49 U.S.C. § 47524 — Airport noise and access restriction review program

(a) General Requirements. The national aviation noise policy established under section 47523 must provide for a national program, set by regulation, for reviewing airport noise and access restrictions on the operation of stage 2 and stage 3 aircraft. The program must provide adequate public notice and a chance to comment on proposed restrictions. (b) Stage 2 Aircraft. Except as subsection (d) provides, an airport noise or access restriction on stage 2 aircraft proposed after October 1, 1990, may take effect only if the airport operator publishes the proposed restriction and, at least 180 days before its effective date, makes available for public comment (1) an analysis of the restriction's anticipated or actual costs and benefits; (2) a description of alternative restrictions; (3) a description of alternative measures that don't involve aircraft restrictions; and (4) a comparison of the costs and benefits of those alternatives to the proposed restriction. (c) Stage 3 Aircraft. (1) Except as subsection (d) provides, a restriction on stage 3 aircraft not already in effect on October 1, 1990, may take effect only if the airport proprietor and all aircraft operators have agreed to it, or it has been submitted to and approved by the Secretary of Transportation after a request under the program established by this section. Covered restrictions include (A) limits on noise levels, whether per event or cumulative; (B) limits on the total number of stage 3 operations; (C) a noise budget or allocation program covering stage 3 aircraft; (D) limits on hours of operation; and (E) any other restriction on stage 3 aircraft. (2) Within 180 days of receiving a request for approval, the Secretary must approve or disapprove the restriction, and may approve it only with substantial evidence that it (A) is reasonable, nonarbitrary, and nondiscriminatory; (B) doesn't create an unreasonable burden on interstate or foreign commerce; (C) is consistent with the safe and efficient use of the navigable airspace; (D) doesn't conflict with federal law or regulation; (E) followed adequate public comment procedures; and (F) doesn't create an unreasonable burden on the national aviation system. (3) Paragraphs (1) and (2) don't apply if, before November 5, 1990, the FAA Administrator had already formed a working group — outside the usual part 150 process — with a local airport operator to examine the noise impact of air traffic control changes; but if the airport proprietor and a majority of the airport's carriers later reach a noise-reduction agreement, this paragraph applies only to local enforcement of that agreement. (4) The Secretary may reevaluate an approved or agreed-to restriction if an aircraft operator demonstrates that a change in the airport's noise environment justifies it. The Secretary must set procedures for reevaluation by regulation; a reevaluation must use the criteria in paragraph (2) and can happen only after 2 years have passed since the original decision. (d) Nonapplication. Subsections (b) and (c) don't apply to (1) local action to enforce a negotiated or executed noise or access agreement already in effect on November 5, 1990; (2) local action to enforce a restriction the airport operator and aircraft operators agreed to before that date; (3) an intergovernmental agreement including a restriction already in effect on that date; (4) a later amendment to such an agreement or restriction that doesn't reduce or limit aircraft operations or affect safety; (5)(A) a restriction an airport adopted by October 1, 1990, that a court had stayed as of that date, if a court later allows any part of it to take effect, or (B) a new restriction replacing any part a court disallows, as long as it wouldn't prohibit operations that were in effect on November 5, 1990; or (6) the final stage of a staged restriction program if the initial stage was adopted in 1988 and was still in effect on November 5, 1990. (e) Grant Limitations. Starting on the 91st day after the Secretary prescribes the regulation under subsection (a), an airport operating under a stage 3 noise or access restriction that first became effective after October 1, 1990, is eligible for a grant under section 47104 and eligible to impose a passenger facility charge under section 40117 only if the restriction has been (1) agreed to by the airport proprietor and aircraft operators; (2) approved by the Secretary as required by subsection (c)(1); or (3) rescinded.