Latest Effort Is An Amendment To The Highway Trust Fund Bill

Having failed to get helicopter noise legislation into the compromise FAA authorization bill, Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) has broadened the scope of his proposal and is now trying to attach it to the highway trust fund authorization bill currently being debated on Capitol Hill.

The proposed Schumer (pictured) amendment now includes language affecting the south shore of Long Island and airspace over a state he does not represent – California’s Los Angeles County. HAI members need to let their members of Congress know they oppose legislation that puts greater emphasis on noise than safety.
 
Recognizing Schumer’s proposal as bad lawmaking, the U.S. House of Representatives rejected the proposal when they declined to include it in their version of the FAA authorization bill, and convinced their Senate counterparts to do the same during the conference committee meetings that led to the recently enacted bill.
 
HAI reported this week to its members that, while the legislation is currently pending only in the Senate, members of both chambers need to be made aware of the potential ramifications if passed. They have urged their members to contact their representatives in the U.S. House and Senate, and remind them that the FAA’s primary responsibility is the safe operation of the U.S. national airspace system. Allowing local noise concerns alone to drive FAA regulatory changes to airspace design and access sets a precedent that jeopardizes a cohesive national airspace system.

HAI says that voluntary compliance with mutually agreed guidelines developed cooperatively by local communities, aircraft operators, and regulators are more effective at addressing community concerns than legislatively mandated “fixes.”
 
HAI says that Congressional legislators "need to understand the potential consequences of Sen. Schumer’s proposed amendment."

FMI: www.rotor.com, www.house.gov, www.senate.gov