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Plea to Fix Queens Plane Noise Ignored in New Federal Bill, Grace Meng Says

By Katie Honan | July 14, 2016 5:07pm
 Rep. Grace Meng had sent a letter last year urging for changes within the FAA to mitigate airplane noise.
Rep. Grace Meng had sent a letter last year urging for changes within the FAA to mitigate airplane noise.
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DNAinfo/Katie Honan

JACKSON HEIGHTS — A bill to fund to the Federal Aviation Administration completely ignored all requests demanding relief for areas like Queens suffering from a cacophony of airplane noise, according to Rep. Grace Meng, who blasted its passage.

The FAA Reauthorization Act was passed this week in both the House and the Senate. It reauthorizes funding to the federal agency, and includes many new changes for passengers — like improving travel for people with disabilities and requiring airlines pay back baggage fees if items are lost. 

But it didn't include anything to help those who live underneath noisy flight paths, Meng said. 

“The absence of any measures to combat the problem of excessive aircraft noise over Queens and other affected communities across the country is a huge disappointment,” she said.

"This bill would have allowed for an opportunity to directly address the issue, and the previous version of this legislation included ways to deal with it."

The bill doesn't expire until September 2017, and Meng said this limits members of Congress from talking about airplane noise for more than a year. 

Last year, she and other members of the Quiet Skies Caucus sent a letter to colleagues on the House Transportation and Infrastructure committee urging more community engagement and requirements on airports to implement more mitigation options in communities.

They also suggested there be more independent research done on the effect of airplane noise on communities. 

The bill does not feature these suggestions.