FAA Supersonic Proposal Draws Environmentalist Ire
by Kerry Lynch
– April 14, 2020, 11:02 AM
While comments on the FAA’s proposal to establish noise standards for supersonic aircraft are not due until July 13, the notice of proposed rulemaking is already drawing opposition from environmentalists. The agency announced the notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) in late March and officially published it in the Federal Register on April 13, saying that given the interest in development of supersonic aircraft the proposed standards “would facilitate the continued development of airplanes by specifying the noise limits for the designs.”
The proposal was welcomed by aviation entities seeking to pursue development while balancing environmental impacts. Noting NBAA’s participation on the International Civil Aviation Organization’s Committee on Aviation Environmental Protection, Stewart D’Leon, NBAA’s director of technical operations, said, “Supersonic noise has been a dominant topic because all of the parties involved want to come to a global agreement that leads to environmentally acceptable and economically viable supersonic airplanes.”
NBAA described the proposal as the “next step in the development of innovative airframe and powerplant technology that will benefit the aviation industry.”
The Center for Biological Diversity, however, reiterated its belief that …