Aviation-Impacted Communities Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 6038 To require the Federal Aviation Administration to provide funding for noise mitigation, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 28, 2020 Mr. SMITH of Washington (for himself, Mr. KHANNA, Ms. JAYAPAL, Mr. GOMEZ, Ms. NORTON, Mr. ROUDA, Mr. RUPPERSBERGER, Mrs. TORRES of California, Mr. KENNEDY, Ms. MENG, Ms. TLAIB, Mr. BEYER, Mr. CASE, and Ms. SCHAKOWSKY) introduced the following bill; which was re- ferred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure A BILL To require the Federal Aviation Administration to provide funding for noise mitigation, 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 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Aviation-Impacted 4 Communities Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. NOISE MITIGATION FOR VERTICAL FENCELINE 6 COMMUNITIES. 7 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, aviation- 8 impacted communities that are not currently within the 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:39 Mar 04, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6038.IH H6038 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 6038 IH 65 DNL standard as measured by the Federal Aviation 1 Administration shall be eligible for the Airport Improve- 2 ment Program noise mitigation program funds and for 3 grants under section 7, and shall also be granted status 4 under section 5 to establish community boards to address 5 airport noise in their communities. 6 SEC. 3. NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES STUDY, FRAME- 7 WORK, AND DIAGNOSTIC TOOL. 8 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall enter 9 into a contract with the National Academy of Sciences to 10 conduct a study that— 11 (1) summarizes the relevant literature and 12 studies done on aviation impacts worldwide; 13 (2) focuses on large hub commercial airports 14 and surrounding communities, including commu- 15 nities currently outside of the 65 DNL contour in— 16 (A) King County, WA; 17 (B) Boston; 18 (C) Chicago; 19 (D) New York City; 20 (E) the Northern California Metroplex; 21 (F) Phoenix; 22 (G) the Southern California Metroplex; 23 (H) the District of Columbia; 24 (I) Atlanta; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:39 Mar 04, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6038.IH H6038 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 6038 IH (J) any other metropolitan large hub air- 1 port identified by the Administrator. 2 (b) CONTENTS.—The study described in subsection 3 (a) shall examine— 4 (1) the collection and consolidation of quantifi- 5 able, observational, experiential, anecdotal, or other 6 data from— 7 (A) the Federal Aviation Administration; 8 (B) airport operators; 9 (C) valid acoustic instrumentation on the 10 ground; 11 (D) testimonials and other evidence from 12 community members; and 13 (E) organizations in the community; 14 (2) the Day-Night Average Sound Level, using 15 measured data or modeled data (or other noise 16 metrics, as applicable); 17 (3) any other existing or supplemental noise 18 metrics from data collected by noise monitor sta- 19 tions; 20 (4) emissions generated by individual and cu- 21 mulative takeoffs and landings, including emissions 22 that impact the ground level; 23 (5) lateral trajectory and altitude of flight 24 paths as demonstrated by actual and comprehensive 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:39 Mar 04, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6038.IH H6038 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 6038 IH radar flight track data in addition to published 1 routes; 2 (6) how aviation impacts communities sur- 3 rounded by multiple airports; 4 (7) how aviation impacts communities with 5 unique geography, including communities situated at 6 higher elevation or near large bodies of water; 7 (8) any other data requested by the impacted 8 community in order to give a comprehensive under- 9 standing of the impacts on such community, includ- 10 ing comparative data for equity analysis; 11 (9) recommendations on actions or mitigation 12 that can be taken to alleviate— 13 (A) concerns raised during community out- 14 reach; and 15 (B) effects that are determined in the 16 study; and 17 (10) any other data or information determined 18 to be relevant by the National Academies in ana- 19 lyzing aviation impacts. 20 (c) FRAMEWORK AND DIAGNOSTIC TOOL.— 21 (1) IN GENERAL.—Using findings from the 22 study, the National Academy of Sciences shall pro- 23 vide the FAA with a framework and diagnostic tool 24 for— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:39 Mar 04, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6038.IH H6038 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 6038 IH (A) conducting appropriate community as- 1 sessments upon request of community boards 2 (including as described in section 5(f)); 3 (B) measuring the impact on communities 4 of— 5 (i) high frequency of overhead flights; 6 (ii) an increase or change in flight op- 7 erations due to adoption of new flight pro- 8 cedures; 9 (iii) high frequency or an increase in 10 night time aircraft noise; and 11 (iv) decreased dispersion of flight path 12 utilization; and 13 (C) developing a scientifically based strat- 14 egy for evaluating structures subject to in- 15 creases described in subparagraph (A)(ii) that 16 should be eligible for noise mitigation. 