I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2533 To amend title 49, United States Code, to allow additional funds to be provided under the airport improvement program for certain noise mitiga- tion projects, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 6, 2023 Mr. SMITH of Washington introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure A BILL To amend title 49, United States Code, to allow additional funds to be provided under the airport improvement pro- gram for certain noise mitigation projects, 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 ‘‘Sound Insulation 4 Treatment Repair and Replacement Program Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:39 Apr 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2533.IH H2533 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 2533 IH SEC. 2. SOUND INSULATION REPAIR AND REPLACEMENT 1 PROJECTS. 2 (a) GOVERNMENT SHARE.—Section 47109 of title 3 49, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end 4 the following: 5 ‘‘(g) SPECIAL RULE FOR SOUND INSULATION RE- 6 PAIR AND REPLACEMENT.—With respect to a project to 7 carry out sound insulation that is granted a waiver under 8 section 47110(j), the allowable project cost for such 9 project shall be calculated without consideration of any 10 costs that were previously paid by the Government.’’. 11 (b) SOUND INSULATION TREATMENT REPAIR AND 12 REPLACEMENT PROJECTS.—Section 47110 of title 49, 13 United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 14 following: 15 ‘‘(j) SPECIAL RULE FOR SOUND INSULATION TREAT- 16 MENT REPAIR AND REPLACEMENT PROJECTS.— 17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall provide 18 a one-time waiver of the requirement of subsection 19 (b)(4) for a qualifying airport as applied to projects 20 to carry out repair and replacement of sound insula- 21 tion for a residential building for which the airport 22 previously received Federal assistance or federally 23 authorized airport assistance under this subchapter 24 if— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:39 Apr 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2533.IH H2533 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 2533 IH ‘‘(A) the Secretary determines that the ad- 1 ditional assistance is justified due to— 2 ‘‘(i) increased aircraft noise, as deter- 3 mined by the Administrator of the Federal 4 Aviation Administration; or 5 ‘‘(ii) the residence containing sound 6 insulation treatments or other type of 7 sound proofing material previously in- 8 stalled under this subchapter that is deter- 9 mined to be eligible pursuant to paragraph 10 (2); and 11 ‘‘(B) the building or other structure— 12 ‘‘(i) falls within the Day Night Level 13 (DNL) 65 standard according to the most 14 recent noise exposure map, as such term is 15 defined in section 150.7 of title 14, Code 16 of Federal Regulations; or 17 ‘‘(ii) fell within such standard at the 18 time the initial noise mitigation was car- 19 ried out and an FAA compliant noise audi- 20 tor has determined that— 21 ‘‘(I) such sound insulation treat- 22 ment caused physical damage to the 23 residence; or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:39 Apr 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2533.IH H2533 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •HR 2533 IH ‘‘(II) the materials used for 1 sound insulation treatment were of 2 low quality and have deteriorated, 3 broken, or otherwise no longer func- 4 tion as intended. 5 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBILITY DETERMINATION.—To be eli- 6 gible for waiver under this subsection for repair or 7 replacement of sound insulation treatment projects, 8 an applicant shall— 9 ‘‘(A) ensure that the applicant and the 10 property owner exhaust any amounts available 11 through warranties, insurance coverage, and 12 legal remedies for the sound insulation treat- 13 ment previously installed on the eligible resi- 14 dence; and 15 ‘‘(B) demonstrate that an FAA compliant 16 noise auditor conducted an inspection of the 17 residences and determined that— 18 ‘‘(i) the sound insulation for which 19 Federal assistance was previously provided 20 has resulted in structural deterioration 21 that was not caused by failure of the prop- 22 erty owner to repair or adequately main- 23 tain the residential building or through the 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:39 Apr 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2533.IH H2533 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •HR 2533 IH negligence of the applicant or the property 1 owner; and 2 ‘‘(ii) the condition of sound insulation 3 treatment described in subparagraph (A) is 4 not attributed to actions taken by an 5 owner or occupant of the residence. 6 ‘‘(3) ADDITIONAL AUTHORITY FOR PERIODIC 7 SURVEYS.—Notwithstanding any other provision of 8 law, the Secretary shall consider a cost allowable 9 under this subchapter for an airport to conduct peri- 10 odic surveys of properties in which repair and re- 11 placement of sound insulation was carried out as de- 12 scribed in paragraph (1) and for which the airport 13 previously received Federal assistance or federally 14 authorized airport assistance under this subchapter. 15 Such surveys shall be carried out to identify any 16 properties described in the preceding sentence that 17 are eligible for funds under this subsection.’’. 18 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:39 Apr 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2533.IH H2533 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB