The US Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Bill Shuster (R-PA) unveiled his draft FAA Reauthorization Bill last week, which includes language regarding the FAA flight path changes, proposed review of the effects of aircraft noise on communities and a proposed review of certain categorical exclusions like the one used for Sky Harbor.
The proposed legislation includes the following points:
- For RNAV departure procedures, it would require the FAA to consider the feasibility of dispersing flight tracks or other lateral track variations to address community noise concerns. The benefit of these types of departures would “spread the air traffic” over more areas instead of overflights impacting a narrower corridor at each departure.
• It would require notification and consultation with the airport and the communities impacted by any new flight path procedural changes and provide public outreach to the affected communities.
• It would require the FAA to review any procedures that were implemented between February 14, 2012 and September 30, 2014 to determine if the implementation of the procedure has a significant effect on the community. If the results of the review are defined as significant, then the FAA must identify measures to mitigate the effects, and consider different flight paths that do not degrade the efficiencies achieved by the flight paths that were implemented.
This draft bill introduced in the House must seek approval from the House and then the Senate.