Background
The O’Hare School Sound Insulation Program (SSIP) is the largest of its kind in the world. It is operated and funded by the City of Chicago with monies from the Airport Improvement Program (AIP), the Passenger Facilities Charge (PFC) and Non-Passenger Facility Charges. The O’Hare Noise Compatibility Commission oversees the SSIP program.
The goal of the program, which began in 1982, is to equitably deliver sound insulation funding to area schools most in need of noise mitigation.
Schools apply to the O’Hare SSIP program and are selected for noise testing based on several established criteria, including proximity to the airport. Selected schools are tested during a four-day period when maximum aircraft activity is expected. Three individual noise monitors used at each school measure exterior noise levels, noise levels with classroom windows closed, and noise levels with classroom windows open.
The O’Hare School Sound Insulation Program Committee ranks tested schools based on the “windows-open” noise levels, which is consistent with Federal Aviation Administration guidelines.
As funding becomes available, schools are selected for sound insulation construction work based on that ranking.
Recent Developments
In November 2010 the Federal Aviation Administration approved Ridgewood High School in Norridge, Ill., and Elk Grove High School in Elk Grove Village, Ill. as eligible to receive sound insulation funding... read more
The ONCC School Sound Insulation Committee had urged FAA officials in December 2009 to take a “second look” at aircraft noise levels at three Chicago area schools. Earlier in 2009 the FAA notified these schools that they did not qualify under current sound insulation criteria. The schools were caught in the shift to build new runways at O’Hare International Airport. read more
The FAA asked the Chicago Department of Aviation to conduct extensive noise monitoring at three schools during the summer of 2010.
Sound levels inside the two high schools met an 8-hour Equivalent Sound Level (Leq) test result of 45 or higher, the minimum noise threshold the FAA established for schools to qualify for sound insulation funding. The third school did not meet the threshold.
Ongoing Projects
As of mid-2010, 116 schools have been insulated at a cost of $286 million. Three schools are currently in the design stage—Farnsworth Elementary in Chicago, Ridgewood
High School in Norridge and Elk Grove High School in Elk Grove Village.
Three schools nearing construction completion are George Washington Elementary School and Roosevelt Elementary School, both in Park Ridge, and Hitch Elementary School in Chicago.
Ebinger Elementary School in Chicago is eligible for sound insulation and is awaiting funding.
St. Tarcissus School in Chicago has been identified for noise monitoring in 2011 to determine if sound levels are sufficient for inclusion in the SSIP program. |
