Rep. Rice & Sen. Kaminsky Call for FAA Action to Help Reduce Airplane Noise

October 24, 2016

Air or Airplane
Transportation

Senator Todd Kaminsky and U.S. Representative Kathleen Rice called on the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to adopt a lower threshold of acceptable airplane noise in order to address health, environmental and quality-of-life concerns in communities near major airports. The FAA uses the Day-Night Average Sound Level (DNL) as the metric for quantifying exposure to aviation noise, and has set 65 decibels as the DNL value at which federal funding will be available for soundproofing or other noise mitigation.

Senator Todd Kaminsky said, "Too many of my constituents have told me that their health and quality of life is significantly diminished by exposure to high noise levels of constant airplane traffic over their homes and businesses. The DNL threshold is based on antiquated data, and quite frankly, all one has to do is spend 5 minutes in Malverne or several other parts of my district to know that that this noise is excessive. I urge the FAA to listen to the concerns of our constituents and take immediate steps to adopt a lower DNL threshold."

Print as PDF