FAA Extends Deadline to Provide Feedback on Noise Policy Review
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) extended the deadline for airports and other stakeholders to respond to the agency's request for comments on its ongoing 'Noise Policy Review' (NPR). The new deadline to respond is Friday, September 29, which is a 60-day extension from the original deadline. The announcement comes after AAAE and our industry partners, including ACI-NA and Airlines for America, requested additional time to provide comments, arguing that FAA's request was extremely broad and potential changes under consideration would have significant implications for the entire aviation industry.
As outlined in our April 28 Regulatory Alert, FAA is currently conducting a comprehensive review of its aviation noise policies after results from its Neighborhood Environmental Survey in 2021 showed that substantially more individuals are highly annoyed by aircraft noise levels since the last survey was conducted over 30 years ago. The NPR is meant to evaluate, among other things, FAA's current use of DNL as the primary noise metric for assessing cumulative aircraft noise exposure, including whether to continue using the DNL 65 dB level standard in land use compatibility planning and National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) reviews. FAA plans to review recent research and public comments to determine whether and how to update its noise policy.
AAAE Noise Policy Survey. As a reminder, AAAE is distributing a survey to members to solicit and collect feedback to help us respond to FAA's request. You can find AAAE's survey here. We have now extended the deadline to Friday, August 4, for members to provide us with feedback. We encourage you to review the NPR, share the survey with your staff that manages aircraft noise-related issues, and provide us with any input you may have. Survey results will help us better communicate our members' needs and concerns through our response to FAA's request. We are also working with our industry partners to ensure a coordinated response, which may have notable implications for the future of the agency's aircraft noise policy.
AAAE-Hosted Webinar Discussion. AAAE will also be hosting a virtual discussion with our members on Tuesday, July 18, at 1-2 p.m. ET, to discuss FAA's NPR, collect additional feedback from members, and share preliminary thoughts on our response to the agency's request. If you would like to participate in the discussion, please email Alex Remy at Alex.Remy@aaae.org to receive an invite.
Resources on FAA's Noise Policy Review:
• AAAE's Survey on FAA's Noise Policy Review
• Industry Coalition's June 14 Letter Requesting Extension of Comment Period for Noise Policy Review
• AAAE's April 28 Regulatory Alert on FAA's Noise Policy Review
• FAA's April 28 Notice and Request for Comments on Noise Policy Review
• FAA's Noise Policy Review Website
• AAAE's April 14, 2021 Comments in Response to FAA's Neighborhood Environmental Survey Results
• 2021 Results from FAA's Neighborhood Environmental Survey
