Read the Noise Policy Review Federal Register Notice, Foundational Elements of the FAA Civil Aircraft Noise Policy, and Summary of Comments Received on the  Federal Register Notice.

Noise Policy Review – Recent Developments and Next Steps

Congress passed the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024, on May 16, 2024, and pursuant to Section 792 of the Act, the FAA is required to form an Aircraft Noise Advisory Committee (ANAC). The ANAC is to be comprised of representatives from stakeholders across the aviation industry, institutions of higher education, and community representatives. The ANAC will advise the FAA on issues facing the aviation community that are related to aircraft noise exposure and existing FAA noise policies and regulations. In order to follow this direction from Congress, the FAA has revised our Noise Policy Review (NPR) approach and timelines to allow the ANAC to complete its work and issue its report before FAA makes any decisions on possible noise policy updates. This will allow the ANAC time to do its work and will ensure any recommendations made by the ANAC inform future FAA policy deliberations. The FAA intends to complete the Noise Policy Review once the ANAC has submitted a report to the FAA with any recommended policy changes.

Additionally, Section 786 of the Act directs FAA to update the Airport Noise Compatibility Program regulations (14 C.F.R. part 150). These regulations identify those land uses which are normally compatible with various levels of exposure to aviation noise by individuals as well as prescribing a system for measuring noise at airports and surrounding areas. It is anticipated the ANAC, as part of their work, may provide recommendations for changes to these regulations, and there is overlap between both Section 786 and 792 as it relates to FAA noise policies. In order to ensure any recommendations made by the ANAC inform updates to Airport Noise Compatibility Program regulations, the FAA similarly intends to complete any updates pursuant to Section 786 once the ANAC has submitted a report to the FAA with any recommended policy changes. 

The FAA has completed review of the 4,857 comments received from stakeholders on the Noise Policy Review Federal Register Notice and has developed a summary of the comments, which can help inform the work of the ANAC. The FAA is also working to establish and solicit membership for the ANAC. As updates on establishment of the ANAC are available, they will be posted to this webpage. The ANAC is further described below.  

Review the Foundational Elements of the FAA Civil Aircraft Noise Policy.

Noise Policy Review - Background

The FAA is reviewing our noise policy as part of our ongoing commitment to address aircraft noise. This effort builds on the FAA's work to advance the scientific understanding of noise impacts as well as the development of analytical tools and technologies.

The Noise Policy Review is  considering findings from ongoing noise research, including the Neighborhood Environmental Survey which provided an updated dose-response curve, and other research related to health impacts, speech interference, sleep disturbance, and economic impacts. The FAA is examining the distribution of environmental risks, tradeoffs, and resulting impacts across communities. 

As part of the review, The FAA is:

• Looking at the current use of DNL or Day-Night Average Sound Level as the primary noise metric for assessing cumulative aircraft noise exposure. 
• Reviewing whether to continue to use the DNL 65 dB level as the metric and threshold for determining significant noise impacts in environmental reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act or the definition of the limit of residential land use compatibility. 
• Considering if and how alternative noise metrics may be used in lieu of or in addition to DNL to better inform agency decisions and improve FAA’s disclosure of noise impacts. 

2023 Noise Policy Review Federal Register Notice 

The FAA is engaging with the public and other stakeholders through meaningful opportunities in order to learn more about aviation noise, hear from the FAA, and provide input for the agency’s consideration. The FAA issued a Federal Register Notice on May 1, 2023, seeking public comment on our Noise Policy Review as part of this engagement. The comment period for the Federal Register Notice was open from May 1, 2023, until September 29, 2023, and is now closed. The FAA received 4,857 comments in response to the Federal Register notice, and the complete database of comments can be viewed here. 

The FAA has completed the process of analyzing all the comments received to identify the range of input on noise metrics, noise thresholds, and other noise policy issues. Steps in the comment review and analysis process included:

1. Developing a database of comments 
2. Categorizing the comments and generating statistical summaries of who submitted comments, where comments were submitted, and what topics were identified with regard to noise impacts and policy recommendations; and
3. Identifying common themes from the comments and synthesizing relevant excerpts to aid in policy deliberations. 

