Reduce Excessive Decibels and Unwanted Commotion and Emissions to Heighten Enforcement and Limitation of Intrusive Chopper Operations to Protect Towns and Enhance Residents from Noise Act of 2023

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3921 To amend title 49, United States Code, to facilitate information sharing between helicopter operators and the Administrator of the Federal Avia- tion Administration regarding helicopter noise complaints, to establish additional requirements on individuals and entities that register a heli- copter, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 7, 2023 Mr. PASCRELL (for himself, Mr. BEYER, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. NADLER, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Mr. BOWMAN, Ms. NORTON, and Mr. RASKIN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure A BILL To amend title 49, United States Code, to facilitate informa- tion sharing between helicopter operators and the Admin- istrator of the Federal Aviation Administration regarding helicopter noise complaints, to establish additional re- quirements on individuals and entities that register a helicopter, 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 ‘‘Reduce Excessive Deci- 4 bels and Unwanted Commotion and Emissions to Height- 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:15 Jul 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3921.IH H3921 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 3921 IH en Enforcement and Limitation of Intrusive Chopper Op- 1 erations to Protect Towns and Enhance Residents from 2 Noise Act of 2023’’ or the ‘‘REDUCE HELICOPTER 3 Noise Act of 2023’’. 4 SEC. 2. HELICOPTER NOISE COMPLAINT ENFORCEMENT. 5 Section 46301 of title 49, United States Code, is 6 amended by striking ‘‘or section 47133’’ and inserting 7 ‘‘section 47133, or section 47512’’. 8 SEC. 3. HELICOPTER NOISE COMPLAINT INFORMATION 9 SHARING DATABASE. 10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter I of chapter 475 of 11 title 49, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 12 end the following new section: 13 ‘‘§ 47512. Helicopter noise complaint information 14 sharing database 15 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of the Fed- 16 eral Aviation Administration shall establish and maintain 17 a database for the Aircraft Noise Ombudsman to receive, 18 collect, and provide access to information regarding heli- 19 copter noise complaints in accordance with this section. 20 ‘‘(b) SUBMISSIONS.— 21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Aircraft Noise Om- 22 budsman shall establish a process to receive com- 23 plaint information in accordance with paragraphs 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:15 Jul 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3921.IH H3921 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 3921 IH (2) and (3) for the input of complaint information 1 as required by subsection (c). 2 ‘‘(2) REQUIRED SUBMISSIONS.—Such process 3 shall provide that, not later than 48 hours after an 4 owner or operator of a helicopter receives a com- 5 plaint from an individual, regardless of whether the 6 owner or operator who received such complaint is 7 the subject of that complaint, such owner or oper- 8 ator shall submit to the Aircraft Noise Ombudsman 9 such information provided in the complaint and any 10 other information as may be specified by the Air- 11 craft Noise Ombudsman, including— 12 ‘‘(A) whether such owner or operator is the 13 subject of the complaint; and 14 ‘‘(B) to the extent that the owner or oper- 15 ator is the subject of the complaint that is 16 being submitted, a description of any action 17 such owner or operator is taking or plans to 18 take to address the complaint. 19 ‘‘(3) PUBLIC SUBMISSIONS.—Such process shall 20 provide for a mechanism by which individuals may 21 directly submit a complaint pertaining to helicopter 22 noise to the Aircraft Noise Ombudsman. 23 ‘‘(c) INPUTS REQUIRED.—Not later than 48 hours 24 after receiving a submission described in paragraphs (2) 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:15 Jul 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3921.IH H3921 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •HR 3921 IH and (3) of subsection (b), the Aircraft Noise Ombudsman 1 shall— 2 ‘‘(1) determine which owner or operator is the 3 subject of the submission; 4 ‘‘(2) determine whether the complaint that is 5 the subject of such submission is meritorious; and 6 ‘‘(3) input, with respect to any claim deter- 7 mined to be meritorious under paragraph (2), infor- 8 mation pertaining to such submission into the data- 9 base established by subsection (a). 10 ‘‘(d) ACCESS.— 11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of the 12 Federal Aviation Administration shall provide access 13 to the database established by subsection (a) to own- 14 ers or operators of helicopters to view submissions of 15 complaints pertaining to such owners or operators. 16 ‘‘(2) PRIVACY AND INDICATIONS OF ACTIONS 17 BEING TAKEN.—Access pursuant to paragraph (1) 18 may be extended only to the extent necessary for an 19 owner or operator to— 20 ‘‘(A) view information included in submis- 21 sions pertaining to such owner or operator; and 22 ‘‘(B) pursuant to subsection (e)(2), add in- 23 formation relating to actions that may be taken 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:15 Jul 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3921.IH H3921 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •HR 3921 IH or intended to be taken to address such com- 1 plaints. 