Skip to main content

Quigley, Duckworth, Schakowsky Push CDA and FAA to Address O’Hare Noise Relief Options

July 30, 2015

WASHINGTON — Today, U.S. Representative Mike Quigley (IL-05), a leader of the Quiet Skies Caucus, along with Reps. Tammy Duckworth (IL-08) and Jan Schakowsky (IL-09) sent a letter to Chicago Department of Aviation (CDA) Commissioner Ginger Evans urging the CDA to work with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the O'Hare Noise Compatibility Commission (ONCC) to begin exploring practical and immediate options to redistribute flights on all available runways at O'Hare Airport, providing noise relief for the surrounding communities without compromising safety.

The request comes after recent conversations with senior FAA officials who said that in order for the FAA to analyze potential options for changes to runway operations at O'Hare, it must first confer closely with the CDA.

The letter also requests that the FAA and CDA not impose any arbitrary deadlines in deciding the fate of the diagonal runways, which are set to be decommissioned. Keeping the diagonal runways open allows for more options in spreading airplane traffic and noise around the O'Hare area.

"We believe that even small changes to flight paths and runway use at O'Hare, especially at night and during off-peak hours, could provide significant relief or at least a more even distribution of the noise among the surrounding communities," said the members. "We believe that with perseverance and creativity, the CDA, the FAA, and the ONCC can develop solutions to make O'Hare the best neighbor it can be, without compromising safety or its importance as a transportation hub and regional economic asset."

Since the opening of a new runway and the resulting airspace changes in October 2013, Reps. Quigley, Duckworth and Schakowsky have been calling for noise relief for their constituents. Along with citizens groups such as FAiR and the Suburban O'Hare Commission (SOC), the members have advocated for an expansion of the Fly Quiet program and retaining, as additional options, the two diagonal runways currently slated for decommissioning.

O'Hare International Airport became a part of Illinois' Fifth Congressional District in January 2013. Since then, Rep. Quigley has met continuously with neighborhood organizations and aviation officials to discuss solutions to increased noise pollution resulting from the O'Hare Modernization Program (OMP). Most recently, Rep. Quigley joined other members of the Quiet Skies Caucus in a letter to House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee with recommendations for the FAA 2015 Reauthorization Act that would help address the harmful impacts of aircraft noise on communities across the country. In May, he secured language in the FY16 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (THUD) funding bill mandating the FAA develop short and long-term measures to mitigate excessive airplane noise experienced by local communities around O'Hare International Airport. In a March hearing of Appropriations Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies (THUD) Subcommittee, Rep. Quigley pressed FAA Administrator Huerta on the need to lower the 65 DNL metric in the long term but insisted that the FAA work with the Chicago Department of Aviation (CDA) to provide immediate short term solutions for the communities affected by the O'Hare Modernization Program. In November, Rep. Quigley, along with Reps. Duckworth and Schakowsky, urged CDA to improve the O'Hare noise complaint process by creating a dedicated O'Hare noise complaint line, manned by personnel versed on the noise issue to begin to get a truly accurate count of constituent complaints. He also pushed the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to conduct new public hearings and issue a new environmental impact study (EIS) of the OMP in response to questions raised over the hearing process and noise levels that exceeded expectations. He also repeatedly called on the FAA to change the outdated noise metric that could allow more homeowners and businesses to qualify for soundproofing programs. In Congress, Rep. Quigley helped create the Quiet Skies Caucus and introduced the Silent Skies Act to help combat aircraft noise on a national level.

###

Issues: