The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee has unanimously approved the Securing Growth and Robust Leadership in the American Aviation Act, a bill that will reauthorize the FAA for the next five years. The companion bill has been introduced in the Senate and either a full authorization or a continuing resolution by September 30th, 2023.

Several sections in the bill that address regulatory noise implementation are highlighted below:

  • Sec. 101 – Airport Planning and Development and Noise Compatibility Planning and Programs: Amends Section 48103(a) of the U.S. code to allocate 4 billion dollars annually to the Airport and Airway Trust Fund. The funds are made available as grants from the Department of Transportation towards airport planning and airport noise compatibility. This is a 650-million-dollar annual increase from the previous FAA reauthorization in 2018.
  • Sec. 135 – Aviation Noise Officer: Appoints an aviation noise officer to serve as a liaison with the public and community groups. The officer, selected by the FAA administrator, will make recommendations based on concerns raised by the public. When aircraft route changes are proposed, the Aviation Noise Officer will be consulted to minimize increases in aircraft noise over populated areas.
  • Sec. 476 – Part 150 Noise Standards Update: Requires that the FAA administrator conduct outreach with airports, airport users, and individuals living in proximity to airports before implementing any changes to any noise policies or standards.
  • Sec. 477 – Reducing Community Aircraft Noise Exposure: Requires the FAA administrator to engage in a series of actions before implementing or revising a flight procedure. These include implementing flight procedures that mitigate the impact of aircraft noise, working with airport sponsors and impacted communities in establishing or modifying aircraft arrival and departure routes, and discouraging future development near airports that could create aircraft noise complaints or hinder airport operations.
  • Sec. 481 – Recommendations on Reducing Rotorcraft Noise in DC: Requires the Comptroller General of the US to conduct a study on rotorcraft noise in Washington D.C. The study will examine the impact of noise and how rotorcraft can be utilized in the district.
  • Sec. 485 – Third Party Study on Aviation Noise Metrics: Requires the FAA to collaborate with the National Academies to conduct a study on aviation noise metrics.

The study will examine the DNL metric’s ability to effectively reflect aviation noise. Based on the results, recommendations will be made to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.

The notice of introduction is also available on the Aviation N.O.I.S.E. website.

Additionally, we wanted to make sure you were aware that the FAA invites the public to comment on changes to civil aviation noise policy. N.O.I.S.E. will submit a comment as an organization, but we encourage individual member communities to submit individual comments for the federal register at the link below. N.O.I.S.E. staff is happy to discuss further if you need assistance. Comments are due July 31st.

Federal Register Commenting

N.O.I.S.E. is working with the National League of Cities to collaborate on opportunities for advocacy. We will keep you informed of any further N.O.I.S.E.-related news.