Title: Aviation-Impacted Communities Act
Policy area: Transportation and Public Works

Summary:
Aviation-Impacted Communities Act
This bill directs the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to conduct outreach to community leaders of aviation-impacted communities to inform them of the opportunity to be a designated community. An "aviation-impacted community" is a community that is located not more than one mile from any point at which a commercial or cargo jet route is 3,000 feet or less above ground level.
The FAA must devise an action plan that alleviates or addresses the concerns of a designated community. It may also make grants for necessary noise mitigation in a designated community for residences, hospitals, nursing homes, and schools.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6168 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6168

To assist aviation-impacted communities in mitigating the noise burden 
    that they face and to increase Federal Aviation Administration 
 engagement and responsiveness to communities, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 20, 2018

  Mr. Smith of Washington (for himself, Mr. Jeffries, Ms. Speier, Ms. 
    Norton, Mr. Lynch, Ms. Jayapal, and Mr. Khanna) introduced the 
 following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation 
                           and Infrastructure

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To assist aviation-impacted communities in mitigating the noise burden 
    that they face and to increase Federal Aviation Administration 
 engagement and responsiveness to communities, and for other purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Aviation-Impacted Communities Act''.

SEC. 2. DESIGNATED COMMUNITIES.

    (a) Outreach.--Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment 
of this Act, the Administrator shall conduct outreach to community 
leaders of aviation-impacted communities to inform them of the 
opportunity to be a designated community.
    (b) Request.--The governing body or the designated representative 
or representatives of an aviation-impacted community may request to be 
a designated community, and the Administrator shall recognize such 
community as a designated community upon request.
    (c) Portions of Community.--The governing body of a designated 
community, representatives, or a group of representatives chosen by a 
community, shall select the portions of such community that shall be 
considered aviation-impacted, including designating the community as a 
whole should they so choose.

SEC. 3. COMMUNITY BOARDS.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 6 months after the date on which a 
community becomes a designated community pursuant to section 1, such 
designated community shall--
            (1) select local airport operators, local elected leaders, 
        and community representatives to serve on a community board; or
            (2) in the case where such designated community decides to 
        maintain an existing group of primarily elected local officials 
        that has previously been constituted for purposes of working on 
        aviation-related issues, designate such existing group as a 
        community board pursuant to this section.
    (b) Meetings.--A community board shall meet at times and places 
chosen by the members of such board.
    (c) Purposes.--The purpose of a community board is to provide 
information to airport operators and the Federal Aviation 
Administration concerning disparate impacts and environmental justice 
related to the operation of commercial or cargo jet routes.
    (d) Collaboration.--The Administrator shall--
            (1) designate an appropriate employee to work with each 
        community board; and
            (2) ensure that representatives of and, when appropriate, 
        relevant experts from the Federal Aviation Administration 
        attend each meeting of a community board.
    (e) Community Reports.--A community board may, in collaboration 
with local airport operators and any employee designated pursuant to 
subsection (d)(1), draft a community report detailing the community's 
concerns and issues related to disparate impacts.
    (f) Study.--A community board may petition the Administrator to 
conduct a community study, which shall include--
            (1) the collection and consolidation of quantifiable, 
        observational, experiential, anecdotal, or other data from--
                    (A) the Federal Aviation Administration;
                    (B) airport operators;
                    (C) valid acoustic instrumentation on the ground;
                    (D) testimonials and other evidence from community 
                members; and
                    (E) organizations in the community;
            (2) the Day-Night Average Sound Level;
            (3) any other existing noise metrics from individual and 
        cumulative takeoffs and landings;
            (4) emissions generated by individual and cumulative 
        takeoffs and landings;
            (5) any other data requested by the designated community in 
        order to give a comprehensive understanding of the impacts on 
        such community; and
            (6) recommendations on actions or mitigation that can be 
        taken to alleviate--
                    (A) concerns raised in a community report; and
                    (B) effects that are analyzed in the community 
                study.
    (g) Collaboration.--The Administrator and each community board that 
petitions for a community study shall collaborate together on the scope 
and methodology of such community study.
    (h) Format.--The Administrator shall ensure the community study is 
culturally and linguistically appropriate given the needs or requests 
of the community.

SEC. 4. ACTION PLANS.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 6 months after the date of receipt 
of a community report or the date of completion of a community study, 
the Administrator shall, in collaboration with airport operators and 
affected communities, devise an action plan that alleviates or 
addresses the concerns brought up in the community report or community 
study.
    (b) Content.--The action plan shall--
            (1) include a long-term regional plan that focuses on 
        reducing and minimizing disparate impacts for the designated 
        community; and
            (2) where effective, consider the implementation of changes 
        to operations and flight paths if the community report or 
        community study indicates that such changes would decrease the 
        impacts on the designated community.
    (c) Statement Concerning Certain Changes.--If the Administrator 
determines that changes to operations and flight paths that a community 
report or community study indicated would decrease the effects on the 
designated community would not be effective, the Administrator shall 
explain the rationale for this determination in the action plan.
    (d) Dissemination.--The Administrator shall disseminate the action 
plan--
            (1) to the public in a culturally and linguistically 
        appropriate fashion given the needs or requests of the 
        community at issue;
            (2) to the offices of the Members of Congress and Senators 
        representing the community at issue;
            (3) to the relevant committees of the House of 
        Representatives and the Senate; and
            (4) upon request, to any impacted government.

SEC. 5. MITIGATION FUNDING.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 180 days after the release of an 
action plan pursuant to section 3, the Administrator may make grants 
for necessary noise mitigation in a designated community for--
            (1) residences;
            (2) hospitals;
            (3) nursing homes; and
            (4) schools.
    (b) Standards.--The Administrator shall develop standards to 
determine which of the structures in designated communities and that 
are listed in subsection (a) are eligible for mitigation funding.
    (c) Mitigation Described.--Funds for mitigation may be used for any 
form of mitigation that reduces the noise burden for communities, 
including--
            (1) sound insulation of noise-sensitive structures; and
            (2) construction of noise barriers or acoustic shielding to 
        mitigate ground-level noise.
    (d) Instrumentation.--Upon request of a designated community, and 
in addition to the annualized average measurement, the Administrator 
shall provide additional noise measurement instrumentation to measure 
airplane noise.
    (e) Sound Insulation for Aviation-Impacted Communities.--The 
Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration and airport 
operators may provide sound insulation for aviation-impacted 
communities that are subjected to substantial increases in flight 
frequency or from the adoption of new flight procedures that create 
noise impacts in neighborhoods that did not previously experience 
significant impacts from commercial aircraft operations.
    (f) Sound Insulation for Neighborhoods.--The Administrator of the 
Federal Aviation Administration and airport operators may provide sound 
insulation for neighborhoods within a 55 DNL contour in which an 
airport operator or the Administrator of the Federal Aviation 
Administration determines significant numbers of flight operations are 
conducted between 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m.

SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act such 
sums as may be necessary.

SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) The term ``Administrator'' means the Administrator of 
        the Federal Aviation Administration.
            (2) The term ``aviation-impacted community'' means a 
        community that is located not greater than 1 mile from any 
        point at which a commercial or cargo jet route is 3,000 feet or 
        less above ground level.
            (3) The term ``community'' means any residential 
        neighborhood, locality, municipality, town, or city.
            (4) The term ``designated community'' means an aviation-
        impacted community that has chosen to be designated pursuant to 
        section 1.
            (5) The term ``disparate impact'' means noise, air 
        pollution emissions, or any other aviation-related impact 
        identified by a community coming from a commercial or cargo jet 
        route and that is affecting a community or its residents.
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