As helicopter travel has become more prevalent, issues of helicopter noise and safety have become two major issues that all of Long Island has had to deal with. Elected officials at all levels of government have been proactive in trying to mitigate this problem and have banded together to form a unified front on this issue.
Federal, State, and local elected officials have been calling on the FAA to regulate helicopter traffic over Long Island for years and finally, they have agreed to their requests.
At the federal level, Senator Schumer and Congressman Tim Bishop understand the sensitivity of this problem at a local level and negotiated with helicopter operators over a voluntary agreement. Urging them to fly at a minimum altitude of 2500 feet and out over water. Unfortunately, this agreement did not prove to be sufficient to address this problem. In light of this, Senator Schumer then urged the FAA to create rules in order to regulate helicopters over Long Island.
New York State has also been proactive in mitigating helicopter noise and traffic. Assemblyman Marc Alessi has lead that charge at the state level by introducing a very important piece of legislation, Assembly bill A.7153A. This bill authorizes and directs the department of transportation to prepare a report on noise abatement procedures at certain public use heliports and public use airports in the county of Suffolk. On March 3, 2010, the Assembly passed this bill. Concurrently, in the Senate, Senator Craig Johnson passed the same bill in the Senate on June 16, 2010. Now, this bill awaits final approval from Governor Paterson.
On a local level, municipalities are still grappling with this problem and continue to complain to a telephone hotline monitored by the very industry that is causing this problem. County Legislator Edward Romaine had introduced legislation to regulate helicopter traffic at the county level but was preempted by the federal government. Legislator Romaine has been a vocal advocate for his community in continuing to urge the federal government to step in.
Together, elected officials at all levels of government from all political backgrounds have put their differences aside and were determined to come up with a solution that would regulate helicopter traffic. After a long fought battle, the FAA has agreed to make rules to regulate this problem. In order to hold helicopter operators, we implore you to utilize this site and forge your complaints directly to the FAA.