January 2020 MCQSC Update: Highlights of 2019 Efforts

The Montgomery County Quiet Skies Coalition wishes everyone a Happy New Year!
As we begin a new year in our fight against excessive airplane noise and emissions over Montgomery County communities, it’s time to review successes from 2019 and look ahead to the goals, challenges and anticipated developments in 2020.

Notable achievements and developments in 2019:
● The dramatic increase in flight track density over Montgomery County was quantified using radar track data from 2008 to 2017. We now know that many of our neighborhoods have experienced between a 340% and 520% increase in the concentration of flights since 2014.
● Our Maryland Congressional Delegation -- Senator Van Hollen, Senator Cardin, and Congressman Raskin -- really came through for our communities when the FAA tried to fast-track a new approach procedure that could have doubled the concentration of flights over some of our hardest-hit communities. Our Congressional leaders’ swift action led to the FAA agreeing to pause the proposed approach procedure and work with experts on potential alternatives.
● The FAA agreed to modify north-flow departure procedures to reduce noise over many of our communities, specifically, those that are impacted by departures heading to destinations west and south of DC. The new procedures will begin a test phase in January and are expected to be implemented in July.
● Oral argument in MD v. FAA took place in November and was attended by dozens of community members. A decision is expected in the coming months.
● The US DOT Inspector General issued yet another damning report challenging many of the FAA claims about NextGen program benefits. Our communities suffer greatly for NextGen’s questionable benefits.

● Montgomery County Quiet Skies Coalition became a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
● Hundreds of MCQSC members filed tens of thousands of complaints about airplane noise to the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority. THANK YOU -- and we must keep it up in 2020!

Looking ahead to 2020:
● Montgomery County and Arlington County are inching closer to hiring an aviation consultant to aid in developing proposals to mitigate noise across the region. Candidates have been interviewed and we await the final decision.
● Although we are pleased that the FAA has agreed to develop a new procedure which would shift about two-thirds of departures over non-residential areas near the Potomac River, departing flights heading to destinations north and east of us remain as they are.

We know that these departures, particularly those that occur early in the morning and late at night, are an ongoing source of misery for many Montgomery County residents. Although these procedures are more difficult to improve due to conflicting airspace with Dulles and BWI, Montgomery County’s Community Working Group representatives, with the help of an aviation consultant, will continue to pursue noise abatement options for these procedures.
● Work also is underway with Montgomery County’s consultant and the FAA to explore options for approaching flights into DCA. The single, concentrated approach track is a very complex problem to solve. As explained above, thanks to the strong leadership of Congressman Jamie Raskin and Senator Chris Van Hollen, the FAA has agreed to work with subject matter experts on potential alternate approach procedures that could help both Montgomery County communities and the broader region. We hope that a new approach procedure (or procedures) may be proposed and discussed at the DCA
Community Working Group within the first quarter of 2020, although progress always takes longer than it should. Ideally, any new procedure(s) will go through a test phase before being implemented in order to collect data on the impacts. This will be an important focus in 2020.
● While MCQSC has gained unparallelled County, State and Congressional support, we know that many residents have grown weary of this struggle. Four years is a very long time to sustain the necessary effort. People are busy - we get it! The FAA and the airlines count on being able to outlast and outspend community groups. So, while we wait for channelized flight paths to go the way of leaded gasoline, we encourage anyone who feels wracked by aviation noise and emissions to rally and resolve to support MCQSC’s efforts. You can do so by (1) attending our meetings, (2) telling others about
us, and (3) donating to MCQSC at: MCQSC Ltd., PO Box 131, Glen Echo, MD 20812.

Appreciation:
Many people are assisting in this determined effort. We cannot possibly thank everyone here, but the following people deserve our particular appreciation for their consistent efforts on our behalf.
We greatly appreciate the four dedicated community members - Paul Janes, Susan Shipp, Bill Noonan and Janelle Wright - who serve on the DCA Community Working Group. These four individuals remain as committed to mitigating noise over the region as they were when they first volunteered years ago. We are particularly appreciative of the work of Bill Noonan, who spent countless hours analyzing FAA flight track data to create maps which illustrate the dramatic increase in flight track density over our communities.
We also want to thank Regional Director Ken Hartman, County Executive Marc Elrich, and District 1 Councilmember Andrew Friedman for their support. As many of you know, Ken Hartman has been the county point-person for aviation noise issues since early 2016. He also serves on the DCA Community Working Group, and has been responsive and a committed
leader. Please thank Ken the next time you see him. The Montgomery County Quiet Skies Coalition also is extremely gratified by the strong support of our Congressional delegation and their outstanding staff. As you can tell from the December,
2019 bicameral letter to the FAA Administrator, our Senators and Congressman understand the injustice of what has been imposed on our communities. As a result of their leadership, our Working Group representatives finally have meaningful engagement with the FAA. This truly is an enormous step forward.
We also wish to thank the many active MCQSC volunteers, too many to name here, who donate their personal time to this effort. You know who you are and your efforts are definitely making a difference -- thank you! We know the challenge can be daunting, but our homes, our schools, and our health are worth it.

We wish you all a happy and peaceful 2020!
The Montgomery County Quiet Skies Coalition