Update from Queens Quiet Skies – May 5, 2015

Source: Queens Quiet Skies Newsletter

From: queensquietskies (at) aol.com
To: queensquietskies (at) aol.com
Subject: QUEENS QUIET SKIES NEWS – MAY 5, 2015

Dear Neighbors –

REP. MENG’S LETTER TO THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

Airplane noise is more than simply an annoyance.  It is a public health problem, as is air pollution from jet fuel.  So why is the FAA in charge of noise and air pollution from airplanes?   That agency is concerned with safety and efficiency in the air, not on the ground.  The FAA protects the aviation industry.  Who protects those of us on the ground from the FAA and the aviation industry?

In the early 1970’s, the answer was the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.  Both the Noise Control Act of 1972 and the Quiet Communities Act of 1974 charged the EPA with the task of enforcing noise regulations.  During the Reagan administration, however, the EPA’s Office of Noise Abatement and Control was defunded.   By 2012, Congress was giving the FAA free rein to implement all NextGen flight procedures without any environmental review.

Last week, Rep. Grace Meng wrote a letter to the administrator of the EPA, asking her to re-establish the Office of Noise Abatement and Control and to tell her what other actions the EPA would take to curtail noise pollution.

This is a very important letter.  It is attached, so you can read it.  Thank you, Rep. Meng!

COMMUNITY OUTREACH EVENT IN JACKSON HEIGHTS

Queens Quiet Skies will hold a community outreach event in Jackson Heights on Sunday, May 17th from 10:00 AM until 1:00 PM.  We will set up our table in the space just outside the Greenmarket at the corner of 34th Avenue and 78th Street.  We will be joined for part of the time by Council Member Dan Dromm, one of the earliest supporters of our organization.  We hope to see you there.

ARTICLE ABOUT FUEL EMISSIONS

For a long time, we have talked a lot about noise as an annoyance.  We haven’t talked so much about the public health hazard of fine particulate emissions from jet fuel.  Many studies have shown the dangers to people on the ground from jet fuel emissions, which are increasing as the aviation industry pushes to increase the number of flights and the size of the aircraft.

When I attended an aviation conference in March, I heard a presentation about the negative impact of fine particulate emissions on children and developing fetuses.  How important are our airports as “economic engines” when it comes to the life of a child?  How much more money should the airlines make without being required to use some of their profits to protect us from the public health hazards they are creating?

Dorothy Woo, of the Holly Civic Association in Flushing, forwarded the following article to me.  I think you will be interested.

http://www.economist.com/node/7033931

PART 150 STUDIES TECHNICAL ADVISORY COMMITTEES

In November, 2013, Gov. Cuomo directed the Port Authority of NY and NJ to undertake Part 150 land use compatibility studies.  Last week, the Port Authority gave a presentation in Nassau County about the Part 150 studies.   We heard the next day that the agency announced Technical Advisory Committees to work with the Part 150 consultants.    That was a surprise.

It appears that there will be two TACs, one for JFK and one for LGA.   Almost all the members will be aviation industry stakeholders.  There will be one member from the Roundtable on each committee.   The Roundtable Coordinating Committee has decided to name its two Co-Chairs as interim members until the Roundtable chooses permanent members.   I will represent the Roundtable on the LGA TAC and Barbara Brown will represent the Roundtable on the JFK TAC.  I am attaching the document inviting us to participate in the TAC, so you can see how it’s going to work.

A GREAT QUOTATION FROM A GREAT COMMUNITY ORGANIZER

One of our friends in the Sky Posse Palo Alto (California) group sent me this quotation from Mahatma Gandhi.  I love it.  Where do you think we are now on his timeline?

“First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.”

I think we’re stepping over the doorstep of beginning to win.   We still have quite a way to go, but we are getting there.

Janet