17 (2) REQUIREMENT.—In developing the frame- 18 work and diagnostic tool under paragraph (1), the 19 National Academy of Sciences shall— 20 (A) seek appropriate community input and 21 feedback from community boards as well as 22 open community meetings; and 23 (B) ensure, to the extent practicable, that 24 such framework and diagnostic tool is under- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:39 Mar 04, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6038.IH H6038 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 6038 IH standable to, and useable by, the community 1 boards and the general public. 2 SEC. 4. DESIGNATING OF COMMUNITIES. 3 (a) OUTREACH.— 4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 5 the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator 6 shall conduct outreach to State, regional, and local 7 elected officials of aviation-impacted communities to 8 inform them of the opportunity to be a designated 9 community. 10 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—The outreach described 11 in paragraph (1) shall— 12 (A) be conducted in local print and elec- 13 tronic media (including social media, local for- 14 eign language media, ethnic radio, newspapers, 15 and television); and 16 (B) reflect languages regularly encountered 17 in the aviation-impacted community in any 18 signs, materials, and multimedia resources. 19 (b) REQUEST.—The State, regional, or local elected 20 officials (or designee thereof) of an aviation impacted com- 21 munity may request to be a designated community, and 22 the Administrator shall— 23 (1) recognize such community as a designated 24 community upon request; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:39 Mar 04, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6038.IH H6038 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 6038 IH (2) acknowledge each community requesting 1 designation on the website of the Federal Aviation 2 Administration. 3 (c) PORTIONS OF COMMUNITY.—The State or local 4 elected officials (or designee thereof) of a designated com- 5 munity, representatives, or a group of representatives cho- 6 sen by a community, shall select the portions or the en- 7 tirety of such community considered aviation-impacted, in- 8 cluding designating the community as a whole should such 9 community so choose. 10 SEC. 5. COMMUNITY BOARDS. 11 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 6 months after the 12 date on which an aviation-impacted community becomes 13 a designated community pursuant to section 4, such des- 14 ignated community shall— 15 (1) select a community board comprised of indi- 16 viduals that equally represent— 17 (A) State, regional, or local elected officials 18 or city managers (or designees thereof); 19 (B) local airport operators; 20 (C) impacted community residents; and 21 (D) the public health and environment; 22 (2) in the case where such designated commu- 23 nity decides to maintain an existing group of pri- 24 marily elected local officials that has previously been 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:39 Mar 04, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6038.IH H6038 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 6038 IH constituted for purposes of working on aviation-re- 1 lated issues, designate such existing group as a com- 2 munity board pursuant to this section, so long as— 3 (A) affected community members who are 4 not airport employees or elected officials have 5 representation on the board; and 6 (B) health and environmental representa- 7 tives are added as needed. 8 (b) MEETINGS.—A community board shall meet at 9 times and places chosen by the members of such board. 10 (c) PURPOSES.—The purpose of a community board 11 is to provide information to airport operators and the Fed- 12 eral Aviation Administration concerning aviation impacts. 13 (d) COLLABORATION.—The Administrator shall— 14 (1) designate an FAA designee; and 15 (2) ensure that representatives of and, when 16 appropriate and upon request of a community board, 17 relevant experts from the Federal Aviation Adminis- 18 tration participate in meetings of a community 19 board. 20 (e) COMMUNITY REPORTS.— 21 (1) IN GENERAL.—A community board may 22 draft a community report detailing the community’s 23 concerns and issues related to aviation impacts. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:39 Mar 04, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6038.IH H6038 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 6038 IH (2) CONTENTS.—A community report may be 1 comprised of, or include, community information, 2 documents, or locally conducted assessments. 