LEAVE Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 5112 To establish that no Federal statute is intended to preempt a cause of action against an airport maintained in any State small claims or supe- rior court by any individual or city within 5 miles of an airport when an action is brought for noise or nuisance caused by ground-based noise in violation of a State statute as specified, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES NOVEMBER 14, 2019 Ms. SPEIER (for herself, Ms. ESHOO, Ms. NORTON, and Mr. RASKIN) intro- duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Trans- portation and Infrastructure A BILL To establish that no Federal statute is intended to preempt a cause of action against an airport maintained in any State small claims or superior court by any individual or city within 5 miles of an airport when an action is brought for noise or nuisance caused by ground-based noise in violation of a State statute as specified, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:01 Nov 25, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5112.IH H5112 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 5112 IH SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Low-frequency Ener- 2 getic Acoustics and Vibrations Exasperate Act’’ or the 3 ‘‘LEAVE Act’’. 4 SEC. 2. STANDARD FOR NOISE OR NUISANCE ACTIONS. 5 (a) STANDARD.—Notwithstanding any other provi- 6 sion of law, a standard enforceable in State court may be 7 set by one or more States participating in a study de- 8 scribed in subsection (b) upon publication of such study. 9 (b) STUDY.— 10 (1) IN GENERAL.—One or more States may 11 conduct one or more studies of ground-based noise 12 from aircraft operations at an airport within a 13 State. 14 (2) COLLABORATION.—States may collaborate 15 on developing the methodology and standards for a 16 study under this Act. 17 (3) CONTENT.—A study under this Act shall— 18 (A) identify the amount of ground-based 19 noise emanating from one or more airports in 20 the State or States during the study period; 21 (B) identify the noise level above which 22 there is present a substantial negative impact to 23 residents and businesses within 5 miles of any 24 airport that is studied; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:01 Nov 25, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5112.IH H5112 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 5112 IH (C) identify any diminution of real prop- 1 erty values from those that might otherwise be 2 attained in the absence of the noise that creates 3 a substantial negative impact. 4 (4) BASELINE.—A study under this Act shall 5 identify a baseline value of ground-based noise above 6 which an airport in the study is presumed to be per- 7 mitting an excess of noise to propagate to a commu- 8 nity within 5 miles of an airport. 9 (5) FACTORS.—Recognizing that topography, 10 characteristics of airport construction, weather, and 11 variable air traffic volumes are among many factors 12 affecting the amount of perceived ground-based 13 noise emanating from an airport, a State— 14 (A) need not establish a uniform standard 15 of exceedance for every airport; 16 (B) need not limit its analysis to such fac- 17 tors; and 18 (C) shall establish a reasonable method- 19 ology for establishing such a standard and 20 apply such methodology across the State or 21 States. 22 (6) METHODOLOGY.—The methodology for es- 23 tablishing the standard may take into account— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:01 Nov 25, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5112.IH H5112 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 5112 IH (A) a history of ground-based noise ema- 1 nating from the airport; 2 (B) the reasonable expectations of im- 3 pacted residents for the quiet use and enjoy- 4 ment of owned or rented property; and 5 (C) any other factors that a State con- 6 siders appropriate to reduce substantial nega- 7 tive impacts of noise propagating to a commu- 8 nity within 5 miles of an airport. 9 (7) SETTING ASIDE OF METHODOLOGY OR 10 STANDARD.—A methodology or standard established 11 by a State shall not be set aside unless a Federal 12 court determines such methodology or standard to 13 be arbitrary or capricious. 14 (8) PUBLICATION.—A study described in this 15 subsection shall be published. 16 (c) PREEMPTION.—Congress hereby finds and de- 17 clares that no Federal statute is intended to preempt a 18 cause of action against an airport maintained in any State 19 small claims or superior court, by any individual or city 20 within 5 miles of the airport, when an exceedance of a 21 standard established by a State pursuant to this Act for 22 an airport is averred. 23 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act, the following defini- 24 tions apply: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:01 Nov 25, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5112.IH H5112 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 5112 IH (1) GROUND-BASED NOISE.—The term 1 ‘‘ground-based noise’’ means noise emanating from 2 an aircraft operating on the ground predominately 3 consisting of noise of 200 Hz or below. 4 (2) SUBSTANTIAL NEGATIVE IMPACT.—The 5 term ‘‘substantial negative impact’’ means a noise 6 exceedance that is injurious to health, offensive to 7 the senses, or an obstruction to the free use of prop- 8 erty, and interferes with the comfortable enjoyment 9 of life or property by an entire community or neigh- 10 borhood, or by any considerable number of persons, 11 whether or not the entire community or those con- 12 siderable number of persons participate in the cause 13 of action. 14 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:01 Nov 25, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H5112.IH H5112 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS