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It is likely that the public may be somewhat disappointed with Congress’ latest effort to ameliorate the impacts of airport noise on underlying populations. On November 18, 2021, Adam Smith, Member of the House of Representatives from Washington State, introduced the Aviation Noise and Emissions Act, H.R. 6050, a Bill intended to “develop pilot grant programs through the Environmental Protection Agency to research and collect data on aircraft and airport noise and emissions and to use such information and data to develop a mitigation strategy, and for other purposes.” H.R. 6050, p. 1. At its foundation, the Bill calls for a “3-year pilot grant program with eligible entities to measure noise and emissions, including greenhouse gases, particulate matter, ultrafine particles, and other toxic pollutants, in communities near airports or air flight pathways using sophisticated methods and technology that allow tracing of noise and emissions to specific sources . . .,” H.R. 6050, paragraph 2.a., including identifying the primary recipients of such noise such as specific neighborhoods, structures, or impacted areas.
Continue Reading Is H.R. 6050 The Best That Congress Can Do?

In an unprecedented confrontation, the Federal Aviation Administration (“FAA”) and Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) have been facing off over the imminent implementation of 5-G C Band transmission sought by AT&T and Verizon for their telephones. The issue for FAA is radar altimeters installed in scores of aircraft types, including commercial airlines, some business jets, and many helicopters, including helicopter air ambulances. Radio altimeters supporting these systems operate between 4.2-4.4 GHz; C-Band 5-G operations will initially begin at around 3.7 GHz.

The concerns are not merely the delays and cancelled flights potentially caused by FAA’s issuance of over 1,500 Notices to Airmen (“NOTAM”), restricting use of instrument approaches and other procedures that rely on radar altimeters, principally in bad weather, but also increased weather minimums for Part 91 helicopter operations.Continue Reading Federal Agencies Go “Head to Head” Over Implementation of 5-G C-Band Implementation

It appears that some members of Congress have not given up the fight to bring relief from airport noise impacts to their constituents. Since the beginning of August, 2021, at least eight (8) “Aviation Noise Bills” have been introduced in an attempt to lessen the burden on some communities from aircraft overflight, particularly in the wake of implementation of the Federal Aviation Administration’s (“FAA”) NextGen initiative, which resulted, in many cases, in the consolidation of flight paths, often over communities not previously overflown at all, thus also increasing noise over those and other communities.

Several of these legislative efforts are particularly notable, some for being remarkably ambitious, and others for being wish lists, without a strong chance for passage.Continue Reading Congress Continues to Search for Relief From Airport Noise Impacts

On Thursday, July 8, 2021, the City of Culver City and its co-Petitioner, City of Los Angeles, prevailed in the case of City of Los Angeles, et.al. v. Stephen Dickson, et al. against the Federal Aviation Administration (“FAA”) on substantially all claims, an almost unprecedented outcome for local governments against a federal agency acting within its area of expertise. In that case, Petitioners challenged FAA’s failure to perform any environmental review, as required by the National Environmental Policy Act, 42 U.S.C. § 4321, et seq. (“NEPA”) before implementing changes in aircraft flight tracks that lowered altitudes and consolidated flight tracks over residential areas not previously overflown, resulting in continuing and vociferous community opposition. That challenge was brought in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit under its original jurisdiction, 49 U.S.C. § 46110, in the adjudication of challenges to FAA actions.

Because these operational changes were part of a larger national program of airspace changes called FAA’s NextGen project, aimed at reducing distances aircraft must fly on arrival to airports, Petitioners’ victory has implications for communities throughout the nation over which FAA has persisted in implementing flight track changes under the guise of the NextGen Project, in each and every case without the benefit of required environmental review.Continue Reading Buchalter Wins National Victory

The citizens’ organization, Quiet Skies, made up of communities around the nation impacted by airport operations, is making its views about the increasing impacts of the Federal Aviation Administration’s (“FAA”) NextGen initiative known to new Secretary of Transportation Buttigeig at the very dawn of his tenure. Alison Pepper, a Quiet Skies activist, has drafted a…

Communities challenging, or considering a challenge, to the noise and other impacts from low-flying aircraft, enabled in new flight paths and altitudes by the Federal Aviation Administration’s (“FAA”) NextGen Initiative, may find some comfort in the knowledge that they are not alone. Communities from coast to coast, even including communities that are themselves airport proprietors, have recently joined the group of communities that earlier brought legal action against FAA to vindicate their citizens’ interests, some of which suits are only now approaching decision.

