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indicate that 91.5 percent of all arrivals and departures occur when the airport is operating under the "West Plan," which generally involves arrivals from the south and departures to the north. Under West Plan conditions, areas to the north of the airport experience noise related to departing aircraft, whereas areas to the south, including the project site, experience aircraft arrival noise. The Port of Oakland has prepared an Airport Development Program guiding the planned expansion of Oakland International Airport through 2010. The FAA has projected that 17.2 million annual passengers would use Oakland International Airport by 2010, an increase of74 percent from the 1999 'vo1ume of 9.9 million passengers. Cargo operations at Oakland Airport are presumed to increase from 754,000 tons in 1999 to 2.1 million tons in 2010. In 2000, the FAA used these projections to forecast future noise levels. These forecasts take the increased volume of air traffic into consideration, along with changes in the types of aircraft being used. Noise forecasts are usually expressed as noise contours, or areas within which a certain noise level threshold would be expected and which would cause specific impacts to humans. For example, in exterior (outdoor) areas where noise levels of65 dBA CNEL are projected, the noise could cause people to experience some speech disturbance (an inability to talk and be heard). The FAA anticipates that the 65 dB CNEL contour will encompass fewer properties in San Leandro by 2010 compared to current conditions, while the 60 dB CNEL contour will shift south, impacting a larger swath of the West San Leandro industrial area. The project site is within this area projected to experience noise levels of 60 dB CNEL. This is consistent with the City General Plan noise projections, which also indicate the project site would experience noise levels of between 60 and 65 dBA in 2015. A 2003 Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Report (Port of Oakland, 2003) for the recent plans by the airport indicates that such operations could increase in the future, as flight patterns are shifted to avoid residential areas. The airport instituted a noise abatement flight procedure for nighttime departures for the aircraft permitted to use North Field (e.g., non-jet aircraft) in late 2000 for Runways 27R and 27L. This so-called "Salad One" procedure was developed with the goal of minimizing noise at nearby residential locations as much as possible while lessening restrictions on runway use at North Field. In good weather, aircraft operating on North Field are encouraged to arrive on Runway 27L, when possible, to avoid flying over nearby homes. In addition, the airport is currently investigating the feasibility of installing an Instrument Landing System on Runway 27L, which would allow more arriving aircraft to use Runway 27L instead of Runway 27R. If implemented, this installation would reduce arrival noise levels in the West Davis and Timothy Drive neighborhoods in San Leandro, since more arriving aircraft would pass farther south of those homes (port of Oakland, 2003). However, this means that more arriving aircraft would pass closer to the project site. The 2003 Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Report (DSEIR) updated these projections, using specific locations where existing noise is monitored. At Site C, which is approximately 5,000 feet (1,524 meters) south of the project site, the report measured an existing 2000 ambient (background) noise level of 59.0 dBA CNEL, with a corresponding noise level for aircraft passing over the area of 57.7 dBA. This means that currently the noise from aircraft does not exceed the background noise in the neighborhood. The report forecast a 2010 noise level due to aircraft of almost the same magnitude (57.5 dBA). At Site D, which is approximately 7,000 feet (2,133.6 Y4204IS.00693.doc -4/5/07 ~34-