I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1047 

To require the Federal Aviation Administration to provide funding for noise 

mitigation, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 14, 2023 

Mr. SMITH of Washington introduced the following bill; which was referred to 

the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

A BILL 

To require the Federal Aviation Administration to provide 

funding for noise mitigation, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Aviation-Impacted 

5 Communities Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. NOISE MITIGATION FOR VERTICAL FENCELINE 

7 COMMUNITIES. 

8 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, aviation9 impacted communities that are not currently within the 

10 65 DNL standard as measured by the Federal Aviation 


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1 Administration shall be eligible for the Airport Improve2 ment Program noise mitigation program funds and for 

3 grants under section 7, and shall also be granted status 

4 under section 5 to establish community boards to address 

5 airport noise in their communities. 

6 SEC. 3. NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES STUDY, FRAME7 WORK, AND DIAGNOSTIC TOOL. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall enter 

9 into a contract with the National Academy of Sciences to 

10 conduct a study that— 

11 (1) summarizes the relevant literature and 

12 studies done on aviation impacts worldwide; 

13 (2) focuses on large hub commercial airports 

14 and surrounding communities, including commu15 nities currently outside of the 65 DNL contour in— 

16 (A) King County, WA; 

17 (B) Boston; 

18 (C) Chicago; 

19 (D) New York City; 

20 (E) the Northern California Metroplex; 

21 (F) Phoenix; 

22 (G) the Southern California Metroplex; 

23 (H) the District of Columbia; 

24 (I) Atlanta; and 


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1 (J) any other metropolitan large hub air2 port identified by the Administrator. 

3 (b) CONTENTS.—The study described in subsection 

4 (a) shall examine— 

5 (1) the collection and consolidation of quantifi6 able, observational, experiential, anecdotal, or other 

7 data from— 

8 (A) the Federal Aviation Administration; 

9 (B) airport operators; 

10 (C) valid acoustic instrumentation on the 

11 ground; 

12 (D) testimonials and other evidence from 

13 community members; and 

14 (E) organizations in the community; 

15 (2) the Day-Night Average Sound Level, using 

16 measured data or modeled data (or other noise 

17 metrics, as applicable); 

18 (3) any other existing or supplemental noise 

19 metrics from data collected by noise monitor sta20 tions; 

21 (4) emissions generated by individual and cu22 mulative takeoffs and landings, including emissions 

23 that impact the ground level; 

24 (5) lateral trajectory and altitude of flight 

25 paths as demonstrated by actual and comprehensive 


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1 radar flight track data in addition to published 

2 routes; 

3 (6) how aviation impacts communities sur4 rounded by multiple airports; 

5 (7) how aviation impacts communities with 

6 unique geography, including communities situated at 

7 higher elevation or near large bodies of water; 

8 (8) any other data requested by the impacted 

9 community in order to give a comprehensive under10 standing of the impacts on such community, includ11 ing comparative data for equity analysis; 

12 (9) recommendations on actions or mitigation 

13 that can be taken to alleviate— 

14 (A) concerns raised during community out15 reach; and 

16 (B) effects that are determined in the 

17 study; and 

18 (10) any other data or information determined 

19 to be relevant by the National Academies in ana20 lyzing aviation impacts. 

21 (c) FRAMEWORK AND DIAGNOSTIC TOOL.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Using findings from the 

23 study, the National Academy of Sciences shall pro24 vide the FAA with a framework and diagnostic tool 

25 for— 


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1 (A) conducting appropriate community as2 sessments upon request of community boards 

3 (including as described in section 5(f)); 

4 (B) measuring the impact on communities 

5 of— 

6 (i) high frequency of overhead flights; 

7 (ii) an increase or change in flight op8 erations due to adoption of new flight pro9 cedures; 

10 (iii) high frequency or an increase in 

11 night time aircraft noise; and 

12 (iv) decreased dispersion of flight path 

13 utilization; and 

14 (C) developing a scientifically based strat15 egy for evaluating structures subject to in16 creases described in subparagraph (A)(ii) that 

17 should be eligible for noise mitigation. 

18 (2) REQUIREMENT.—In developing the frame19 work and diagnostic tool under paragraph (1), the 

20 National Academy of Sciences shall— 

21 (A) seek appropriate community input and 

22 feedback from community boards as well as 

23 open community meetings; and 

24 (B) ensure, to the extent practicable, that 

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1 standable to, and useable by, the community 

2 boards and the general public. 

