
for both arrivals and departures to
reduce the impact of aircraft noise.
Arrival procedures include altitude
restrictions prior to lining up with
the runway, and the requirement
for aircraft to maintain a threedegree angle of descent on final
approach to the runway and to
minimize the use of reverse thrust
as a means to slow the aircraft
after touchdown. Departure procedures include restrictions on
power settings, specified flight
paths, minimum turning altitudes,
and speed restrictions.
Noise abatement procedures apply
to jet aircraft at all times, and to
propeller aircraft between 11 p.m.
and 7 a.m. Unless safety is in
question, pilots are required to follow the GTAA noise abatement
procedures.

The Preferential Runway Utilization and Noise Abatement Procedures elements of the Noise
Management Program have been
designed to minimize aircraft
noise impacts on the surrounding
communities, but these procedures also result in increased aircraft fuel burn and emissions. It is
anticipated that potential tradeoffs
between noise and emissions will
be of significant interest in the
future as community concerns
regarding air quality and greenhouse gas emissions continue
to rise.

13.4.4 Engine Run-Ups

Occasionally, airline maintenance
staff must perform engine run-ups
after engine repairs have been
completed. At all times, these runups must be approved by the
GTAA in advance and conducted
at designated times and locations
to minimize their impact on the
surrounding communities.
Between midnight and 7 a.m.,
engine run-ups are approved only
for aircraft scheduled to depart
that morning. Additionally, engine
run-ups are prohibited for all
Chapter 2 aircraft between
midnight and 5 a.m.

13.5

Aircraft Noise Monitoring Terminal

13.4.5 Noise Complaints and

Enforcement
The GTAA Noise Management
Office monitors compliance
with the Airports Noise Management Program. Staff use the
Airport Noise Monitoring and
Flight Tracking System which correlates aircraft radar data from
Nav Canada with noise readings
collected from a system of
22 noise monitoring terminals in
the surrounding communities.
The locations of the noise monitoring terminals are shown in
Figure 13-2.
In addition, GTAA staff register,
investigate, and respond to aircraft
noise complaints received from
the public. A total of 1,920 noise
complaints were logged by the
Noise Management Office in
2006, down from a high of
approximately 7,700 in 1998.
The GTAA Noise Management
Office undertakes investigations of
potential violations of the GTAA

Chapter 13 > N O I S E M A N A G E M E N T

Noise Management Program,

which may arise from registered
complaints or ongoing monitoring
carried out by the GTAA. If an
investigation indicates that a violation has occurred, the details of
the case are provided to Transport
Canada for further action, as only
the federal government has the
authority to impose financial
penalties on aircraft operators. The
GTAA and the Noise Management Committee worked proactively to encourage Transport
Canada to publicly identify airlines
and pilots fined as a result of a
violation of the noise abatement
procedures so that the public can
make informed choices.
The primary goal of the enforcement function is to promote
adherence to the GTAA Noise
Management Program through
effective communication and
education with the aviation
community.

1 3 .5 REGUL ATION OF
L A ND USE

process in an advisory role, as

land use is a municipal and
provincial jurisdiction.

13.5.1 Noise Quantification

Transport Canadas Noise Exposure Forecast (NEF) model is the
official methodology used in
Canada to quantify noise exposure in the vicinity of airports for
land use planning purposes. The
resulting NEF value represents a
cumulative noise index which
quantifies long-term aircraft noise
exposure over a busy summer day
when both aircraft noise levels
and community sensitivity to
noise tend to be maximal.
In addition to the number of
arrivals and departures at the
Airport, the NEF model also takes
into consideration the mix of aircraft types used by the operators,
the distribution of the arrivals and
departures across the various runways and the site specific arrival
and departure procedures. To

An important way to minimize

the impact of aircraft noise is
through proper land use planning
in the vicinity of the Airport.
The GTAA participates in the
land use planning process on a
local level through the review of
Official Plans and development
applications. The GTAA also
liaises with the provincial and
federal governments on matters
related to land use policy. The
GTAA can only participate in this

