October 23, 2020
Pressley, Clark, Markey, Warren, Lynch Urge FAA to Re-Evaluate Key Proposals to Reduce Logan Airport Overflight Noise
WASHINGTON – Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07) today joined Congresswoman Katherine Clark (MA-05) and Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Edward J. Markey (D-MA), and Congressman Stephen F. Lynch (MA-08) in writing to the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) New England Regional Administrator, urging the reconsideration of 8 different community proposals to reduce overflight noise stemming from Boston Logan Airport’s Area Navigation (RNAV) system, and requesting further explanation for the outright dismissal of these noise reduction proposals.
Each of these community proposals to limit overhead flight noise were meticulously developed over a four year period by representatives from local communities impacted by airplane noise in conjunction with the Massachusetts Port Authority (Massport) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). These proposals and their assessment is the result of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the FAA, Massport, and impacted communities signed in October, 2016 to “identify specific proposed ideas to reduce overflight noise from RNAV concentration.”
“Although we appreciate your willingness to provide this early assessment, it is deeply disappointing that after four years of work to address the issue of overflight airplane noise caused by RNAV, the assembled stakeholders would reject all eight proposals as not needing “further evaluation”,” the lawmakers wrote. “We respectfully ask that the FAA recommit to the MOU’s first stated objective to “identify specific proposed ideas to reduce overflight noise from RNAV concentration,” and work in partnership with the Massport Community Advisory Committee (CAC) to identify and present proposals for evaluation.”
A copy of the letter can be viewed here.
In February, Congresswoman Pressley, a member of the Congressional Quiet Skies Caucus, led her colleagues in the Massachusetts congressional delegation in writing to three airlines with major operations at Boston Logan International Airport–American Airlines, Delta and Southwest Airlines–urging them to act to reduce airplane-related noise problems that have affected Massachusetts residents and communities across the country.
# # #