Rep. Stephen F. Lynch (D-MA) recently filed three amendments to the 21st Century Aviation Innovation, Reform, and Reauthorization Act, commonly called the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Reauthorization bill.
The first amendment addresses aircraft noise. It would require the Health and Medicine Division of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to create a committee to study the health effects of air-traffic pollution and noise. Data from the investigation would be written into a government report.
The second amendment would require the FAA to hold public forums in communities affected by air traffic to hear the public’s concerns about their health and the local environment.
The final amendment would establish a regional ombudsman in every FAA region to hear the public’s concerns over aircraft noise.
“As the House considers the reauthorization of the FAA, it is critically important that strong provisions are included to address constituent concerns about the public health, noise, and environmental impacts of the NextGen precision-based navigation procedures,” Lynch said. “These proposed amendments will help increase community engagement, explore alternate flight paths, and ensure that the public health impacts of airplane noise are taken into account in FAA decision-making going forward.”
Lynch is vice-chairman of the Quiet Skies Caucus and will seek bipartisan support for the amendments.