The Transportation & Infrastructure Subcommittee on Aviation which has jurisdiction over the Federal Aviation Administration held the hearing on March 17th titled Aviation Noise and Measuring Progress in Addressing Community Concerns. We appreciated the Chair’s comprehensive introductory comments and important questions raised. With the exception of the Government Accountability Office, the witnesses on Thursday were not community voices so we very much appreciate that the Chair of the Committee gave all House Members beyond the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee an opportunity to submit written testimony for inclusion in the record.
CALL TO ACTION!
We need YOU to add community perspectives to the record:
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Palo Alto residents, click HERE by 5 PM March 30th to submit comments.
- All cities, send your input via your respective Members of Congress.
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MidPeninsula residents in Representative Anna Eshoo’s district, the Congresswoman sent this letter - if you are in her district use the link HERE to submit comments.
This is the beginning of a process that leads to the 2023 FAA Reauthorization which is how the FAA is funded.
The FAA and industry witnesses on Thursday painted mostly a picture of “progress” which is not the reality that communities have experienced. The testimonies looked more to justify continued funding of the status quo and themselves. There was not enough coverage of the FAA holding scientific evidence since 2016 that invalidates all of the FAA’s environmental assumptions for airspace actions. Or that the FAA has not indicated any details to communities about how this fundamental problem is being addressed - except to delay the FAA’s “policy review” which they delayed again during the hearing. The response to GAO’s recommendations were due on March 27th and now they appear to have been moved to “by the end of 2022.” No attention was given to the issue that the agency is not fulfilling responsibilities to comply with national environmental policy but is instead hiding behind the “policy review” while moving forward with actions that negatively affect people and the natural environment.
When you testify, please share your observations about whether the FAA has made progress in addressing your concerns; what still needs to be corrected, and if you have specific legislative improvements and investments that you would like to see Congress make, to change the FAA’s environmental accountability.