About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

[i] (August 6, 2018)

handle is hein.crs/crsmthzzbcy0001 and id is 1 raw text is: CRS INSIGHT Categorical Exclusions, Metroplexes, and Aircraft Noise Complaints August 6, 2018 (IN10947) Related Author Bart Elia5 Bart Elias, Specialist in Aviation Policy (bi r I crc v 7-7771) The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has initiated changes to airspace and flight procedures to take advantage of new technologies deployed under NextGen, a comprehensive air traffic modernization initiative that relies on sate1.1te- based navigation and trading to improve efficiency and airspace capacity. In some neighborhoods, however, FAA's changes have increased overflights triggering complaints about aircraft noise. Some affected residents are seeking remedies from the agency, the courts, and Congress. Categorical Exclusions One of NextGen's key objectives is to allow commercial jets to utilize more direct routes and more efficient arrival and departure paths to save time and fuel. The 2012 FAA reauthorization act (P L 1-12-95) directed FAA to accelerate the deployment of Nexten procedures. It authorized FAA to streamline environmental reviews of these changes so long as the new procedures would result in measurable reductions in fuel consumption, carbon emissions, and noise on a per- flight basis. In legal parlance, the NextGen procedures were statutorily granted ex i from detailed environmental analysis. This status is typically reserved for actions that individually or cumulatively do not have a significant effect on the human.environment. NextGen procedures have generally met the statutory criteria for categorical exclusion because they specify more direct routing and require fewer intermediate altitude level-offs, thereby reducing engine thrust and fuel consumption. While noise and emissions have decreased on a per-flight basis, aggregate noise from multiple flights has increased in certain communities. This is because some new procedures route aircraft over areas not previously overflown, and because the greater precision of satellite-based navigation concentrates arriving and departing flights along narrower paths rather than having natural dispersion as a result of navigational inaccuracies inherent with older technologies. Metroplexes FAA has implemented NextGen procedures by redesigning terminal airspace around the largest urban areas. It refers to these initiatives as metroplexes, a contraction of metropolitan and complexes that describes very large metropolitan areas, often consisting of two or more cities. FAA has identified 21 metroplexes where multiple airports are located in

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most