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Allowing Use of Passenger Facility Fees for Noise Reduction at California Schools

Floor Speech

Date: Sept. 17, 2008
Location: Washington, DC


ALLOWING USE OF PASSENGER FACILITY FEES FOR NOISE REDUCTION AT CALIFORNIA SCHOOLS -- (House of Representatives - September 17, 2008)

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Ms. RICHARDSON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, today we are considering S. 996, legislation to amend title 49 of the United States Code to expand passenger facility fee eligibility for certain noise compatibility projects.

Under the direction of Congressman Costello, chairman of the Aviation Subcommittee, Americans in California living and attending schools in the vicinity of airports will now get relief.

The FAA predicts that 1 billion passengers will fly in the United States by 2016. One of the elements that will limit this national airspace capacity growth is noise. S. 996 will allow a 2005 agreement between the Los Angeles World Airports and the Lennox and Inglewood school districts to go forward providing over $200 million towards noise mitigation in these school districts over 10 years.

This legislation was introduced by Representative JANE HARMAN in the House and Senators DIANNE FEINSTEIN and BARBARA BOXER who passed it in the Senate by unanimous consent on February 28, 2008, which represents an appropriate compromise to noise problems for schools surrounding the Los Angeles Airport.

S. 996 will enable new construction in some instances because sound insulation and other retrofitting of existing buildings do not always provide meaningful noise relief. Furthermore, this legislation defines eligible project cost for any new construction as limited to the difference in cost between constructing, ordinary building code standards for schools, and the cost of incorporating noise mitigation features in construction.

The House passed this language as part of H.R. 2881, the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2007, on September 20, 2007. The Senate has not acted on the FAA reauthorization.

Mr. Speaker, I support S. 996, and I urge my colleagues both on and off the Aviation Subcommittee--and on both sides of the aisle to stay germane to the topic--to support this good legislation. Students and teachers deserve quiet classrooms in order to maximize learning.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

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