NextGen Flight Path Review and Notification Act of 2016

NextGen Flight Path Review and Notification Act of 2016

This bill amends the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 to require the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), as part of the process of applying a categorical exclusion to a new Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) flight path procedure at an Operational Evolution Partnership (OEP) airport (a commercial U.S. airport with significant activity), to:

• notify and consult with the operator of the airport, and
• consider consultations or other engagement with the community in which the airport is located to inform the public of the new procedure.

The FAA shall review each decision that it made between February 14, 2012, and September 30, 2014, to grant a categorical exclusion with respect to a procedure to be implemented at an OEP airport that was a material change from procedures previously in effect to determine if implementation of the procedure had a significant effect on the human environment in the community in which the airport is located. If, in conducting such a review, the FAA determines that implementing the procedure had such a significant effect, it shall:

• consult with the operator of the airport to identify measures to mitigate the effect, and
• consider the use of alternative flight paths that do not substantially degrade the efficiencies of the new procedure.