The FAA completed all steps of this process and has developed a summary of statistics and common themes identified in the comments from stakeholders. The full comment summary is available here.

The FAA previously as part of the comment review process, generated preliminary statistics on the comments. One of the areas analyzed was how comments the FAA received were distributed across the country. The graphic below shows the distribution by State for comments received from individuals who listed State information (about 75% of all comments). 

The FAA also analyzed who submitted comments. A majority of the comments received came from individuals (81% of all comments). This was followed by commentors who did not wish to be identified and were considered “anonymous” (14%). The remaining comments were submitted by a range of organizations, including community groups, local government, airport sponsors, etc. (5%). The figures below show these breakdowns. 

The FAA also generated preliminary statistics from the comments on other areas of interest including 1) distribution of comments among airports, 2) aircraft types and operations, 3) noise concerns and impacts, and 4) other areas of interest. These additional preliminary statistics can be viewed in this video and are included in the full comment summary with common themes identified from stakeholders. 

Aircraft Noise Advisory Committee (ANAC) and Part 150 Noise Standards Update

On May 16, 2024, Congress passed the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024. Section 792 of the Act requires the FAA to form an Aircraft Noise Advisory Committee (ANAC) to advise the FAA on issues facing the aviation community that are related to aircraft noise exposure and existing FAA noise policies and regulations. The ANAC is to be comprised of representatives from stakeholders across the aviation industry, institutions of higher education, and community representatives. 

The duties of the ANAC include:

• Evaluation of existing research on aircraft noise impacts and annoyance
• Assessment of alternative noise metrics that could be used to supplement or replace the existing DNL standard, in consultation with the National Academies
• Evaluation of the current 65-decibel exposure threshold, including the impact to land use compatibility around airports if such threshold was lowered; and
• Evaluation of current noise mitigation strategies and the community engagement efforts by the FAA with respect to changes in airspace utilization, such as the integration of new entrants and usage of performance-based navigation.

Additionally, Section 786 of Act directs FAA to update the Airport Noise Compatibility Program regulations (14 C.F.R. part 150). These regulations identify those land uses which are normally compatible with various levels of exposure to aviation noise by individuals as well as prescribing a system for measuring noise at airports and surrounding areas. It is anticipated the ANAC as part of their work may provide recommendations for changes to these regulations, and there is overlap between both Section 786 and 792 as it relates to FAA noise policies. 

To accommodate feedback from the ANAC in these areas, the FAA is revising the Noise Policy Review approach and timelines to allow the ANAC to complete its work and issue its report before the FAA makes any decisions on possible noise policy updates. This will allow recommendations provided by the ANAC to inform future FAA deliberations. These recommendations and the themes identified by stakeholders in the 4,857 comments we received on the Noise Policy Review Federal Register Notice will then serve as additional inputs to changes FAA may make to the noise policy, including potential changes to Airport Noise Compatibility Program regulations. FAA will complete the Noise Policy Review once the ANAC has submitted a report to the FAA with any recommended policy changes.

The FAA is currently in the process of establishing the ANAC pursuant to the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) of 1972. FAA also intends to create a separate webpage dedicated to the ANAC once it is established. In the meantime, periodic updates on the establishment of the ANAC and on the status of the Noise Policy Review will be provided to this webpage as they are available.

 Noise Policy Review Videos

Noise Policy Review Webinars

The FAA held four webinars to discuss how we are reviewing our current aircraft noise policies. FAA provided an introductory overview during the first 25 minutes of each webinar. The presentation slides can be accessed here. Each of the webinars was recorded and a text-searchable transcript of each webinar, including the question-and-answer sessions, is available at the links below. To learn more about the policy review, the impacts of aviation noise exposure, how the FAA analyzes and communicates with communities regarding noise impacts, and manages and responds to aviation noise concerns, please review the webinar recordings and transcripts below.

• Noise Policy Review Webinar #1
  • View a PDF transcript of this presentation.
• Noise Policy Review Webinar #2
  • View a PDF transcript of this presentation.
• Noise Policy Review Webinar #3
• Noise Policy Review Webinar #4

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