Dear Stop the Chop NY/NJ friends and supporters,
*****This is important - please add your personal comments in the bolded section in the sample letter to Congress below, and email it to your Congressmember by Friday, April 1!
● Find your Congressmember: https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative
SAMPLE LETTER: (Copy, cut & paste/ add to personalize it)
Dear Congressmember __________,
I am your constituent and I am requesting that you forward my letter below to the Members of the Aviation Subcommittee, House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, U.S. House of Representatives. Here is my letter:
Dear Chairman DeFazio, Ranking Member Graves, and Congressmembers of the Aviation Subcommittee, House Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure, US House of Representatives:
I am writing to offer my public comments regarding the March 17, 2022 Aviation Subcommittee Hearing: Aviation Noise: Measuring Progress in Addressing Community Concerns.
Progress in reducing aviation noise, especially from helicopters, has NOT been made in my community.
DESCRIBE where you live, what aviation noise you experience, what it feels like, and how it impacts you personally!!!!
Community representation at the March 17 Hearing was inadequate.
Aviation-impacted communities around the country were not adequately represented at the March 17 Hearing. The only speaker (one of eight) who was there to speak for communities was from the organization N.O.I.S.E. which does not represent the myriad of communities negatively impacted by aviation noise pollution around the United States.
Aviation noise pollution caused by helicopters is a serious public health issue.
Studies have shown that repeated exposure to aviation noise pollution is a public health hazard. Aircraft noise pollution has negative health impacts on the cardiovascular system, including increased risk of strokes and heart attack. It also harms the endocrine and nervous systems, impairs cognition, and causes sleep disruption, anxiety, and depression.
Congress must take meaningful action to address and curtail aviation-caused noise pollution, including from helicopters.
For all the above reasons, I urge the Members of the Aviation Subcommittee to take meaningful action to address the serious health impacts of aviation noise pollution, especially nonessential (tourist/sightseeing/amateur photographer and commuter/charter) helicopters, on communities such as mine. As you know, the Airport Noise and Capacity Act of 1990 ("ANCA") stripped away most local control over aircraft and aviation noise. ANCA needs to be amended to return control over aviation-related noise pollution to local governments and to integrate community concerns into the FAA decision-making process in a meaningful way.
Members of the Aviation Subcommittee should cosponsor the below Congressional bills introduced to address helicopter noise pollution.
I urge the Aviation Subcommittee Members to cosponsor the following important bills:
- H.R. 1643: "The Improving Helicopter Safety Act" - https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/117/hr1643
- H.R. 389: "The Safe and Quiet Skies Act" - https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/117/hr389
I thank you for this opportunity to offer my public comments via email in response to your March 17th Hearing on aviation noise pollution and community concerns.
Respectfully submitted,
YOUR NAME:
YOUR ADDRESS:
YOUR EMAIL:
DATE:
__________________________________________________
Best,
Melissa Elstein, STCNYNJ Board Chair, Secretary & Coalition Organizer
http://www.stopthechopnynj.org