3 SEC. 4. DESIGNATING OF COMMUNITIES. 

4 (a) OUTREACH.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 

6 the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator 

7 shall conduct outreach to State, regional, and local 

8 elected officials of aviation-impacted communities to 

9 inform them of the opportunity to be a designated 

10 community. 

11 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—The outreach described 

12 in paragraph (1) shall— 

13 (A) be conducted in local print and elec14 tronic media (including social media, local for15 eign language media, ethnic radio, newspapers, 

16 and television); and 

17 (B) reflect languages regularly encountered 

18 in the aviation-impacted community in any 

19 signs, materials, and multimedia resources. 

20 (b) REQUEST.—The State, regional, or local elected 

21 officials (or designee thereof) of an aviation-impacted com22 munity may request to be a designated community, and 

23 the Administrator shall— 

24 (1) recognize such community as a designated 

25 community upon request; and 


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1 (2) acknowledge each community requesting 

2 designation on the website of the Federal Aviation 

3 Administration. 

4 (c) PORTIONS OF COMMUNITY.—The State or local 

5 elected officials (or designee thereof) of a designated com6 munity, representatives, or a group of representatives cho7 sen by a community, shall select the portions or the en8 tirety of such community considered aviation-impacted, in9 cluding designating the community as a whole should such 

10 community so choose. 

11 SEC. 5. COMMUNITY BOARDS. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 6 months after the 

13 date on which an aviation-impacted community becomes 

14 a designated community pursuant to section 4, such des15 ignated community shall— 

16 (1) select a community board comprised of indi17 viduals that equally represent— 

18 (A) State, regional, or local elected officials 

19 or city managers (or designees thereof); 

20 (B) local airport operators; 

21 (C) impacted community residents; and 

22 (D) the public health and environment; 

23 and 

24 (2) in the case where such designated commu25 nity decides to maintain an existing group of priVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:25 Mar 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1047.IH H1047

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1 marily elected local officials that has previously been 

2 constituted for purposes of working on aviation-re3 lated issues, designate such existing group as a com4 munity board pursuant to this section, so long as— 

5 (A) affected community members who are 

6 not airport employees or elected officials have 

7 representation on the board; and 

8 (B) health and environmental representa9 tives are added as needed. 

10 (b) MEETINGS.—A community board shall meet at 

11 times and places chosen by the members of such board. 

12 (c) PURPOSES.—The purpose of a community board 

13 is to provide information to airport operators and the Fed14 eral Aviation Administration concerning aviation impacts. 

15 (d) COLLABORATION.—The Administrator shall— 

16 (1) designate an FAA designee; and 

17 (2) ensure that representatives of and, when 

18 appropriate and upon request of a community board, 

19 relevant experts from the Federal Aviation Adminis20 tration participate in meetings of a community 

21 board. 

22 (e) COMMUNITY REPORTS.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—A community board may 

24 draft a community report detailing the community’s 

25 concerns and issues related to aviation impacts. 


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1 (2) CONTENTS.—A community report may be 

2 comprised of, or include, community information, 

3 documents, or locally conducted assessments. 

4 (f) COMMUNITY ASSESSMENTS.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—A community board may pe6 tition the Administrator to conduct a community as7 sessment, which shall be conducted based on the 

8 framework and diagnostic tool established by the 

9 National Academy of Sciences under section 3 and 

10 the community reports described in subsection (e). 

11 (2) LIMITATION.—A community board may pe12 tition the Administrator to conduct not more than 1 

13 community assessment under paragraph (1) every 3 

14 years. 

15 (3) EXCEPTION.—Notwithstanding paragraph 

16 (2), a community board may petition the Adminis17 trator to conduct an additional community assess18 ment during the 3-year period described in para19 graph (2) if— 

20 (A) a study described in part 150 of title 

21 14, Code of Federal Regulations, is commis22 sioned by an airport with flight paths that af23 fect the community represented by the commu24 nity board; or 


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1 (B) if airport operations increase substan2 tially above of projected increases. 

3 (g) INSTRUMENTATION.—Upon request of a commu4 nity board, the Administrator shall provide additional 

5 noise measurement instrumentation to measure aircraft 

6 noise. 

7 (h) COLLABORATION.—The Administrator and each 

8 community board that petitions for a community assess9 ment shall collaborate on the scope of such community as10 sessment. 

11 (i) REGIONAL ASSESSMENT.—Upon the request and 

12 approval of not less than 2 community boards located in 

13 the same region, the FAA may conduct a regional assess14 ment based on the framework and diagnostic tool estab15 lished by the National Academy of Sciences under section 

16 3. 

