TagAICA(6)

The Aviation-Impacted Communities Alliance (AICA) published a detailed response to the House's June 9, 2023 draft FAA Reauthorization Act, opposing or requesting edits to numerous sections of the bill. Key concerns include the weakening of community noise and pollution protections, the exclusion of affected communities from stakeholder processes, and the prioritization of aviation industry interests over public safety and accountability. AICA argues that several provisions—covering aircraft data privacy, ADS-B enforcement, rotorcraft operations, and leaded fuel—fail to adequately protect communities living near airports like Sea-Tac from noise, pollution, and safety risks.

At the 2023 ANE Symposium, Darlene Yaplee of the Aviation-Impacted Communities Alliance presented the FAA Community Engagement Scorecard (FAACES), a project designed to gather and analyze feedback from community groups on their experiences with FAA community engagement between 2020 and 2022 compared to before 2020. The scorecard examines whether FAA initiatives—such as the Community Involvement Manual, Chief Engagement Officers, noise portals, and roundtables—have led to meaningful improvements from the perspective of affected communities. The findings aim to identify recurring themes in community responses and offer recommendations for improving FAA outreach and engagement practices.

A Seattle attorney sued the Port of Seattle in September 2022 to force disclosure of a fully redacted consultant report examining public health impacts—including noise, air pollution, and higher rates of disease—on communities within 10 miles of Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. Separately, the Aviation-Impacted Communities Alliance urged a federal advisory committee to support six research proposals challenging the FAA's longstanding 65 DNL noise threshold, which new survey data suggests dramatically understates the number of people harmed by aircraft noise. The issue also covers the first successful test flight of Eviation's all-electric nine-passenger Alice aircraft in Moses Lake, Washington.

A 2021 presentation by Darlene Yaplee, founding member of the Aviation-Impacted Communities Alliance (AICA), argues that the FAA's current systems for assessing and addressing aircraft noise and health impacts are outdated and in need of legislative reform. The document outlines community perspectives on aircraft noise and emissions legislation, covering problem framing, insights for future laws, noise reduction strategies, and real examples of community input. Residents across impacted communities are calling for meaningful relief from the noise and emissions burdens caused by modern air traffic.