HUNTINGTON BEACH (CNS) - Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Huntington Beach, introduced a bill to reduce noise at airports, but his Democratic opponent in the November election called the bill an “empty political stunt.”
Rohrabacher's “National Overflight and New Onerous, Incessant Sound Elimination Act,” or NO NOISE Act, seeks to change how the Federal Aviation Administration develops flight procedures, his office said.
“The FAA's reorganization of our national airspace has placed flight paths over the homes of many who did not have them before and the consolidation of old flight paths has concentrated additional traffic over others,” Rohrabacher said.
“While safety is of course the first and foremost priority when changing or creating flight procedures, the quality of life in communities below should be considered above the efficiency of airlines.”
Rohrabacher said he voted against the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018 because he claimed it “maintained the status quo by doing nothing to help those affected by the additional noise.”
Harley Rouda, who is running against Rohrabacher in the November election, said Rohrabacher has not been able to get anything done on the airport noise issue in his decades in office.
“Dana's sudden, renewed interest in aircraft noise in Orange County is most notable because he hasn't been able to get anything done on this crucial issue for years,” Rouda said.
“Beyond the fact that Dana's new `jet noise bill' is an empty political stunt, it comes on the heels of his failure to actually address noise issues in Congress' FAA reauthorization in April. Dana submitted four amendments on aircraft noise to the FAA bill. All four amendments were rejected.”
Rouda added that, “Aircraft noise is a serious issue that impact the lives of many (of 48th Congressional District) families. Sadly, Dana's failure on the issue is typical of a congressman who has only gotten three bills passed in 30 years.”
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