17 (j) ACCESSIBLE FORMAT.—The Administrator shall 

18 ensure the community assessment is culturally and lin19 guistically accessible given the needs or requests of the 

20 community. 

21 SEC. 6. ACTION PLANS. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 6 months after the 

23 date of completion of a community assessment described 

24 in section 5(f), the Administrator shall, in collaboration 

25 with community boards, devise an action plan that seeks 


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1 to alleviate or address the concerns raised in such commu2 nity reports or such community assessments. 

3 (b) CONTENT.—An action plan shall— 

4 (1) include a long-term regional plan that fo5 cuses on reducing and minimizing aviation impacts 

6 for the designated community or communities, in7 cluding sound insulation or other noise mitigation 

8 infrastructure, air filtration systems, and changes in 

9 flight paths or procedures; and 

10 (2) require the appropriate district office of the 

11 Federal Aviation Administration and air traffic con12 trol facility to consider the implementation of 

13 changes to flight operations, flight paths, and 

14 vertical guidance if the community assessment de15 scribed in section 5(f) indicates that such changes 

16 would decrease the impacts on the designated com17 munity, including examining the population density 

18 in the communities described in such report and as19 sessment in considering such implementation. 

20 (c) IMPLEMENTATION.—In implementing the action 

21 plan, the Administrator will consider the implementation 

22 of changes to flight operations, flight paths, and vertical 

23 guidance if the community assessment described in section 

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1 pacts of flights on a designated community (or commu2 nities). 

3 (d) STATEMENT CONCERNING CERTAIN CHANGES.— 

4 If the Administrator determines that changes to oper5 ations, flight paths, and vertical guidance that a commu6 nity study indicated would decrease the effects on the des7 ignated community would not be effective in decreasing 

8 community impacts, the Administrator shall explain the 

9 rationale for this determination in the action plan. 

10 (e) APPEALS PROCESS.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall es12 tablish an appeals process, through which a commu13 nity board may appeal the determination by the 

14 Federal Aviation Administration not to implement a 

15 change under subsection (c) to an independent panel 

16 comprised equally of independent public health ex17 perts, environmental experts, and aviation experts. 

18 (2) RECOMMENDATIONS.—In carrying out para19 graph (1), the Administrator shall seek rec20 ommendations from the National Academy of 

21 Sciences for panel experts described in such para22 graph. 

23 (3) REQUIREMENT TO CONVENE.—An inde24 pendent panel convened pursuant to paragraph (1) 

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1 ceipt of an appeal pursuant to such paragraph and 

2 shall respond to such appeal not later than 3 months 

3 after the date on which such panel convenes. 

4 (f) DISSEMINATION.—The panel described in sub5 section (e)(1) shall submit any findings for an appeal de6 scribed in such subsection— 

7 (1) to the public in a culturally and linguis8 tically appropriate fashion given the needs or re9 quests of the community at issue; 

10 (2) to the offices of the Members of Congress 

11 and Senators representing the community at issue; 

12 (3) to the relevant committees of the House of 

13 Representatives and the Senate; and 

14 (4) upon request, to appropriate State, regional, 

15 and local elected officials. 

16 SEC. 7. MITIGATION FUNDING. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

18 release of an action plan pursuant to section 3, the Admin19 istrator shall make grants for necessary noise mitigation 

20 in a designated community for— 

21 (1) residences; 

22 (2) hospitals; 

23 (3) nursing homes and adult or child day care 

24 centers; 

25 (4) schools; 


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1 (5) places of worship; and 

2 (6) other impacted facilities indicated by a com3 munity assessment under section 5(f). 

4 (b) STANDARDS.—Using the framework and diag5 nostic tool developed by the National Academy of Sciences 

6 under section 3, the Administrator shall develop standards 

7 to determine which of the structures in designated commu8 nities described in subsection (a) are eligible for mitigation 

9 funding. 

10 (c) MITIGATION DEFINED.—In this section, the term 

11 ‘‘noise mitigation’’ means any form of mitigation that re12 duces the noise burden for communities, including— 

13 (1) sound insulation of structures; 

14 (2) construction of noise barriers or acoustic 

15 shielding to mitigate ground-level noise; and 

16 (3) other mitigation as indicated by a commu17 nity assessment under section 5(f) or an action plan 

18 under section 6 using the diagnostic tool developed 

19 by the National Academy of Sciences under section 

20 3. 