First chronologically, the City of Los Angeles, owner and operator of Los Angeles International Airport (“LAX”), brought suit in December 2019, in the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, challenging a southerly shift in flight tracks of departing aircraft from Bob Hope (Hollywood-Burbank) Airport, City of Los Angeles v. FAA, Case No.19-73164, alleging FAA either failed to review the revised flight paths under NEPA, or failed to take action required by law to ensure reasonable compliance with assigned flight tracks. In its opposition, FAA first argued that it is not responsible for the divergence from established flight tracks, but, rather, it is due to “Acts of God,” such as wind, weather, and flocks of birds. It was only months later, when FAA realized that excuse wouldn’t “fly,” that it assumed responsibility by claiming the need to “vector” aircraft off established flight tracks for safety purposes. After Court-supervised mediation efforts were unsuccessful, briefing was completed in September 2020, but no decision has been made by the Court to date. That case is not by any means the end of the story.Continue Reading Communities Challenging NextGen Are In Good Company

On January 13, 2021, the Federal Aviation Administration (“FAA”) published, in the Federal Register, Vol. 86, No. 8, Docket No. FAA-2021-0037, p. 2722, a necessary, if somewhat belated, “summary to the public of the research programs it sponsors . . . that could potentially inform future aircraft noise policy.” While the “spirit” appears willing, the “execution” is weak.

FAA first claims, by way of “background,” that “the number of people living in areas exposed to SIGNIFICANT levels of aircraft noise in the United States has declined from roughly 7 million to just over 400,000 today.” Id., at 2723 [emphasis added]. FAA credits that reduction principally to “phased transition to quieter aircraft;” efforts by local governments to reduce the number of people living in close proximity to airports through planning; sound insulation; and, perhaps most ironically, the introduction of Performance Based Navigation (“PBN”), or RNAV procedures which consolidate flight corridors, thus reducing the NUMBER of persons overflown, while, at the same time, increasing noise for residents under the newly consolidated flight tracks.

FAA’s conclusions are skewed by reliance on outdated assumptions.Continue Reading FAA Research on Environmental Issues Ignores Significant Factors in Public Discontent

Members of the Congressional Quiet Skies Caucus, composed of Congresspersons throughout the United States whose constituents are significantly impacted by aircraft noise, have expressed deep concern, in a letter of September 23, 2020, to the Federal Aviation Administration (“FAA”) about the inadequacy of the FAA’s statutorily mandated evaluation of “alternative metrics to the current average day-night level [“DNL”] standard, such as the use of actual noise sampling and other methods, to address community airplane noise concerns.” See FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018, P.L. 115-254, §§ 173, 188 (“Report”). Caucus members catalogue a variety of insufficiencies.
Continue Reading Congress Members Express Concern with FAA Noise Metric Report

In a June 19, 2020 Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law, and Judgment (“Judgment”), the District Court of Jefferson County, Colorado, in Board of Commissioners of Adams County v. City and County of Denver, recounted in detail the expert testimony offered by Adams County, that fatally undercuts the traditional reliance by the City of Denver, operator of Denver International Airport (“DIA”), and airport operators in general, on “noise modeling” in place of “noise monitoring” to determine the impacts of the aircraft noise on surrounding communities.

The Judgment exhaustively recounted evidence offered by Adams County, detailing the flaws in the noise modeling utilized by DIA to document compliance with the noise provisions of the “Intergovernmental Agreement [for a new airport], (‘IGA’),” originally entered into between the two parties on April 21, 1988, when the plan for development of the new Denver airport was being initiated.Continue Reading Colorado Court Judgment Finds Noise Modeling Significantly Understates Aircraft Noise

In a momentous shift of its normally conciliatory relationship with aircraft manufacturers, the United States Senate, on June 17, 2020, introduced the “Aircraft Safety and Reform Act,” legislation that will, if enacted, effectively reverse the provisions of the Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization Act of 2018 (“2018 FAA Act”) which allow aircraft manufacturers to perform, with a minimum of FAA oversight, the certification for safety purposes, of the aircraft it manufactures.

The proposed, bipartisan, legislation, seeks to control both the performance of the industries to which were delegated the aircraft safety certification responsibilities (“ODA”) under the 2018 FAA Act, and the FAA personnel charged with overseeing their compliance.Continue Reading Proposed Legislation Repudiates Congress’ Hands Off Policy Toward Aircraft Certification