I 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5874 
To require the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration to amend 
regulations concerning the day-night average sound level, and for other 
purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 12, 2020 
Ms. MENG (for herself, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Ms. 
BROWNLEY of California, Mr. BEYER, Mr. RASKIN, Ms. JAYAPAL, Mr. 
SUOZZI, Mr. MALINOWSKI, Ms. WATERS, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. JUDY CHU 
of California, Mr. SHERMAN, Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ, Mr. FITZPATRICK, 
Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. LYNCH, and Mr. MEEKS) introduced 
the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation 
and Infrastructure 
A BILL 
To require the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Admin-
istration to amend regulations concerning the day-night 
average sound level, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Decrease Noise Levels 
Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
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(1) The day-night average sound level rep-
resents the total accumulation of all sound energy 
averaged over a 24-hour period. 
(2) The current Federal Aviation Administra-
tion guidelines for the day-night average sound level 
are 65. 
(3) Excessive airplane noise has been shown to 
negatively effect hypertension, heart disease, learn-
ing deficits in children, sleep patterns, sleep quality, 
and overall mood. 
(4) Approximately 10,000,000 Americans who 
are afflicted with some hearing loss can at least par-
tially attribute this damage to exposure from noise. 
(5) Aircraft and airport noise is one of the most 
common ‘‘quality of life’’ nuisance issues in neigh-
borhoods throughout the United States. 
SEC. 3. DAY-NIGHT AVERAGE SOUND LEVEL REDUCTION. 
The Administrator of the Federal Aviation Adminis-
tration shall amend part 150 of title 14, Code of Federal 
Regulations, to decrease the threshold for the day-night 
average sound level to constitute significant noise from 65 
to 60, and adjust relative ranges of day-night average 
sound level accordingly. 
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SEC. 4. COMMUNITY OUTREACH REGARDING DAY-NIGHT 
AVERAGE SOUND LEVELS. 
The Secretary shall ensure that in carrying out com-
munity outreach related to aviation day-night average 
sound levels, such outreach contains the results of the 
evaluation of alternative metrics to the current average 
day-night level standard under section 188 of the FAA 
Reauthorization Act of 2018 and the evaluation of alter-
native metrics carried out under section 173 of such Act. 
SEC. 5. STRATEGY AND REPORTING. 
Not later than 365 days after the date of enactment 
of this Act, the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Ad-
ministration shall create a publicly available report that 
outlines a strategy to reduce the maximum day-night aver-
age sound level in all residential areas to 55 over the 10 
years following the date of enactment of this Act. 
Æ 
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