21 (d) SOUND INSULATION FOR COMMUNITIES SUBJECT

22 TO HIGH FLIGHT FREQUENCY.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Using the framework and di24 agnostic tool developed by the National Academy of 

25 Sciences under section 3, in carrying out an action 


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1 plan described in section 6, the Administrator shall 

2 develop standards for determining which commu3 nities are subject to significant frequency of over4 head flights, which shall be eligible for noise mitiga5 tion funding. 

6 (2) NOISE MITIGATION.—In carrying out an ac7 tion plan described in section 6, the Administrator 

8 and airport operators shall provide grants for noise 

9 mitigation for aviation-impacted communities that 

10 are subjected to a high frequency of flight operations 

11 or from the adoption of new flight procedures (as 

12 determined by the Administrator through the use of 

13 the framework and diagnostic tool developed by the 

14 National Academy of Sciences under section 3). 

15 (e) SOUND INSULATION FOR RESIDENCES IMPACTED

16 BY SIGNIFICANT NIGHT TIME AIRCRAFT NOISE.—In car17 rying out an action plan described in section 6, the Admin18 istrator and airport operators shall provide noise mitiga19 tion for a neighborhood within a 55 or higher DNL con20 tour (or a community that has quality-assured noise meas21 urement data that demonstrate 55 DNL impacts occur22 ring outside the model contour of the aviation environ23 mental design tool of the FAA) in which an airport oper24 ator or the Administrator determines, through the use of 

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1 tional Academy of Sciences under section 3, that signifi2 cant numbers of flight operations are conducted between 

3 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. 

4 SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be appro6 priated out of the Airport and Airway Trust Fund (estab7 lished under section 9502 of the Internal Revenue Code 

8 of 1986) to carry out this Act— 

9 (1) a total of $750,000,000 for fiscal years 

10 2023 through 2032; and 

11 (2) such sums as necessary, but not to exceed 

12 0.25 percent of the annual change in uncommitted 

13 balance of such Trust Fund in a fiscal year, for fis14 cal years after fiscal year 2032. 

15 (b) USE OF FUNDS.—Of any amounts appropriated 

16 for a fiscal year to carry out this Act, the Administrator 

17 shall use such funds— 

18 (1) to make grants under section 7; 

19 (2) in an amount of not more than 5 percent, 

20 to support FAA expenditures required for the ad21 ministration this Act; and 

22 (3) any amounts not expended under paragraph 

23 (1) or (2), to make grants described in section 

24 47117(e)(1)(A) of title 49, United States Code. 


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1 SEC. 9. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

3 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis4 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Federal 

5 Aviation Administration. 

6 (2) AIRCRAFT OPERATION.—The term ‘‘aircraft 

7 operation’’ means a landing or take-off of an aircraft 

8 flight. 

9 (3) AVIATION-IMPACTED COMMUNITY.—The 

10 term ‘‘aviation-impacted community’’ means a com11 munity that is located not greater than 1 mile from 

12 any point at which a commercial or cargo jet route 

13 is 3,000 feet or less above ground level. 

14 (4) COMMERCIAL OR CARGO JET ROUTE.—The 

15 term ‘‘commercial or cargo jet route’’ means a route 

16 that is departing or arriving at a large hub or 

17 metroplex airport, as such terms are defined by the 

18 Administrator. 

19 (5) COMMUNITY.—The term ‘‘community’’ 

20 means any residential neighborhood, locality, munici21 pality, town, or city. 

22 (6) DESIGNATED COMMUNITY.—The term ‘‘des23 ignated community’’ means an aviation-impacted 

24 community that has chosen to be designated pursu25 ant to section 4. 


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1 (7) FAA.—The term ‘‘FAA’’ means the Fed2 eral Aviation Administration. 

3 (8) FAA DESIGNEE.—The term ‘‘FAA Des4 ignee’’ means a community engagement manager or 

5 Regional Ombudsman (as described in section 180 

6 of the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018) that— 

7 (A) works with each community board; 

8 (B) engages in meaningful, solution-driven 

9 dialogue with the community board; and 

10 (C) serves as the liaison between the FAA 

11 and the community board. 

12 (9) IMPACT.—The term ‘‘impact’’ means noise, 

13 air pollution emissions, or any other aviation-related 

14 impact identified by a community coming from an 

15 aircraft and that is affecting a community or its 

16 residents. 

17 (10) ROUTE.—The term ‘‘route’’ includes both 

18 the lateral trajectory and altitude of flight paths as 

19 demonstrated by actual and comprehensive radar 

20 flight track data in addition to published routes. 

Æ 


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