Sponsor
Adam Smith
Representative · D-WA
Representative · D-WA
The bill provides targeted federal funding to repair or replace deteriorated federally funded airport soundproofing at a few major hubs—improving noise protection and fiscal transparency—but limits eligibility to four airports and adds documentation and remediation-first requirements that may delay or exclude many homeowners.
Homeowners near up to four large-hub airports: can receive one-time federal assistance to repair or replace deteriorated federally funded airport soundproofing, restoring indoor noise protection.
Airports and nearby residents: airports may recover costs for owner-requested periodic effectiveness surveys, which helps ensure soundproofing treatments remain effective and preserves indoor noise reductions over time.
Taxpayers and government agencies: the bill clarifies that allowable project costs exclude prior federal payments, reducing risk of double-counting and improving transparency and federal fund accounting.
Homeowners near airports other than the four designated large hubs: will be excluded from this assistance, leaving many affected residents without federal help to fix deteriorated soundproofing.
Homeowners seeking repairs: must first exhaust warranties, insurance, and legal remedies, which can delay access to federal assistance and may leave some costs unrecoverable for residents who cannot obtain other payments.
Homeowners with unclear records or marginal deterioration: requirement to prove prior work was installed before 2002 and obtain auditor findings that deterioration was not caused by owner actions may disqualify applicants and add testing/administrative costs.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Creates a pilot allowing one-time federal waivers to pay for repair/replacement of previously funded airport sound insulation at up to four large-hub airports, with eligibility and audit requirements.
Official title: To authorize the establishment of pilot programs for sound insulation repair and replacement.
Introduced July 14, 2025 by Adam Smith · Last progress July 14, 2025
Creates a short program that lets federal aviation officials use a one-time waiver to pay for repair or replacement of previously federally funded airport sound insulation at up to four large-hub airports. The FAA must set up a pilot within 120 days to allow costs for qualifying residences that meet noise, damage, and testing criteria and to permit periodic surveys to check effectiveness of prior treatments. The bill excludes previously federal-paid costs from allowable project costs for certain waivers, sets eligibility rules for homeowners (including exhaustion of warranties and prior installation dates), requires qualified noise-auditor findings, and authorizes airports to recover costs for owner-requested effectiveness surveys.