[Scan-DC] Feds Deny Plane Noise Complaint (Georgetown DC)

[Alan Henney]

Feds Deny Plane Noise Complaint

https://georgetowner.com/articles/2018/04/02/feds-deny-plane-noise-complaint/

On March 27, a federal appeals court threw out the petition by the Citizens
Association of Georgetown — representing the DC Fair Skies Coalition, which
comprises a number of D.C.-area organizations — to halt and redesign flight
paths causing increased noise. The annoyance to area residents began in
2015, when the new flight paths were implemented by the Federal Aviation
Administration.

The court determined that the residents’ argument ran into “procedural and
substantive obstacles,” namely, it was not filed in a timely manner.
“Federal law requires that petitions seeking review of FAA actions be filed
within 60 days of the agency’s final order,” the court said. “Because
petitioners failed to challenge it within the 60 day statutory time limit
and had no ‘reasonable grounds’ for the delay, we dismiss the petition as
untimely.” The three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the
District of Columbia Circuit noted that the FAA’s “final order” came in
late 2013.

The petition did not qualify as one of those “rare cases” in which there
are reasonable grounds to excuse the failure to timely file a petition for
review, according to the court decision. One of those cases was a
successful suit in January to revert flight paths over Phoenix, Arizona,
back to the previous, less noisy ones.

In effect, the FAA made the 60-day period for complaints much earlier than
even the implementation dates in 2015, lawyer and Georgetown Advisory
Neighborhood Commissioner Rick Murphy told The Georgetowner.

“Unfortunately, the court did not reach the merits of the case. The FAA
made diligent efforts to ensure no one in D.C. was aware of the new flight
path we challenged until it was an accomplished fact,” said Richard Hinds,
general counsel for CAG. “We need to consider what if any steps we need to
consider taking at this point, but pursuing our administrative petition
with the FAA is one possible alternative to further litigation.”

District Council member Jack Evans, who represents residents in Georgetown
and other affected neighborhoods, called the decision “terribly
disappointing.”

The FAA’s NextGen system uses satellites instead of old-fashioned radar to
guide airplanes. These more direct flight paths allow for more planes in
the air, safely spaced closer together and burning less fuel. The
unintended consequence in many areas: more noise for residents.