What This Bill Does
This bill requires the Secretary of Transportation to contract with the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to create a report. The report will identify and recommend a system for measuring airplane noise that works well in residential and high annoyance areas.
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Who It Affects
The Secretary of Transportation and the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine are the primary parties involved in creating this report. Communities living near airports may benefit from improved noise measurement standards.
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Key Provisions
• The Secretary of Transportation must try to make an agreement with the National Academies within 90 days of the bill becoming law to produce the report (Sec. 2(a))
• The proposed noise measurement system must use metrics that reliably categorize noise levels and determine whether areas are compatible for housing and whether they experience high annoyance (Sec. 2(a)(1))
• When creating the report, the National Academies must consult with experts in public health, medicine, sleep, noise, and acoustical engineering (Sec. 2(b)(1))
• The National Academies must review several different ways of measuring aviation noise, including N-Above, T-Above, Time-Above-Ambient, C-weighted dB, and day-night average sound level measurements (Sec. 2(b)(2)(B))
• The report must address whether current noise metrics used for new air transportation systems are appropriate for the new measuring system (Sec. 2(b)(3))
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What Changes
If this becomes law, a formal research report on airplane noise measurement standards will be produced by expert scientists and engineers. The report will provide recommendations for how aviation noise should be measured going forward.
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Important Definitions
None defined in the bill text.
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I
118TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION H. R. 2561
To require the Secretary of Transportation to enter into an agreement with
the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to
produce a report that identifies and recommends a system of measuring
aviation noise, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
APRIL 10, 2023
Mr. LYNCH introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee
on Transportation and Infrastructure
A BILL
To require the Secretary of Transportation to enter into
an agreement with the National Academies of Sciences,
Engineering, and Medicine to produce a report that iden-
tifies and recommends a system of measuring aviation
noise, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
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tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
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This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Peer-Reviewed Report
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on Measuring Metrics and Thresholds’’.
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•HR 2561 IH
SEC. 2. REPORT ON SYSTEM FOR MEASURING AVIATION
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NOISE.
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(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after the
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date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Transpor-
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tation shall seek to enter into an agreement with the Na-
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tional Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
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in which the National Academies shall produce a report
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that identifies and recommends a system of measuring
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aviation noise that—
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(1) with a highly reliable relationship, cat-
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egorizes noise levels to determine compatibility for
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residential areas and high annoyance areas based on
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appropriate metrics; and
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(2) meets the requirements of section 47502(1)
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of title 49, United States Code.
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(b) REQUIREMENTS.—In producing the report re-
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quired under subsection (a), the National Academies
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shall—
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(1) consult—
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(A) multidisciplinary experts from public
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health and medical professions;
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(B) sleep experts;
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(C) noise experts; and
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(D) acoustical engineers; and
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(2) consider—
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•HR 2561 IH
(A)
the
Neighborhood
Environmental
1
Study conducted by the Federal Aviation Ad-
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ministration;
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(B) multiple metrics for measuring avia-
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tion noise, including—
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(i) N-Above;
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(ii) T-Above;
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(iii) Time-Above-Ambient;
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(iv) C-weighted dB; and
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(v) day-night average sound level be-
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tween 40 and 75 dB;
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(C) the difference between local noise envi-
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ronments, including ambient noise, and air-
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craft-induced noise;
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(D) nighttime noise; and
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(E) the effects of frequent and persistent
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noise events and the effects on next generation
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air transportation system technology; and
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(3) address whether the metrics used to deter-
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mine whether a change in noise levels in a next gen-
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eration air transportation system has a significant
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or reportable impact on such system are appropriate
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metrics to be used in the system of measuring avia-
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tion noise described in subsection (a).
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Æ
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