Feds Wamts $100K For Report

Here’s an interesting conundrum for residents of Santa Monica who live near the airport and complain about airport noise.

The homeowners said a recent test of departures procedures caused a drastic increase in flights over their homes in Sunset Park and Ocean Park. They requested the data after the FAA claimed the test had only a minimal effect on residents but helped reduce flight delays at SMO and LAX (PF, July Ô10).

The FAA said “sure” but there was one small catch - they plan to charge the residents $100,000 to review and release data from its 90 day flight path test.

The homeowners, united as “Neighbors for a Safe and Healthy Community,” requested data for flights at SMO for about a nine-month period under the federal Freedom of Information Act.

Apparently, they were skeptical about released information and said that the FAA could be downplaying the number of flights directed to fly over their neighborhoods. As a result, they asked for a record of all flights told to take the test route, known as a “250 degree heading,” during the test run.

Hearing the cost, the group asked for a fee waiver, arguing their request was for a non-commercial purpose, but the FAA denied it.

An FAA official on June 22, who rejected the waiver request,  stated that “the disclosure of the requested information will not contribute to the understanding of the public at large,” but only to the understanding of “a narrow segment of interested persons.”

FAA -1, people who buy homes next to airports and then complain about the noise, 0.