# NEW YORK STATE LEGISLATURE

Michael P. Huerta Acting Administrator Department ofTransportation Federal Aviation Administration 800 Independence Avenue, SW Washington, DC 20591 October 12,2012

Re: Request for Approval ofthe Atlantic Route for Long Island HelicopterTraffic Dear Acting Administrator Huerta: We write you as elected officials from all levels ofgovernment representing the East End ofLong Island. The undersigned are the elected officials at the Federal, State and County levels, all the Town Supervisors, and all the Village Mayors representing all municipalities in the five EastEnd Towns of Suffolk County. We are united in ourposition that, despite significant efforts to mitigate helicopter noise, helicopter noise onthe East End remains a major, unresolved "quality oflife" issue for ourregion, which also adversely impacts a regional economy dependent on tourism and the second-home industry. The current situation remains unsatisfactory. For some local communities, the situation has actually gotten worse during the summer of2012. The focus ofcommunity complaints has centered on helicopter traffic utilizing East Hampton Town Airport. Federal intervention must be a part ofthe solution. We note the FAA formally designated a North Shore Route by rule adopted in July 2012, which was implemented in August 2012. However, no action has been taken by the FAA with regard to an Atlantic Route for the South Shore as was requested by East End local governments and officials by a letter to the FAA dated, June 24, 2010 (attached). We do not need to wait for the end ofthe two-yeartest period for the North ShoreRoute to know thatwe also need a South Shore Route to mitigate East End noise. By this letter, werenew ourrequest for the establishment ofthe Atlantic route. The source ofthe overwhelming majority ofhelicopter noise complaints centers on north-south cross island transits overresidential communities. Most notable are the transits from the North Shore Route to and from East Hampton Airport. No matter how the deck is re-shuffled with regard to these transit routes, there is no acceptable transit route solution to mitigate helicopter noise on the East End. Rather, helicopter noise can only be substantially mitigated by reducing the number ofnorthsouth helicopter transits. The establishment of the mandatory North Shore Route mitigated the impacts of helicopter noise in Nassau County and Western Suffolk by keeping helicopters one mile offshore in the Long Island Sound, butdid nothing to alleviate the problem on the East End. This goal can only be accomplished by the establishment ofboth an Atlantic Route and a North Shore Route. 

### In conclusion, we urge the FAA to act immediately to approve the Atlantic Route proposed in ourJune 24,2010 letter
. Your consideration is greatly appreciated.



### FAA-121018-009Respectfully,

Timothy Bishop Congressman U.S. House ofRepresentatives

# ~~~ Dan Losquadro Assemblyman New York State Assembly

James D
. Dougherty Supervisor Town ofShelter Island

Sean M. Walter Supervisor Town ofRiverhead

## ~hf. 

# }f 

# HP--rv Laura Nolan Mayor Village ofNorth Haven

# ~J/.L Brian Gilbride · Mayor

# Y~iSag**H~bo<**

David Nyce Mayor Village ofGreenport 

### 2

# ~;~ Senator New York State Senate

# ~..L-.:.,....__& Jay Schneiderman Legislator Suffolk County Legislarure

ScottA. Russell Supervisor Town ofSouthold

Anna Throne- Holst Supervisor Town ofSouthampton

Timothy Hogue Mayor Village ofDering Harbor

cc: U.S. Senators Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand enclosure



### FAA-121018-009

# :1-w:£~,**~** Fred W. Thiele, Jr. Assemblyman New York State Assembly

Edward P. Romaine Legisla tor Suffolk County Legislarure

East Hampton Town Councilman Airport Liaison

Christine P. Scalera Councilwoman Town ofSouthampton

Paul F. Rickenbach, Jr. Mayor Village ofEast Hampton

Mark Epley Mayor Village ofSouthampton I e · .............._

### OFFICE OF THE SUPERVISOR Town Hall P.O
. Box970 38 North Ferry Road Shelter Island, NY 11964-0970 James Dougherty Supervisor


