NEWS FROM QUIET SKIES SANTA MONICA MOUNTAINS
OUR VOICES ARE BEING HEARD OVER THE AIRCRAFT NOISE!
MEMBERS OF CONGRESS REQUEST GAO STUDY OF NEXT GEN:
Reps. Adam Schiff, Brad Sherman, and Peter DeFazio, Chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure have requested that the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) investigate how the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has handled aviation noise impacts while implementing the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) in major metropolitan areas. An additional 26 Members of Congress signed the letter, including our Congressional Representative for the 33rd District, Ted W. Lieu.
They are asking the GAO to “review how the FAA measures aircraft noise, how it evaluates and mitigates noise impacts, and the extent to which the FAA conducts public outreach and responds to public comments regarding noise impacts.”
The GAO is a nonpartisan watchdog agency, part of the legislative branch, that has broad authority to investigate and evaluate the results of government programs.
The study is intended to address the significant noise disruptions that residents in the SoCal Metroplex and elsewhere throughout the country have experienced after the FAA changed aerial navigation routes and procedures as part of the NextGen project. If accepted by the GAO, it will also provide recommendations to ensure that, moving forward, the FAA is responsive to community concerns.
You can read the full text of the 6-18-19 letter here: https://schiff.house.gov/imo/media/doc/2019-06-19%20GAO%20noise%20study%20request%20letter.pdf
This is just the kind of investigation we’ve all been clamoring for!
–Alicia Gonzalez (Chair, Quiet Skies SMM)
Hold a good thought and keep registering your noise complaints.