[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 176 (Thursday, December 12, 2013)]
[House]
[Pages H7692-H7693]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        ADDRESSING AIRPORT NOISE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Illinois (Mr. Quigley) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. QUIGLEY. Madam Speaker, every day nearly 2,500 flights land and 
take off at O'Hare International Airport at the western edge of the 
Fifth Congressional District. More than 66 million passengers boarded 
or deplaned at O'Hare in 2012.
  On a recent morning, FAA traffic controllers kept tabs on 7,300 
flights in the immediate area. By any measure, O'Hare is integral to 
the Nation's commercial air traffic network; and just as it shapes the 
Nation's air traffic system, O'Hare plays a major role in the local and 
regional economies. O'Hare currently generates 450,000 jobs and $38 
billion in economic activity for Chicago and the State of Illinois. And 
when the $9 billion effort to modernize O'Hare is completed in 2020, it 
will mean the creation of 195,000 more jobs and an additional $18 
billion in annual economic activity.
  In my district alone, more than 12,000 constituents have jobs tied to 
the airport, but O'Hare's success comes at a price. Since the October 
17 opening of a new runway at O'Hare, many constituents have 
experienced a dramatic rise in flights--and noise--over their homes. 
Some residents are now dealing with hundreds more flights over their 
homes--all day, every day. It is not just the new runway that is 
causing the increase in noise pollution. Because of a dramatic 
reconfiguration of airspace over O'Hare, a majority of flights, either 
arriving or departing O'Hare, now traverse the skies of the Fifth 
District.
  I understand and support the need to modernize O'Hare. The new 
parallel runway configuration means safer, more efficient operations 
and fewer delays; but I also understand the importance of livable 
neighborhoods. The two are not mutually exclusive.
  We are a region of distinctive neighborhoods where hardworking people

[[Page H7693]]

have built their lives and invested much of their earnings into their 
homes in Forest Glen, Sauganash, North Park, and Harwood Heights. My 
constituents worry that their peace of mind and property values are 
being eroded in the name of profits and air traveler convenience.
  As one constituent told me:

       We can no longer open our windows, enjoy eating outside on 
     our new front porch, or gardening.

  Madam Speaker, I agree. Neighbors should not be exiled from backyards 
and gardens because of the ceaseless din of commercial aircraft. I also 
believe that if we take the right steps, maintaining a vibrant 
neighborhood won't be incompatible with a safe and efficient O'Hare.
  Since O'Hare became part of my district in January, I have pushed for 
important changes that can bring relief to residents in the near term. 
I have advocated that O'Hare continue to use all available runways to 
mitigate the increase in air traffic, and I have called for expanding 
the practice of routing aircraft over industrial parks, interstates, 
and forest preserves, not over residents' backyards.
  But we need to do more. The Federal Aviation Administration needs to 
overhaul the metric it uses to determine how much noise around airports 
is acceptable. The FAA's current measurement--the so-called 65 DNL--is 
outdated and woefully incomplete at measuring the impact of unabated 
noise overhead. I know the FAA has been studying and reviewing the 65 
DNL metric for years. It is time to stop studying this 30-year-old 
relic and take action.
  So, too, must the city of Chicago and the airlines. The city has told 
us it will not revisit its Fly Quiet program, which adjusts runway 
usage at night, until the O'Hare modernization is completed in 2020. 
There may be obstacles to reviewing this program, but the city needs to 
be more nimble in addressing the needs of these residents.
  The airlines, too, must help. They will save millions in lower 
operating costs as delays at O'Hare decrease. A portion of these 
savings should be earmarked for neighborhood soundproofing efforts. The 
airlines must also get quieter quicker. That is why I just introduced 
the Silent Skies bill, which will accelerate the airlines' use of 
newer, quieter aircraft.
  Madam Speaker, I know the O'Hare modernization plan is here to stay; 
and I know air traffic noise, like noise from expressways or the ``el'' 
is a fact of life in our metropolitan area. But it is also a fact that 
neighborhoods, not noisy aircraft, make life in Chicago and its suburbs 
special. We all need to work together to ensure the vitality of our 
neighborhoods isn't drowned out in a roar of aircraft overhead.

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