3 (f) COMMUNITY ASSESSMENTS.— 4 (1) IN GENERAL.—A community board may pe- 5 tition the Administrator to conduct a community as- 6 sessment, which shall be conducted based on the 7 framework and diagnostic tool established by the 8 National Academy of Sciences under section 3 and 9 the community reports described in subsection (e). 10 (2) LIMITATION.—A community board may pe- 11 tition the Administrator to conduct not more than 1 12 community assessment under paragraph (1) every 3 13 years. 14 (3) EXCEPTION.—Notwithstanding paragraph 15 (2), a community board may petition the Adminis- 16 trator to conduct an additional community assess- 17 ment during the 3-year period described in para- 18 graph (2) if— 19 (A) a study described in part 150 of title 20 14, Code of Federal Regulations, is commis- 21 sioned by an airport with flight paths that af- 22 fect the community represented by the commu- 23 nity board; or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:39 Mar 04, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6038.IH H6038 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 6038 IH (B) if airport operations increase substan- 1 tially above of projected increases. 2 (g) INSTRUMENTATION.—Upon request of a commu- 3 nity board, the Administrator shall provide additional 4 noise measurement instrumentation to measure aircraft 5 noise. 6 (h) COLLABORATION.—The Administrator and each 7 community board that petitions for a community assess- 8 ment shall collaborate on the scope of such community as- 9 sessment. 10 (i) REGIONAL ASSESSMENT.—Upon the request and 11 approval of not less than 2 community boards located in 12 the same region, the FAA may conduct a regional assess- 13 ment based on the framework and diagnostic tool estab- 14 lished by the National Academy of Sciences under section 15 3. 16 (j) ACCESSIBLE FORMAT.—The Administrator shall 17 ensure the community assessment is culturally and lin- 18 guistically accessible given the needs or requests of the 19 community. 20 SEC. 6. ACTION PLANS. 21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 6 months after the 22 date of completion of a community assessment described 23 in section 5(f), the Administrator shall, in collaboration 24 with community boards, devise an action plan that seeks 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:39 Mar 04, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6038.IH H6038 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 6038 IH to alleviate or address the concerns raised in such commu- 1 nity reports or such community assessments. 2 (b) CONTENT.—An action plan shall— 3 (1) include a long-term regional plan that fo- 4 cuses on reducing and minimizing aviation impacts 5 for the designated community or communities, in- 6 cluding sound insulation or other noise mitigation 7 infrastructure, air filtration systems, and changes in 8 flight paths or procedures; and 9 (2) require the appropriate district office of the 10 Federal Aviation Administration and air traffic con- 11 trol facility to consider the implementation of 12 changes to flight operations, flight paths, and 13 vertical guidance if the community assessment de- 14 scribed in section 5(f) indicates that such changes 15 would decrease the impacts on the designated com- 16 munity, including examining the population density 17 in the communities described in such report and as- 18 sessment in considering such implementation. 19 (c) IMPLEMENTATION.—In implementing the action 20 plan, the Administrator will consider the implementation 21 of changes to flight operations, flight paths, and vertical 22 guidance if the community assessment described in section 23 5(f) indicates that such changes would decrease the im- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:39 Mar 04, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6038.IH H6038 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 6038 IH pacts of flights on a designated community (or commu- 1 nities). 2 (d) STATEMENT CONCERNING CERTAIN CHANGES.— 3 If the Administrator determines that changes to oper- 4 ations, flight paths, and vertical guidance that a commu- 5 nity study indicated would decrease the effects on the des- 6 ignated community would not be effective in decreasing 7 community impacts, the Administrator shall explain the 8 rationale for this determination in the action plan. 9 (e) APPEALS PROCESS.— 10 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall es- 11 tablish an appeals process, through which a commu- 12 nity board may appeal the determination by the 13 Federal Aviation Administration not to implement a 14 change under subsection (c) to an independent panel 15 comprised equally of independent public health ex- 16 perts, environmental experts, and aviation experts. 17 (2) RECOMMENDATIONS.—In carrying out para- 18 graph (1), the Administrator shall seek rec- 19 ommendations from the National Academy of 20 Sciences for panel experts described in such para- 21 g [Text truncated for display. 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