TagNoise(258)

NLC Resolution #48 calls on Congress and the FAA to reduce the noise, health, and economic burdens placed on residential communities resulting from the FAA's NextGen air traffic control system, which has concentrated flight paths at low altitudes over neighborhoods. The resolution highlights concerns such as stress-related illness, hearing loss, reduced property values, and inadequate environmental review, and urges the FAA to adopt better noise measurement standards and consider community noise impacts in supersonic jet rulemaking. It also supports increased NASA funding for research into quieter aircraft engines and airframes.

Academic journal article published in MDPI Sustainability (2020, vol. 12, 7928) by Mirosław Bełej, Radosław Cellmer (University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn), and Michał Głuszak (Cracow University of Economics) examining the impact of airport proximity on single-family house prices in Poland, 2013–2017. Analyzes Gdańsk Lech Walesa Airport and Warsaw Chopin Airport limited use areas

Currently, FAA law has extremely complicated rules for establishing a noise boundary around airports. (A noise boundary is a geographic area inside which there is a certain acceptable noise level.) This is referred to as the DNL65. and it has several major flaws. The FAA Reauthorization Act Of 2018 attempted to address these flaws in several ways. This letter, from a caucus of Congressmen engaged on airport community issues complains to the Administrator that the spirit of the law is not being adhered to and demands that he make attempts to put his agency into compliance. The language is fairly technical, however there are a couple of basic points they raise: First, that the noise boundary be determined by actual noise measurements (currently the noise boundaries are 'modeled' and those calculations often do not reflect in any way the lived experience for residents.) Second, that the 'acceptable' noise level of sixty five decibels (hence DNL65) has been determined to be far too high to conform with current understandings of healthy living.

Washington State's Substitute House Bill 1847, signed into law on March 25, 2020, expands the aircraft noise abatement programs available to port districts by lowering the threshold for eligibility from airports serving more than 900 scheduled jet flights per day (previously 20). The law also enlarges the geographic 'impacted areas' around runways where noise relief programs—such as soundproofing, property acquisition, and transaction assistance—can be offered, extending coverage from six to ten miles north and up to thirteen miles south of runway ends, and from one to two miles from runway centerlines.

Washington State's Substitute House Bill 1847, signed into law in March 2020, expands the aircraft noise abatement programs available to port districts by lowering the qualifying threshold from 900 to 20 scheduled jet flights per day and extending the geographic boundaries of 'impacted areas' around airport runways. The law allows port districts to pursue noise relief measures—including property acquisition, soundproofing, transaction assistance, and mortgage insurance—for communities affected by aircraft noise. It amends three existing state statutes (RCW 53.54.010, 53.54.020, and 53.54.030) and took effect on June 11, 2020.

This 2020 report examines how noise from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport has changed between 1997 and 2019, focusing on the impact of aircraft takeoffs, landings, and overflights on nearby communities. It explains key noise measurement concepts—including decibels, Sound Exposure Level (SEL), and the Day-Night Average Sound Level (DNL)—and notes that while DNL is the federal regulatory standard used by the FAA, individual SEL events are often what residents find most disruptive. The report highlights a growing tension between how federal agencies measure and regulate aircraft noise and the real-world experience of people living under flight paths.

A 2020 study gathered input from 48 community stakeholders near Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, finding that while residents valued the economic benefits, jobs, and convenient access the airport provides, noise and air quality were the top concerns—especially for those living to the south and west under flight paths. Stakeholders raised issues including late-night flights, NextGen procedures concentrating aircraft noise, ultrafine particle pollution, and the limitations of existing noise mitigation programs. Traffic congestion and potential public health impacts from aircraft emissions were also frequently cited challenges.