Monitoring Aircraft Noise Readings

13.6

Chapter 13 > N O I S E M A N A G E M E N T

13.7

TABLE 13-2

COMPOSITE CONTOUR AREA/POPUL AT ION

Contour Band
40 +
35 40
30 35
25 30
Total
(1) The

Area (km2)
20
27
64
129
240

Population(1)
800
2,200
52,000
342,000
397,000

population counts are based on the 2006 Statistics Canada census.

account for the greater sensitivity

toward aircraft noise during nighttime, the NEF model also applies
a penalty to all night operations.

airports, and presents the federal

governments recommended land
use guidelines to encourage compatible land use near airports.

The resulting NEF values in the

vicinity of an airport are commonly depicted by means of contour lines connecting points of
equal noise exposure. It is important to note that the NEF number
associated with a contour line
does not represent a decibel level
for an individual flight, but rather
a cumulative noise index of the
overall noise environment that has
been correlated to community
noise annoyance levels.

The Transport Canada guidelines

indicate that the impacts of aircraft
noise may begin as low as 25 NEF/
NEP, and that areas around existing airports exposed to 30 NEF/
NEP or greater are incompatible
for noise sensitive land uses such
as residential development.

Contour maps that forecast noise

exposure five to 10 years in the
future are referred to as NEF contour maps. Noise Exposure Projection (NEP) contour maps are
similar in nature, and are produced using the same model, but
show projected noise exposure up
to 20 years into the future.

13.5.2 Federal Land Use

Guidelines
The Transport Canada publication Land Use in the Vicinity of
Airports (last amended May
2005) discusses the impact of aircraft noise in the vicinity of

Chapter 13 > N O I S E M A N A G E M E N T

The GTAA actively supports the

federal land use guidelines, and
encourages their application in the
local jurisdictions around
Toronto Pearson.

13.5.3 Provincial Land Use

Policies
The Transport Canada guidelines,
however, are merely recommendations, since land use is a municipal

and provincial jurisdiction. In

Ontario, the Provincial Policy
Statement (last amended March
2005) contains land use policies
prohibiting new residential development and other sensitive land uses
within the 30 NEF/NEP contour
line, consistent with the Transport
Canada guidelines.

13.5.4 Toronto Pearson

Composite Contour
Toronto Pearson has an approved
NEF contour map (2000 NEF) as
well as an approved NEP contour
map (1996 NEP). The outer envelope, or composite, of the two
contour maps is used for land use
planning purposes, thereby protecting for the worst case of the
two noise situations. This combined NEF/NEP contour map for
Toronto Pearson is referred to as
the Composite Contour, and is
illustrated in Figure 13-3.
The impact of the composite
noise contour on the surrounding
communities can be seen in
Table 13-2, which provides the
area and population within each
contour band.

13.8

The Composite Contour provides

sufficient protection for the noise
exposure resulting from the operation of the present and planned

Chapter 13 > N O I S E M A N A G E M E N T

runways at the Airport, and is

therefore appropriate for land use
planning purposes.

13.5.5 Airport Operating Area

For ease of implementation of the
provincial land use policies for
noise sensitive land uses, the

13.9
Composite Contour were
exempted from the policies of the
AOA by the Ontario Municipal
Board, on the basis that the applications for development predated
a 1997 amendment to the
Provincial Policy Statement
that changed the threshold for
noise sensitive land uses from
35 NEF/NEP to the current level
of 30 NEF/NEP.

GTAA, in conjunction with the

local municipalities, has defined a
fixed Airport Operating Area
(AOA) based on the 30 NEF/NEP
contour of the Composite
Contour. The AOA perimeter
approximates the location of the
30 NEF/NEP line by following
readily identifiable natural (waterways), transportation (roads, rail
lines) and planning (property
boundaries, and land use designation boundaries) features.
The boundaries of the AOA
within the Region of Peel were
reflected in the September 1998
Region of Peel Official Plan. The
boundaries of the AOA in the
City of Toronto were identified
within the City of Torontos 2002
Official Plan. These official plans
establish policies restricting the
development of new noise sensitive land uses within the AOA.

