 Agitate!
|
[Updated October 5, 2005]
| Agitate!
|
[Updated October 5, 2005]
Airport noise cannot be stopped, short of closing down an airport. But it can be mitigated. Getting to that point is an extremely complex process that has ground down many citizens who ultimately decided to "get a life" away from endless meetings with airport and FAA officials. Suing the airport for monetary damages may offer sweet revenge to some -- and perhaps make noise more expensive to the airport -- but it's not likely to make your community more livable.
Seasoned veterans will say that it's impossible under the present regime to even deal directly with noise as a problem because of the elaborate regulations spun by the Federal Aviation Administration. The real problem, they will tell you, is understanding these regulations well enough to be able to match wits with FAA and airport officials. Oh boy! Get a life!
What to do? You alone cannot attack airport noise -- not even with the help of your next-door neighbor. You and your community will get nowhere in mitigating airport noise to a livable level until you organize on a massive scale. If airport noise bothers only a handful of people in your community, forget it -- move out. But if the lives of a significant segment of your community are disrupted by aircraft noise, you've got the potential power to do something.
This section of "Airport Noise Law" has links to the essential information you will need to become effective in ending unreasonable aircraft noise. Because grassroots organizations quickly disintegrate in the face of the complexity of the bureaucracy and regulations surrounding aircraft noise, we plan to describe in plain language the key airport actions that active citizens should focus on, such as:
This section is necessarily always evolving. We want to post information that is useful today -- the details of proven political strategies, as well as ways of getting results from the FAA and airports. If there are specific topics you want covered here, or you have experience to share, send e-mail to the Web Editor.
About Nonprofit Organizations -- Incorporation limits the legal liability of individuals in the group and creates strong accountability both within the organization and toward the community at large. However, many respected community-based organizations are unincorporated associations.
Homeowner Associations -- Homeowner associations can be effective advocates for airport noise mitigation if a significant enough portion of homes are affected by noise. In fact, it can be argued that directors of homeowner associations have a fiduciary duty to protect members' homes from devaluation due to airport noise. A California Court of Appeals has ruled that homeowner associations may contribute to political action committees that lobby against airport expansion -- see Finley v. Superior Court Orange County. In this case several homeowner associations in Orange County, California contributed over half a million dollars in two years to support a county ballot measure that would have prevented conversion of a closed military base into a commercial public airport.
Know the Technical Lingo -- become familiar with some fundamental concepts so you don't get bamboozled by technocrats.
Know Key Statutes and Regulations -- you only need to be familiar with a small number of statutes and regulations to understand in principle the complex framework of regulations governing airports. See especially Acts of Congress Relevant to Airport Noise Control.
Know Where to Get Answers
Communicate with Others Working on the Issue
History of U.S. Legislation Concerning Airport Noise
History of Aircraft Noise Regulation in the U.S. to 1981
What Happened to the Noise Control Act of 1972? -- The EPA's Office of Noise Abatement and Control was charged by Congress with implementing the Noise Control Act of 1972. After ONAC was effectively put out of business by the Reagan Administration, does the Noise Control Act have any real effect? See Creation of ONAC and The Defunding of ONAC
Disclosure of Identity of Noise Complainants -- Is the public owner of an airport required to disclose the identity of airport noise complainants if requested? The question depends in large part on whether the state has an equivalent of the federal Freedom of Information Act. Many people will not register complaints of any kind unless they can do so anonymously. In California the question whether the privacy of complainants is stronger than any public right to access government records was first addressed in California Attorney General Opinion 94-903 (1995), which proposed a balancing test for deciding the question. The issue was later addressed by an appellate court in City of San Jose v. Superior Court (San Jose Mercury News) (1999), which concluded that a newspaper was not entitled to know the names, addresses, and telephone numbes of persons complaining about noise to San Jose International Airport.
Using Mediation to Reduce Airport Noise Levels
Letters of Agreement with the FAA -- an airport can request from FAA air traffic control that it follow specific noise-mitigation measures. If the FAA agrees, the airport and FAA should sign a letter of agreement to document the measures.
Financing Airport Expansion
FAA publications -- valuable information for community leaders who want to understand the FAA's rules and policies on airport noise. See especially the FAA Advisory Circulars.
FAA and Noise Abatement -- the agency gets to veto any initiatives to control noise (with some important exceptions), but has no responsibility to reduce noise. See the following:
FAA Funds for Noise Abatement -- the FAA doles out billions of dollars under two programs -- the Airport Improvement Program (AIP) and Passenger Facility Charge (PFC) Program -- to buy out private property in the way of airport expansion and to insulate homes and schools from the ravages of aircraft noise. For more information see "Airport Improvement Program" in Website Index.
National Airspace System Architecture is the FAA's comprehensive plan for the future. The original document (version 4.0) was completed in 1998 and published January 1999. The "NAS Architecture" is updated at the website.
Strategies to Evaluate Aircraft Routing Plans -- a report issued in January 1999 by an independent study group following heated political debate over the responsiveness of the Federal Aviation Administration to complaints from various communities in New Jersey about overflight noise.
Computer Models -- Computer models are used to estimate increases in aircraft noise due to airport development. For a review of the major computer models in use in the United States, see Airspace and Noise Impact Modeling. The following documents are the basis for aircraft noise models used by official agencies today:
Air Traffic Noise Screening Model -- "ATNS" assists in determining whether a change in air traffic procedure -- for airport arrivals and departures between 3,000 and 10,000 feet AGL -- will generate a 5 dB(A) increase in noise to underlying communities and therefore is likely to be controversial.
Area Equivalent Method -- AEM is a screening model, used to decide whether more extensive noise analysis is necessary.
INM and HNM -- The Integrated Noise Model (INM) and Heliport Noise Model (HNM) are the standard methodologies approved by the FAA for predicting noise levels from aircraft. Like all mathematical models, they are based on arguable assumptions.
Noise Integrated Routing System -- "NIRS," developed by the FAA and released in 1998, analyzes the noise impacts of air traffic changes over broad areas. It can handle multiple airports and thousands of routes. For information, see the FAA's NIRS website.
Regional Industrial Multiplier System (RIMS) -- this model, developed by the U.S. Department of Commerce, calculates the direct, indirect, and "induced" economic benefits of an airport. It is a standard model approved by the FAA.
Airport Noise and Residential Property Value -- owners of property next to an airport may have a claim against the airport owner for loss of value on their property due to noise and overflight.
Airport Noise and Capacity Act of 1990
FAA Policy Statements on ANCA and the Implementing Regulations (14 CFR Part 161) -- quotations from FAA documents showing how the FAA understands ANCA.
Wendell Ford's Edsel, Or How to Delight the Lobbyists and Enrage the Citizens -- 1991 editorial on the passage of ANCA.
The Consequences of ANCA as Seen in 1990.
Noise Abatement and Control: Overview of Federal Standards and Regulations -- A brief paper prepared by the Congressional Research Service.
State Aviation Statutes -- Although states cannot control aircraft in flight, they can and do regulate the planning and operation of airports and many aviation-related matters.
Suing Your Airport in Small Claims Court -- Going to court is usually a bad idea. Taking your fight from the streets to the courts usually saps your resources, diverts your attention away from your real strength, throws you into an arena where your adversaries have the advantage, and ties you up for years in boring technical arguments. But, if you must, there's an easy way.