Sat, Feb 04, 2012
NY Senator Tried To Add Altitude Restrictions To FAA
Reauthorization
Over the past few weeks, senior lawmakers from the House and
Senate transportation committees hammered out behind closed doors a
final agreement on legislation to reauthorize the FAA through 2015.
HAI President Matt Zuccaro remarked, “After five long years
of debate and 23 separate extensions of funding and authorization,
we are gratified and relieved to see such a major step
forward.”
A provision to regulate helicopter routes and address noise
issues over populated areas in Long Island New York, championed by
New York Democratic Senator Charles Schumer, and inserted at the
eleventh hour in the Senate FAA bill, was dropped in final
negotiations with senior lawmakers. HAI had opposed the Schumer
provision due to the dangerous precedent it would establish
relative to noise complaints alone, serving as justification for
ill-conceived helicopter restrictions. Similar legislative
initiatives have recently been introduced in Congress in
anticipation of the Schumer provisions becoming law.
Zuccaro is especially grateful for the support of leaders from
both parties and both chambers of Congress to ensure that airspace
issues are dealt with where they are supposed to be - at the FAA.
“It is vitally important that the public and the users of the
nation’s airspace have an opportunity for input through the
rulemaking process and public comment period, anytime the
government considers changes to that valuable public
resource,” Zuccaro said.
HAI insists a legislative mandate for airspace design and
regulations is not an appropriate course of action to address noise
issues. Schumer continues to press for FAA requirements for
helicopters in the New York area to fly offshore and at a minimum
altitude of 2,500 feet, and he has gained the ear of U.S. Secretary
of Transportation Ray LaHood. LaHood has confirmed that a final
regulation predicated on an earlier Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
will be in effect by July 4, and Schumer said this week that,
“Secretary LaHood’s strong statement should serve as a
wake-up call to the helicopter industry.”
The Eastern Region Helicopter Council and HAI oppose the
implementation of specific routes and altitudes which are
established upon nothing more than a noise complaint. Such actions
should only be taken in response to the safe and efficient use of
the airspace, as determined by the FAA, after appropriate study and
research.
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