### June 24,2010 Federal Aviation Administration Docket Operations M-30 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., Room Wl2

-140 West Building Ground Floor Washington, DC 20590-0001 Dear J. Randolph Babbitt, Phone (631) 749-0015 Fax (631) 749-0728 jdougherty@shelterislandtown.us



### This letter is to express the support ofthe East End Supervisors listed below for the final recommendations ofthe East End HelicopterNoise St2.keholders Group numbered 1through 9 attached to this letter. Docket 20I0-0302. Helicopter flight noise has been an ongoing issue for the East End towns and villages. The efforts ofSenator Schumer and the Stakeholders committee have our full support. Sincerely,

William Wilkinson Supervisor Town ofEast Hampton



### FAA- 121018-009 James Dougherty Supervisor Town ofShelter Island 

### Anna Throne-Holst 

### ScottRussell Supervisor Supervisor Town ofSouthampton Town ofSouthold

### 06-21-2010 Revised Final Recommendations of East End Helicopter Noise Stakeholders Group in response to FAA proposal FAA Docket 2010-0302 Recommendations: 

### The following recommendations shall apply to helicopter traffic to and from East Hampton Airport (HTO), Gabreski Airport (FOK), Southampton Village Heliport (87N) and Montauk Airport (MTP), collectively the East End Airports. 1. There should be two FAA mandatory designated routes for helicopter traffic 

### to and from the East End Airports: a 'South Shore Route' and a 'North Shore Route'. This is essential in order 

### to accommodate the important southerly transition routes from HTO and the other East End Airports and to equitably distribute the volume ofhelicopter traffic using the North and South Shore routes. 2. The FAA should establish procedures in coordination with East End Airports to monitor and enforce compliance with the proposed routes. 3. 

### When departing from either ofthe two Shore Routes transiting to/from any East End Airport or traversing the area between the two Routes, a minimum altitude of 3000 ft. for any helicopter must be achieved as quickly as

### possible and maintained until within the approach area ofthe destination airport. 4. 

### The South Shore Route requires a 'helicopter only flight layer' at 

### JFK between 500-800 ft 

### and above the current VFR corridor to encourage a 

### fair portion of traffic to take this Route. This layer would be similar to the current SFRA Hudson River Rules. 5. The North Shore Route 

### to HTO and MTP should only permit transit to the east of Plum Gut, then over water to 

### the maximum extent possible, directly to 

### and from HTOandMTP. 

### 6. Both North Shore and South Shore Routes should require helicopters to 

### fly not less than one mile from the shore. 7. All helicopter traffic using East End Airports must follow protocols and noise abatement procedures as established for each airport to manage helicopter traffic. 

### 8. HTO and FOK airports should be empowered either directly or via the FAA to manage flight concentrations and nighttime/early morning flights. 

### 9. The foregoing provisions are inter-independent and inseparable and are supported only ifadopted in their entirety.


### June 21, 2010 KC/DMK



### FAA-121018-009I

- ___J 

### Fw: Letterto Mr. Huerta Scott Gore to: Lisa D Walker, Gladys L Stuart Cc: Brian Langdon, Roderick D Hall
Please load for response. Thx. Scott Sent from my Blackberry



### From: "Longwell, Oliver" [Oiiver.Longwell@mail.house.gov] Sent: I0115/2012 02:31 PM AST To: Scott Gore Subject: 

### L etter to Mr. 

### Huerta Hi Scott, 10/15/2012 05:43PM

For the time being, I am helping out with FAA issues and wanted to bring this letterfrom Congressman Bishop and a group of local elected officials to your attention in the hope that it could be brought to Acting Director Huerta's attention and a reply sent as quickly as possible. Please let me know ifyou have any questions.

Oliver Longwell Communications Director-- Congressman Tim Bishop Office: 

### (631) 289

-6500 Mobile: 

### (202) 225-3645 Sign up for Congressman Bishop's e-Newsletter 

# 9
,,._**~** FAALetter

.pdf



### FAA-121018-009