Norton Gets Commitment from FAA on Airplane Noise Issues Impacting D.C. Residents

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) at a House Transportation & Infrastructure Subcommittee on Aviation hearing yesterday asked Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Administrator Michael Huerta whether the FAA would participate in a community meeting this spring for D.C. residents, many of whom reside in the Palisades, Foxhall, and Georgetown neighborhoods in Ward 3, to discuss noise issues created by new flight paths designed to implement FAA's NextGen program in the D.C. area. D.C. residents have had ongoing issues with airplane noise from flights departing Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA). Recently, residents have notified Norton that frequently there are only 3.5 hours per night when there are no flights.

In response, Huerta committed the FAA to working with D.C. neighborhoods. He told Norton that the FAA is working on a redesign of the airspace to make sure that planes follow the Potomac River rather than flying directly over the homes of D.C. residents. He added that the FAA is actively working with the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) on implementation of this plan. Huerta also responded that the FAA is looking at whether the Day Night Average Sound Levels (DNL) scale needs to be updated. DNL is a measurement of noise exposure over a 24-hour period, and noise events between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. receive a penalty. FAA is doing a national survey on these metrics.

"The response of Administrator Huerta offers hope that we can finally do something about troubled sleep in some of our neighborhoods," said Norton. "The community has not gotten very far in their own meetings with the MWAA and the FAA. We are planning the upcoming community meeting, however, so that it is more than a sit-down with neighbors. It is time for a problem-solving meeting."