ANMC Minutes - March 2024

Meeting Date/Time: 14 March 2024, 1300H-1500H
Meeting Location: Online (Microsoft Teams)
In Attendance
Chair:	Wendy Avis	Director, Climate and Environment - YVRAA
Secretariat:	Rachel Min-Brown	Environmental Analyst - YVRAA
Participants:	Erin Newman-Renwick Karen Wong Kevin Eng Ron Sorensen Hugh Campbell Morgan Guerin Brenden McBain Dave Schneider Mark Cheng	Citizen Representative - City of Vancouver Staff Representative - City of Vancouver Staff Representative - City of Richmond Citizen Representative - City of Surrey Staff Representative - City of Surrey Manager, Indigenous Relations - YVRAA Manager, Climate and Environment - YVRAA Manager, Regulatory Compliance - YVRAA Supervisor, Noise Abatement & Air Quality - YVRAA
Guests:	Garnet Miller Vanessa Adams Andrew Grams Alyssa Smith	Manager, Airspace Modernization - NAV CANADA Manager, Government and Media Relations - NAV CANADA Program Director, North Runway Program - YVRAA Manager, Communications - YVRAA

1.0 Welcome and Adoption of Agenda

Wendy Avis welcomed the attendees and guests and acknowledged the unceded, ancestral, traditional territory of the Musqueam Nation on which YVR operates. The following changes in membership were noted:

Arvind Sharma - new citizen representative for the City of Richmond.
Jacqueline Jackson – new representative for Transport Canada.
Karen Wong – City of Vancouver staff representative (temporarily filling in for Lesley Fordham who is on leave from the City).

2.0 North Runway Rehabilitation Project

Andrew Grams provided updates on planning for the upcoming North Runway Rehabilitation Project.

Built in the 1990s, the North Runway needs upgrades to ensure its longevity and resilience well into the future. The project team has been evaluating options to deliver the necessary work while balancing operational impacts, duration, and complexity.

The overall duration of the project will ultimately depend on the chosen closure option. We have removed an option of a full 6-month closure and instead have been assessing closure options that will lessen the impact on runway operations and our community. We are currently planning for construction to begin in the spring of 2025.

As the North Runway is normally closed each night between 10 PM and 7 AM, it is anticipated that community impacts associated with changes to runway operations to accommodate work will not be as significant as the runway closures in 2023 to accommodate the South Runway Rehabilitation Project.

The Airport Authority is committed to engaging and communicating with stakeholders and the broader community as decisions are made on this project. Further updates will be provided to the ANMC at a future meeting.

3.0 Airport Updates

Wendy provided an update on the January- February 2024 aircraft and passenger traffic at YVR and discussed snow events experienced in January and the robust response from Airport Operations following substantial improvements following the After Action Review in 2023.

Aircraft and passenger movements continue to grow at YVR. In January-February 2024, approximately 3.94 million passengers travelled through YVR. This surpasses the number of passengers from the same period in 2019 (pre-COVID).

There were a few snow days experienced in January which required irregular use of the runways for snow clearing. Wendy shared a time-lapse video of airside operations during January snow events captured through YVR’s Digital Twin. YVR has applied a digital lens in new ways to improve operations, increase situational awareness and provide new insights and data to support decision making. This also helps replace manual processes with digital tools.

4.0 Vancouver Airspace Modernization Project (VAMP)

Garnet Miller and Vanessa Adams shared updates on VAMP.

There is a lot of ongoing work to assess options to address concerns and feedback received during public consultations on the proposed airspace changes around Metro Vancouver and Southern Vancouver Island. In the coming months, NAV CANADA will further engage and provide updates to the Cities and elected officials. A public facing consultation report is planned to be published in early fall, which will include information on the final airspace designs, timelines, and the next steps leading to implementation.

5.0 Year-end Review

Rachel Min-Brown provided a year-end review of aircraft and passenger movements and noise concern stats for 2023. During this period, a total of 1,900 concerns were received from 524 individuals related to YVR aircraft.

6.0 Noise Management Plan

Mark Cheng provided updates on work to create the 2025-2029 YVR Noise Management Plan (NMP).

The process to create the new NMP will include three stages:

Stage 1 – Collect input and identify community issues (January – July)
Stage 2 – Evaluate and finalize initiatives (August – mid-September)
Stage 3 – Draft and finalize the plan (mid-September – November)

As part of Stage 1, a questionnaire was circulated to ANMC members in January to solicit input on areas of focus or proposed actions to consider. While the original deadline for completion of the questionnaire was set for February 23, this has been extended to June 21.

In addition, an offer was made for YVR staff to meet with City representatives to talk through their input. Kevin Eng expressed interest for City of Richmond representatives to meet with YVR staff, and Mark will work to coordinate a meeting. Karen Wong advised that the City of Vancouver would likely be in contact with YVR once a new acting City staff representative is appointed to the ANMC. Hugh Cambell advised the City of Surrey would be in contact if a meeting is required.

To engage with the broader community in the process, an online community web questionnaire will be hosted between April and July. The objective of the questionnaire is to solicit input on potential noise management initiatives as well as identify ways to better communicate, share information, and educate residents on noise management activities. The questionnaire will be promoted through YVR social media channels, website postings, WebTrak messages, and responses to noise concerns.

* Update: The community web questionnaire is now live and can be accessed through the YVR website. The link has been shared with ANMC members.

7.0 Q1 Summary

Rachel presented the summary of noise concerns received in January-February 2024. A total of 150 concerns were registered by 46 individuals during this period.

8.0 Other Business

ANMC Terms of Reference - The updated Terms of Reference has been finalized and sent for French translation. Once this is done, it will be distributed to ANMC members and posted on the YVR website. Mark thanked ANMC members who reviewed and provided comments on the document.
Annual Noise Report - The 2023 YVR Annual Noise Report will be posted on the YVR website prior to the YVR Annual General Meeting on May 14th.
(NOTE: Committee members were advised the YVR Annual General Meeting would be hosted on May 9th, but the date has since been changed to May 14th.)
YVR Presentation to City Councils - Mark advised the dates for YVR’s annual updates to City Councils will be shared with citizen representatives for their respective city once the schedule is finalized.
Customized Community Reports - ANMC customized reports will be sent out at the end of April.
South Runway Maintenance Schedule - The south runway maintenance and construction schedule for the upcoming months will be shared with the ANMC and posted on www.yvr.ca once it is finalized.

MEETING ADJOURNMENT

Wendy thanked the attendees for their time and adjourned the meeting at 1415H.

Next Regular ANMC Meeting: September 26, 2024