2 ‘‘(e) NOTIFICATION.— 3 ‘‘(1) NOTIFICATION BY AIRCRAFT NOISE OM- 4 BUDSMAN.—In the case the Aircraft Noise Ombuds- 5 man inputs a complaint into the database that was 6 not submitted by an owner or operator of a heli- 7 copter that is the subject of the complaint, not later 8 than 48 hours after such complaint is so inputted, 9 the Aircraft Noise Ombudsman shall notify such 10 owner or operator that the complaint has been input 11 into the database. 12 ‘‘(2) RESPONSE BY OWNER OR OPERATOR.— 13 Not later than 48 hours of being notified of a com- 14 plaint pursuant to paragraph (1), that is a meri- 15 torious complaint, as determined by the Aircraft 16 Noise Ombudsman, an owner or operator of a heli- 17 copter shall input into the database an indication as 18 to whether such owner or operator is taking an ac- 19 tion to address such complaint. 20 ‘‘(f) EXCEPTION.—Subsections (b)(2), (d), and (e) 21 shall not apply with respect to complaints relating to heli- 22 copters owned or operated by a military department (as 23 defined in section 102 of title 5) or the Coast Guard. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:15 Jul 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3921.IH H3921 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •HR 3921 IH ‘‘(g) REPORT.—Not later than 2 years after the date 1 of enactment of this section, the Administrator of the Fed- 2 eral Aviation Administration shall submit to the Com- 3 mittee on Transportation and Infrastructure for the 4 House of Representatives and the Committee on Com- 5 merce, Science, and Transportation for the Senate a re- 6 port that includes the following: 7 ‘‘(1) The number of complaints received by the 8 Aircraft Noise Ombudsman that were then directed 9 to the owner or operator of a helicopter who was the 10 subject of such complaint. 11 ‘‘(2) The number of complaints received by the 12 Aircraft Noise Ombudsman in which the appropriate 13 owner or operator of a helicopter could not be identi- 14 fied. 15 ‘‘(3) The number of complaints received by the 16 Aircraft Noise Ombudsman that were reported by— 17 ‘‘(A) an owner or operator of a helicopter; 18 and 19 ‘‘(B) an individual. 20 ‘‘(4) The number of instances an owner or op- 21 erator of a helicopter indicated such owner or oper- 22 ated took an action to address a complaint.’’. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:15 Jul 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3921.IH H3921 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7 •HR 3921 IH (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The analysis of sub- 1 chapter I of chapter 475 of title 49, United States Code, 2 is amended by adding at the end the following: 3 ‘‘47512. Helicopter noise complaint information sharing database.’’. SEC. 4. HELICOPTER REGISTRATION REQUIREMENTS. 4 Section 44102 of title 49, United States Code, is 5 amended by adding at the end the following new sub- 6 section— 7 ‘‘(c) SUBMISSION AND VERIFICATION OF INFORMA- 8 TION.— 9 ‘‘(1) INDIVIDUALS.—Any individual who has 10 registered a helicopter under subsection (a), and any 11 individual who has an ownership interest of at least 12 10 percent in a helicopter registered under such sub- 13 section, shall submit to the Administrator the name, 14 address, date of birth, driver’s license or pilot’s li- 15 cense, or both, of such individual, and any informa- 16 tion necessary as determined by the Administrator. 17 ‘‘(2) ENTITIES.—Any entity that has registered 18 a helicopter under subsection (a), and any entity 19 that has an ownership interest of at least 10 percent 20 in a helicopter registered under such subsection, 21 shall submit to the Administrator the name, physical 22 address, principal place of business, and taxpayer 23 identification number of such entity, and any infor- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:15 Jul 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3921.IH H3921 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 8 •HR 3921 IH mation necessary as determined by the Adminis- 1 trator. 2 ‘‘(3) VERIFICATION.—The Administrator shall 3 verify the information submitted and eligibility of 4 entities registered under this subsection through an 5 independent review.’’. 6 SEC. 5. DEALERS’ CERTIFICATES OF REGISTRATION. 7 Section 44104 of title 49, United States Code, is 8 amended— 9 (1) by striking ‘‘The Administrator’’ and insert- 10 ing the following: 11 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator’’; 12 (2) in paragraph (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 13 end; 14 (3) in paragraph (2) by striking the period and 15 inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 16 (4) by adding at the end the following: 17 ‘‘(3) in the public interest for verifying any in- 18 formation dealers submit for the issuance of a deal- 19 er’s certificate. 20 ‘‘(b) INFORMATION FOR THE ISSUANCE OF DEALERS’ 21 CERTIFICATES.—For any regulations prescribed under 22 subsection (a)(2) for the issuance of a dealer’s certificate 23 of registration, the Administrator shall additionally re- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:15 Jul 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3921.IH H3921 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 9 •HR 3921 IH quire the dealer to furnish such information as may be 1 required by the Administrator.’’. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:15 Jul 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3921.IH H3921 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB