To accommodate additional aviation-related development north of Runway 5L/23R at Piedmont Triad International Airport, which was approved by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in 2015, the Piedmont Triad Airport Authority (PTAA) proposed to construct taxiways and undertake site preparation activities. A portion of this area will be occupied by the Boom Overture Superfactory; therefore, the FAA requires a Re-evaluation of the Airport’s Environmental Assessment (EA).
PTAA contracted with HMMH to prepare, in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Air Quality and Noise analysis sections for a Re-evaluation of the EA to support a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) from the FAA.
HMMH worked directly with staff from PTAA, Boom Aerospace, FAA Regional Airports Division and District Office (ADO), and FAA Office of Environment and Energy (AEE) to evaluate ground run-up and test flights anticipated to occur from the Superfactory once constructed. To comply with FAA NEPA regulations, HMMH modeled the test flights from the proposed facility in the Aviation Environmental Design Tool (AEDT) using non-standard input data supplied by the FAA AEE. In coordination with Boom Aerospace, FAA AEE developed a set of representative supersonic transport (SST) aircraft data for the AEDT. HMMH tested various iterations of this data until Boom Aerospace and FAA AEE agreed that it was representative for the EA purposes. HMMH developed future day-night average sound level (DNL) noise contours for no action and project condition scenarios. HMMH compared and evaluated the DNL contours to identify any areas of significant or reportable noise changes.
HMMH utilized the Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP) Airport Construction Emissions Inventory Tool (ACEIT) to develop construction activity estimates for the proposed project. In coordination with North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality and the FAA ADO, HMMH used the latest version of the Environmental Protection Agency’s MOVES to model on-road and non-road emission factors that were applied to the ACEIT output. The analysis included construction and demolition activities and delivery and employee vehicles trips. The results were compared to the National Ambient Air Quality Standards and to the results in the original EA.