I called Jackie Speier's office a couple of months ago to ask what was the progress on the various airport noise bills she introduced last congressional session. Read about them from 2019 here. When I spoke to the staffer-in-the-know I learned that the bills had expired and needed to be reintroduced for this House session. That has finally happened. The press release is here. Here are some snips pertinent to us close by and more affected by the engine run-up noise than the overhead flight noise:
“For years, constituents have lived with the scourge of airport noise. One sleepless night after another takes a significant toll on an individual’s physical health, mental health and emotional well-being.” Rep. Speier said. “This year we finally received the results of the long-anticipated FAA Neighborhood Environmental Survey, which showed what so many already knew to be true: residents are annoyed by airplane noise levels far lower than the FAA uses for its current minimum standards.
I can totally agree with that. Unfortunately these two bit of proposed legislation, while better than nothing, are pretty limited:
Serious Noise Reduction Efforts Act (SNORE) Act, H.R. 4931: Establishes a program at San Francisco International Airport (SFO) to noise insulate 200+ homes per year in specific areas or provide financial support to the cities impacted by noise.
Restore Everyone’s Sleep Tonight (REST) Act, H.R. 4929: Allows airports, at their option, to impose a curfew, under specified circumstances, at any time between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m.
I'm not in favor of giving SFO the option on a curfew. They (the City of SF) are about the Benjamins so why put in a curfew? But this one shows a way forward on Burlingame's main problem (and Millbrae and Hillsborough too)
Low-frequency Energetic Acoustics and Vibrations Exasperate (LEAVE) Act, H.R. 4926: As an airplane leaves from an airport, its takeoff generates significant amounts of ground-based low-frequency noise and vibration impacting residents in the vicinity. The bill would lead to the establishment of standards and remedies related to ground-based noise (GBN).
Now the trick is to rally the House of Representatives to actually move these forward and to find sponsors in the Senate to do the same. Maybe our three congresspersons can take a page out of the Manchin/Sinema playbook? Time to play some hardball on the infrastructure bills since the Townhall meeting at Skyline college was three years ago. Yes, three years ago and last night was every bit as loud and unhealthy as 2018.
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