By Michael V. Cusenza
Congresswoman Grace Meng (D-Flushing) announced on Tuesday the reintroduction of the bipartisan Quiet Communities Act—a measure to help combat aircraft noise over borough communities and other impacted areas around the country.
The bill would require that the Environmental Protection Agency take over efforts to mitigate aircraft noise over communities near airports, moving this responsibility from the Federal Aviation Administration. The EPA’s Office of Noise Abatement and Control was defunded in 1981 by the Regan administration due to budget cuts. The Quiet Communities Act would reopen this office.
“Airplane noise pollution is a persistent quality-of-life issue that residents in Queens and communities across the country shouldn’t be forced to deal with day and night,” said Meng. “For years, constituents in my communities I represent have been calling for something to be done about the excessive noise they are experiencing. By allowing the EPA to head up the airplane noise battle, it ensures that the federal government addresses this issue from an environmental perspective.”
File Photo
“By allowing the EPA to head up the airplane noise battle, it ensures that the federal government addresses this issue from an environmental perspective,” Rep. Meng said.
Although airplane noise has long existed over Queens due to the proximity of New York City’s airports, the increased sounds of jets significantly increased in 2012 when the FAA implemented new flight patterns over the borough. These routes, which are for airplanes departing LaGuardia Airport, have increased the frequency of flights over residential neighborhoods in Queens, and the substantial rise in aircraft noise has negatively impacted borough residents.
Aircraft noise can pose remarkably serious health threats—including cardiovascular disease—to the communities over which planes fly, and the health costs associated with said noise from changing flight patterns over populated urban landscapes far outweigh the benefits of reduced flight times, according to a 2018 case study conducted at Columbia University and Queens Quiet Skies.
