Airplane Noise in Howard County
by Paul Verchinski | February 25, 2022
HCCA will file testimony in March 2022 supporting HB1103 and SB953 establishing a “Maryland Aviation Infrastructure Impacts Commission”. The following provides the rationale for the support.
SB 658 & HB1103: Legislation for the Maryland Aviation Infrastructure Impacts Commission
WHAT ARE SB658 & HB1103?
These bills will create a 5-year committee to review matters related to medical and health burdens and environmental impacts resulting from commercial aviation infrastructure in Maryland.
The research and publications of the Commission will inform such public policy topics including:
- Growth and development
- Zoning and housing
- Public health
- Environmental protection and mitigations
- Aviation-related information availability and transparency
- Helping legislators weigh information affecting quality of life and economic development, outlining alternatives and choices to restore balance between economic growth and livable communities
WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?
The Commission will have the standing to affect planned increases in aviation operations that create serious noise and health impacts for surrounding communities, including:
- Increased flight operations including non-stop nighttime flights
- The addition of a brand-new runway currently proposed to further increase airport capacity including more all-night flights
- Safety and equity impacts for all airport-related ground transportation that will be impacted by operational and infrastructure plans at BWI Marshall
- Planning for supersonic flights, UAV operations, disruptive helicopter flights and general aviation operations
THE BILLS NEED YOUR SUPPORT!
Written testimony may be submitted via the Maryland General Assembly website. You will need to create a My MGA account. While logged into your account you will be able to use “Witness Signup” to upload written testimony. Please refer to these Video Tutorials if you need additional help locating “Witness Signup”.
You may submit written testimony for SB658 & HB1103 during the below specific times:
For SB 658 you must submit on Tuesday, March 8th after 4 p.m. or before 10 a.m. on March 9th (formatting directions are here).
For HB 1103 you must submit on Tuesday, March 8th between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. (formatting directions are here).
DC Metroplex BWI Community Roundtable (RT) Annual Report
Three HCCA members were appointed to the RT in 2017 (Paul Verchinski, Howard Johnson, and Rusty Toler). The RT was formed by appointees named by MD State Senators, County Executives, and County Councils and are volunteers. The RT has met for the past year with very...
DC Metroplex BWI Community Roundtable (Airplane Noise) (RT) – Dec 2017 Update
The RT with representatives from affected counties have been meeting monthly since March when the RT was first formed. While we continue to hope that the FAA will make changes, hope is not a plan and we do not see positive measures being taken by the FAA to broadly...