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M. Environmental Setting,Impacts,and Mitigations ® A. Land Use,Plans and Policies Airport Land Use Plan The San Joaquin County Airport Land Use Plan(1983)addresses two issues regarding landfills: height of the landfill and landfill bird populations. Height guidelines are determined by airport imaginary surfaces(three dimensional boundaries established by Federal Aviation Administration(FAA)regulations). The horizontal imaginary surface is a plane 150 feet above the airport elevation within a 5,000 to 10,000 foot radius of the airport. Another applicable imaginary surface is the conical surface,which extends at a slope of 20:1 from the periphery of the horizontal surface for a distance of 4,000 feet. The airport elevation is approximately 30.5 feet above mean sea level(MSL). Therefore,the horizontal surface is 180.5 feet MSL. The Airport Land Use Commission divided theairport's area of influence into subareas. Within each subarea different standards apply based on land uses. The proposed Austin Road landfill expansion must meet the requirements for"areas under horizontal and.conical surfaces," which includes a thorough evaluation indicating that bird populations at the landfill will not present a hazard to aircraft. Subtitle D of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act(RCRA)also sets limits on the proximity of landfills to airports. Subtitle D requires that municipal solid waste landfills and lateral expansions located within a 10,000-foot radius of an airport runway used by turbine- powered aircraft must demonstrate that the unit does not pose a bird hazard to aircraft. The Austin Road landfill expansion is about 7,500 feet south of the Stockton Metropolitan Airport. Bird populations at the Austin Road Landfill have not been a significant problem for planes arriving to and departing from the Stockton Airport. This may be because of the distance from the airport or the result of the bird control practices at the landfill,including use of daily and final cover,noise-makers(such as cracker shells and propane detonators),and wind-agitated reflective tape. Water is also generally prevented from ponding on the site surface. Future Growth According to the San Joaquin County Community Development Department,the only other planned,approved or reasonably foreseeable project within the project vicinity would be the modifications to the Forward,Inc.Landfill (Martin, 1993). The Forward,Inc.Landfill has an existing size of 157 acres and includes landfill waste management areas,a transfer station/resource recovery center,and storage and support areas. The proposed modifications at MA.19