One Pols 'Reasonable' Is One Industry's Insanity
News/Analysis By Jim Campbell, ANN CEO/Editor-In-Chief
With all of the ills that California politicians must address
these days... crime, education, deficits, immigration, taxes, a
very anti-business climate (and the attendant loss of those
businesses to other states); you'd think that the average CA
groundhog legislator would have better things to do than to attack
an industry that provides transport, emergency medical attention,
law enforcement services, traffic watch, even a few recreational
pursuits (and so much more) -- but then again, this is California
we're talking about -- where political/social engineering isn't
supposed to make good sense so long as it gets you 20 egocentric
seconds on the Six O'Clock news.
And now, the pols are piling on, the HAI reports that, "Senators
Feinstein (D) and Boxer (D) of California introduced a companion
bill (S.2019) in the Senate to the bill introduced by Congressman
Howard Berman (D-Calif.) in July (H.R. 2677)." Both bills, titled
the “Los Angeles Residential Helicopter Noise Relief Act of
2011,” would require the FAA administrator to issue
regulations in Los Angeles County regarding the altitudes and
flight paths of helicopters in order to reduce noise pollution.
Berman has told local media that, "My bill simply authorizes the
FAA to create sensible regulations, regulating helicopter traffic
in Los Angeles County for purposes of both noise reduction and
safety.”
So... state legislators with little or no aviation background
want to dictate aviation policy to the FAA... The House bill would
require these regulations to be issued no later than one year
following the passage of the bill, while the Senate bill would
require regulations be issued no later than three years after
enactment. In addition, the Senate bill has language requiring the
FAA to make “reasonable efforts to consult with local
communities and local helicopter operators in order to develop
regulations that meet the needs of local communities, helicopter
operators, and the Federal Aviation Administration.”
Southern California has some VERY complex airspace... and having
to deal with flying a helo, the mission requirements for the
flight, the regs and the airspace, et al, is more than enough to
deal with before having to add the complexity of whether or not
someone might be able to discern your noise signature over the
hundreds of other noisy distractions that plague this state...
especially in highway-strewn SoCal. Regs like this will hurt the
ability of the helo community to respond to the need for rotor-wing
services... especially those emergency services that have tough
enough missions, already.
We'll continue to keep an eye on this... but this is but one
reason that ANN was not located in California and avoids this state
like the plague.