Chapter 13 > N O I S E M A N A G E M E N T

The AOA, illustrated in Figure

13-4, encompasses an area of
approximately 123 km2 and a
population of approximately
57,000 based on the 2006 census.
The AOA establishes and stabilizes
the noise impact area for the purpose of land use planning, which
benefits both the air carriers and
the surrounding communities.
The GTAA will continue to work
with the provincial government
and local municipalities to ensure
that new land uses within the
AOA are compatible with airport
operations, and will vigorously
oppose development that would
be sensitive to aircraft noise.

With no mechanism available to

prevent incompatible residential
development in these AOA exempt
areas, the GTAA responded by
negotiating a number of noise
agreements with the developers
and the City of Mississauga to
forewarn prospective purchasers of
the potential aircraft noise problem and to mitigate noise intrusion into these homes to the
extent possible.
These agreements require aircraft
noise warnings to be provided
on signs at sales sites, in sales
information given to prospective
purchasers, in the Agreement of
Purchase and Sale, and on permanent signs in the communities in
an attempt to deter noise sensitive
people from purchasing a home
in these noise impacted areas.
The agreements also require the

13.5.6 Developer Noise

Agreements
Contrary to the GTAAs recommendation, some areas inside
the 30 NEF/NEP line of the

Aircraft Noise Warning Sign

13.10

incorporation of noise mitigation

measures into the home design,
such as central air conditioning
and a higher standard of construction offering a higher degree

Chapter 13 > N O I S E M A N A G E M E N T

of noise attenuation than is

normally required.
It must be recognized, however,
that these measures are by no
means as effective as preventing

residential construction within

incompatible areas in the first
place, as the GTAA had proposed at the time the AOA was
established.

13.11
continue to evolve, including a
continued decline in the use of the
older and noisier Chapter 3 aircraft, particularly the Chapter 2
aircraft that were hushkitted to
meet Chapter 3 standards, and a
continued increase in the use of
aircraft that meet the most stringent Chapter 4 noise standards.

Departing A330

13.5.7 Future Operations

Studies conducted for the environmental assessment associated with
the addition of new runways at
Toronto Pearson indicated that
there would be little change in
the noise environment around the
Airport resulting from the addition of the planned sixth and
final runway, namely 05R-23L.
While the primary objective of
adding Runway 05R-23L would
be to increase the airfield capacity
of the Airport to meet the future
aviation demand of the region,
the mitigation of aircraft noise
impacts in the vicinity of the
Airport was also a key consideration in the siting of this future
runway.

Chapter 13 > N O I S E M A N A G E M E N T

As has been discussed in Chapter 5,

the planned sixth runway would
be parallel to and closely spaced
from existing Runway 05-23 (to
be renamed 05L-23R), similar to
the existing pair of closely spaced
parallel runways at the south side
of the Airport (06L-24R and
06R-24L). As a result, the flight
paths associated with future
Runway 05R-23L would be similar to those associated with existing
Runway 05-23, thereby minimizing potential noise impacts.
In addition, as noted in Chapter 5,
the sixth runway is not expected to
be required until sometime in the
2013-2019 time period, depending
on the rate of traffic growth. Over
the intervening years, the aircraft
fleet mix at Toronto Pearson will

Due to the location of planned

Runway 05R-23L, and the
expected timeframe for its construction, it is anticipated that any
potential expansion of the noise
contours attributable to its operation would be offset by the continued conversion of the fleet mix
to quieter aircraft.
Consequently, the continued
application of the Airports current
Composite Contour and AOA for
land use planning purposes is
expected to adequately reflect the
aircraft noise environment resulting from the future operation of
the six-runway system at
Toronto Pearson.