Norton Airplane Noise Provisions Included in House FAA Reauthorization Bill, Will Offer Amendment to Add D.C. to Study on Health Impact of Airplane Noise

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), co-chair of the Quiet Skies Caucus, today said that she was pleased that the House bill to reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), released yesterday, included several of her priorities to help address airplane noise. The FAA bill would update airport noise exposure maps, phase out stage 3 aircraft, and address community noise concerns, environmental mitigation, aircraft noise exposure, and community involvement in FAA NextGen projects located in Metroplexes. The bill also includes funding for institutions of higher education to conduct studies on the health impacts of prolonged exposure to airplane noise and emissions. Norton said she will introduce an amendment at next week's House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee markup to add the District of Columbia to the list of cities where the health study is to be conducted.

"I have been hearing from constituents for years about the serious impacts of airplane noise on D.C. communities, making a comprehensive study to examine and document the adverse health risks of airplane noise an important step," Norton said. "D.C. has a robust airplane noise working group comprised of D.C., Maryland, and Virginia residents and airline officials. Particularly considering Reagan National and Dulles International airports are the nation's only federally owned airports, and the federal government owns the airplane slots at Reagan, the D.C. Metroplex should be included in the list of cities to be studied."

Norton remains concerned with the provisions of the FAA bill that would privatize the nation's air traffic control system.