VERONA) Ills WD IRANSPORTATION 



765 



earned on a vigorousl) active program of oversight. In December 

 L973, -i 5-day hearing was held on aircraft muse abatement including 

 the Environmental Protection Agency, which under the Noise Control 



Act of 1972 had been empov* ered by the C ongress to make recommenda- 

 tions on the aircraft noise regulations of the FAA. Until the Bolling- 

 I faiisen congressional reforms took effect in 1975, the committee had 

 jurisdiction over only the \ \> \ aspects ot research and development. 

 The subcommittee interpreted its role as broad enough to ascertain 

 the adequacy of \ \>\'s efforts through clarifying the interrelation- 

 ships with other agencies. These oversight activities helped lav the 

 groundwork tor expanding the committee's jurisdiction over the entire 

 field of civil aviation research and development in the Bolling-Hansen 

 reforms. 



The subcommittee was concerned, as expressed by Cotter, "that 

 there may be a growing mismatch between the results of the NASA 

 technology and the FAA rulemaking." Cotter appealed to OMB 

 Director Rov Ash not to abandon the aircraft noise effort by cutting 

 off funding of NASA refan retrofit technology on the JT-3D powered 

 aircraft (DC-8 and 707). A response came from the Congressional Rela- 

 tions Office of OMB, indicating that the JT-3D program would entail 

 an $800 million retrofit program, and there was little economic incen- 

 tive for the airlines to make such equipment purchases. Wydler, who 

 had had a great deal of experience with dealing with OMB, com- 

 mented : 



I think we might be a little better off if we could get OMB out of the picture 

 rather than getting them in on the management basis. 



An extremely useful aspect of the December 1973 hearings was 

 that all agencies as well as the aircraft industry were brought together 

 in one room and required to relate in detail the extent of the inter- 

 relationships and coordination in the complex aircraft noise field. It 

 almost seemed at times that there was insufficient direct conversation 

 among different agencies and with private industry. The subcom- 

 mittee performed a useful function in airing the w 7 ay in which the 

 different pieces of the aircraft noise picture fit together, and exposing 

 obvious flaws which demanded correction. All ot the major issues 

 related to aircraft noise were brought out in the oversight review. 

 As noted earlier, this formed the groundwork for major proposals 

 to retrofit the civil aviation fleet. 



For example, one result of the subcommittee inquiry was the 

 formation by the EPA of an ad hoc " Aviation Noise Control Require- 

 ments Study" group. The subcommittee commended EPA for this 

 action and urged NASA to participate in an aggressive manner, which 

 was done. 





