U.S. Senate Directs FAA to Report Efforts to Address Aircraft Noise

Popping up in the national news frame, Culver City’s part in objecting to the noise impacts of NextGen at LAX has been noticed by the U.S.Senate, and continues to shift the weight of the legislation. In the FY 2020 Transportation Appropriations bill, the Senate has directed the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to report within 90 days on its efforts to address noise and consider the input of local communities like Culver City.

Culver City is pleased that the United States Senate has again considered their views regarding the adverse impacts of the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) and the increased aircraft noise to which our residents are being subjected.

“We applaud the work done by our congressional delegation, including Senators Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris and Representative Karen Bass, and we look forward to continuing our steadfast advocacy to reduce airplane noise in our community,” said Culver City Mayor Meghan Sahli-Wells. Mayor Sahli-Wells serves on the City Council’s Ad Hoc LAX Subcommittee along with Vice Mayor Göran Eriksson.

Over the last several years, Culver City has aggressively taken steps to mitigate the increased levels of noise being imposed on our residents. The City has received permission from the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to intervene in the lawsuit brought in June 2019 by the City of Los Angeles, challenging changes made by the FAA in three flight paths for arriving aircraft at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). Additionally, the City has engaged a federal advocate in Washington, D.C. to force the FAA to work with City leaders and take steps to improve the aircraft noise exposure we now feel.

This year, in response to the City’s continuing efforts, Congress is continuing to pressure the FAA on aircraft noise. Specifically, the Fiscal Year 2020 Senate Transportation Appropriations bill directs the FAA to:

Improve the development of flight procedures in ways that will give fair consideration to public comment, and reduce noise through procedure modification and dispersion.

Utilize state-of-the-art technologies, metrics, and methodologies to measure actual noise at ground-level experienced in communities affected by flight paths, and not rely solely on computer modeling or other theoretical measures.

Give high priority to evaluating where increased noise levels disrupt homes and businesses and threaten public health and provide appropriate resources to regional offices to work with local communities to achieve this objective.

Submit a report within 90 days that details efforts made by the FAA during the last years to comply with these and earlier directives.

For more information about Culver City’s efforts to address noise from overflights, please visit the City’s website on airplane noise at culvercity.org

City of Culver City

additional text Judith Martin-Straw