NIMBYs Now Have a Place to Go

The FAA has created a new Air Transportation Center of Excellence for Aircraft Noise and Aviation Emissions Mitigation. The Center of Excellence is a world-class partnership of academia, industry and government created to identify solutions for existing and anticipated aircraft noise and emissions-related problems. The center will conduct basic research and engineering development and will develop prototype solutions. 

"Bringing the formidable resources of academia and industry together, the center is a force to make significant contributions in noise and emissions research," said FAA Administrator Marion Blakey.

The partnership will be led by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The other members from academia are Boise State University; Florida International University; Pennsylvania State University; Purdue University; Stanford University, University of Central Florida and University of Missouri – Rolla.

The Center research and development efforts will concentrate on a broad spectrum of noise and emissions mitigation issues, including: socio-economic effects, noise abatement flight procedures, compatible land-use management, airport operational controls, and atmospheric and health effects.

The 18 industry partners in the new center are:

What it's going to cost:

The Center is expected to begin operation this month. The FAA will share in the cost of the Center, its share spanning three to 10 years and totaling $900,000 to $1.75 million in the first year, with a minimum of $800,000 per year for the next two years.

Congress authorized Air Transportation Centers of Excellence under the Federal Aviation Administration Research, Engineering and Development Authorization Act of 1990. This broad
legislation enables the FAA to work with universities and their industry partners to conduct research in airspace and airport planning and design, environment and aviation safety, as well as to "engage in other activities to assure a safe and efficient air transportation system."

The FAA has established five other Centers of Excellence, focusing on computational modeling of aircraft structures, airport pavement technology, operations research, airworthiness assurance and general aviation.

FMI: www.coe.faa.gov