FAA: No need for environmental study on O'Hare noise rotation
The Federal Aviation Administration on Monday said there's no need to prepare a new environmental study of an interim runway rotation meant to distribute nighttime jet noise at O'Hare International Airport.
Officials concluded that “there are no significant new circumstances that require the preparation of a new Environmental Impact Statement” that could have delayed implementation of the runway rotation.
The plan would run from November 2019 to May 2020 and from September 2020 to January 2021. The gap reflects runway construction and rebuilding projects.
The interim rotation was developed as a way to give different neighborhoods around O'Hare periodic breaks from jet noise.
“The Interim Fly Quiet increases noise for some residents and decreases it for others, but the impacts would be temporary,” the FAA concluded.
The O'Hare Noise Compatibility Commission proposed the interim rotation in conjunction with the Chicago Department of Aviation.
The commission is developing a more permanent rotation to operate after O'Hare's sixth and final east-west runway is built in November 2020 and an existing runway is expanded. Both are on the north airfield.
To learn more about the FAA's findings, go tofaa.gov/airports/airport_development/omp/ifq_re_eval/.