Noise

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NBER Working Paper No. 34431 by Florian Allroggen, R. John Hansman, Christopher R. Knittel, Jing Li, Xibo Wan, and Juju Wang (MIT, Tufts, University of Connecticut), October 2025. Estimates causal effect of aviation noise on U.S. housing prices using quasi-experimental variation from FAA performance-based navigation (PBN) procedures and runway reconfigurations at three major U.S. airports. Applies difference-in-differences hedonic framework with high-resolution flight trajectory data and geocoded housing transactions. Finds a one-decibel increase in annual day-night average sound level (DNL) reduces house prices by 0.6 to 1.0 percent. Analyzes distributional consequences by income and race; funded by FAA Award Number 13-C-AJFE-MIT through ASCENT. JEL codes L51, L62, L85, Q53.

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As the source for federal transportation grants, the Puget Sound Regional Council was charged with developing a system to meet the growing need for commercial aviation. When the search for a second airport failed, they authorized the Port of Seattle to build the Third Runway, with a mandate to develop a noise abatement and mitigation program. In their effort to stop the Third Runway, the ACC argued over every detail of the Port's efforts--including property buyouts and sound insulation. The dispute was meant to be settled by a three member Expert Arbitration Panel. This is their final report. It finds 2-1, that the Port's program was insufficient in several respects. Despite that, funding for the Third Runway was approved by the PSRC, and the 'Port Package' program, proceeded largely unchanged. Expert Arbitration Panel's final decision finding that the Port of Seattle had not shown sufficient reduction in real on-the-ground noise impacts to satisfy noise reduction conditions required for approval of a third runway at Sea-Tac International Airport. The majority decision concluded the Port's noise abatement programs were insufficient despite being impressive in scope.

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