StART – Memo: FAA Authority to Change the 65 DNL

Re: FAA Authority to change the 65 DNL noise contour At a recent StART Aviation Noise Working Group meeting, I shared my professional opinion that it would take Congressional action to change the FAA’s 65 DNL noise contour standard. Below, please find additional details that informed my thinking on this topic. Background 1. First here is a quote from "A Guide to the Rulemaking Process" Prepared by the Office of the Federal Register: "Agencies get their authority to issue regulations from laws (statutes) enacted by Congress. In some cases, the President may delegate existing Presidential authority to an agency. Typically, when Congress passes a law to create an agency, it grants that agency general authority to regulate certain activities within our society. Congress may also pass a law that more specifically directs an agency to solve a particular problem or accomplish a certain goal." 2. There are at least three places where 65 DNL is spelled out specifically in federal regulations and federal orders. These are as follows: 2.1. Code of Federal Regulation (CFR) 14 Part 161. This Federal Aviation Regulation (FAR) describes the process from which any noise abatement rules may be required to show a cost benefit analysis prior to any approval or implementation. The rules dictate that all cost benefit analyses are limited to only the benefits within the 65 DNL contour. The authority for FAR Part 16 is spelled out in the Airport Noise and Capacity Act (ANCA) of 1990. In this act Congress was vague…

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Call to order – Roll Call – Quorum Established – Land Acknowledgement We would like to acknowledge that our Agency operates in four present-day counties, which are the traditional lands of the Coast Salish people, past and present. This acknowledgement does not take the place of authentic relationships with indigenous communities in our jurisdiction and [...]