HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 179        FILED ON: 1/10/2023

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 3358

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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PRESENTED BY:

Sally P. Kerans and Joan B. Lovely

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To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:

The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:

An Act relative to airplane noise data collection and Good Neighbor Policy.

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PETITION OF:

HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 179        FILED ON: 1/10/2023

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 3358

[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
SEE HOUSE, NO. 5231 OF 2021-2022.]

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court
(2023-2024)

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An Act relative to airplane noise data collection and Good Neighbor Policy.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
 

Chapter 90 Section 60 of Part I, Title II, Chapter 6C as appearing in the General Laws is hereby amended by adding the following new section: 

Paragraph 1.   The Massachusetts Aeronautics Division (“The Division”) shall collect and post annually on its website all noise reports and complaints made to each Municipal or Regional Airport between April 1 and October 1. 

For the purposes of this section, “noise complaint” shall refer to any complaint or report of excessive noise and shall include the day, date and hour of the week it occurred made via airport website, App, telephone, voicemail, email, written letter or in-person visit to the Airport or to a Commissioner by any resident.

This data shall be collected by The Division no later than 14 days following the end of each month and posted in a readily accessible section of the Division’s public website no later than 20 days following the end each month. The data shall be posted with labeling for each airport and shall remain on the website in perpetuity. 

Paragraph 2.   The Division shall collect from each Tower the number and time of day of all so-called Touch and Go operations between April 1 and October 1.   This data shall be collected no later than 14 days following the end of each month and posted with labeling for each Municipal or Regional Airport and shall be posted in a readily accessible section of each Airport’s public website no later than 20 days following the end each month and shall remain on the website in perpetuity.

The Administrator of The Division shall share all noise data collected with the House and Senate Chairs of the Joint Committee on Transportation and with the Secretary of Transportation by December 31 of each year.

Paragraph 3.    At the request of at least two commissioners of any Municipal or Regional Airport, an Airport Commission shall convene a public meeting devoted to noise reports at which members of the public may ask questions of Commission Members and the Airport Manager, who shall, to the best of their ability, answer the questions. 

Paragraph 4.    It shall be the responsibility of The Division to provide annually to all regional Municipal and  Airport Managers and Commissioners guidance in the development, implementation and oversight of a policy, commonly referred to as Good Neighbor or Fly Neighborly policy, designed to facilitate an understanding among flight school owners, flight school instructors and student pilots and all pilots of the airport of the noise impact of Touch and Go operations on neighbors within three miles of runways. Said Good Neighbor policy guidance shall include but not be limited to providing airports with a sample written policy, providing a written copy of the policy to be given to all student pilots and pilots to be posted visibly in several locations, including pilot areas, suggested steps for informing all airport tenants of the policy, and providing a social media toolkit for publicizing said policy to all airport tenants, pilots, student pilots and Commissioners.  

Paragraph 5.     Each applicant for a badge at any Municipal Airport shall submit with their application a written attestation that they have read the Good Neighbor Policy for that Airport and will abide by said policy. 

This act shall take effect on January 1, 2024.