NextGen Flight Path Review and Notification Act of 2016

To amend the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 with respect to categorical exclusions granted for next generation flight procedures, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the NextGen Flight Path Review and Notification Act of 2016 2. Review and notification of categorical exclusions granted for next generation flight procedures Section 213(c) of the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 ( 49 U.S.C. 40101 (3) Notifications and consultations As part of the process to apply a categorical exclusion under this subsection, the Administrator shall— (A) notify and consult with the operator of the airport at which the new procedure would be implemented regarding appropriate community involvement practices; and (B) consider consultations or other engagement with the community in which the airport is located to inform the public of the new procedure. (4) Review of certain categorical exclusions (A) In general The Administrator shall review each decision of the Administrator made between February 14, 2012, and September 30, 2014, to grant a categorical exclusion under this subsection with respect to a procedure to be implemented at an OEP airport that was a material change from procedures previously in effect at the airport to determine if the implementation of the procedure had a significant effect on the human environment in the community in which the airport is located. (B) Content of review If, in conducting a review under subparagraph (A) with respect to a procedure implemented at an OEP airport, the Administrator, in consultation with the operator of the airport, determines that implementing the procedure had a significant effect on the human environment in the community in which the airport is located, the Administrator shall— (i) consult with the operator of the airport to identify measures to mitigate the effect of the procedure on the human environment; and (ii) in conducting such consultations, consider the use of alternative flight paths that do not substantially degrade the efficiencies achieved by the implementation of the procedure being reviewed. (C) Human environment defined In this paragraph, the term human environment .

Summary: NextGen Flight Path Review and Notification Act of 2016 This bill amends the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 to require the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), as part of the process of applying a categorical exclusion to a new Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) flight path procedure at an Operational Evolution Partnership (OEP) airport (a commercial U.S. airport with significant activity), to: notify and consult with the operator of the airport, and consider consultations or other engagement with the community in which the airport is located to inform the public of the new procedure. The FAA shall review each decision that it made between February 14, 2012, and September 30, 2014, to grant a categorical exclusion with respect to a procedure to be implemented at an OEP airport that was a material change from procedures previously in effect to determine if implementation of the procedure had a significant effect on the human environment in the community in which the airport is located. If, in conducting such a review, the FAA determines that implementing the procedure had such a significant effect, it shall: consult with the operator of the airport to identify measures to mitigate the effect, and consider the use of alternative flight paths that do not substantially degrade the efficiencies of the new procedure.