report to Congress. This legislation facilitates procedural certainty and a
predictable process that promotes compatibility between energy
independence and military capability.
Federal Aviation Act
The Federal Aviation Act was enacted in 1958 to provide methods for
overseeing and regulating civilian and military use of airspace over the U.S.
The Act requires the Secretary of Transportation to make long‐range plans
that formulate policy for the orderly development and use of navigable air
space. The intent is to serve the needs of both civilian aeronautics and
national defense, but does not specifically address the needs of military
agencies. Military planning strives to work alongside local, state, and federal
aviation law and policies but sometimes must supersede these and other
levels of government due to national security interests. The Federal
Aviation Administration (FAA) was created as a result of the Act for a variety
of purposes, including the management of airspace over the U.S.
The 500‐foot rule, promulgated by the FAA, states that every citizen of the
United States has “a public right of free dom of transit in air commerce
through the navigable air space of the United States.” The rule was formally
announced in the 1963 Court of Claims ruling in Aaron v. United States and
states that flights 500 feet or more above ground level (AGL) do not
represent a compensable taking because flights 500 feet AGL enjoy a right of
free passage without liability to the owners below.
Another important outcome of the Act is FAA Regulation Title 14 Part 77,
commonly known as Part 77, which provides the basis for evaluation of
vertical obstruction compatibility. This regulation determines compatibility
based on the height of proposed structures or natural features relative to
their distance from the ends of a runway. Using a distance formula from this
regulation, local jurisdictions can easily assess the height restrictions near
airfields. Additional information on Part 77 is located on the FAA Internet
site at http://www.faa.gov/.
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The FAA has identified certain imaginary surfaces around runways to
determine how structures and facilities are evaluated and identify if they
pose a vertical obstruction relative to the airspace around a runway. The
levels of imaginary surfaces build upon one another and are designed to
eliminate obstructions to air navigation and operations, either natural or
man‐made. The dimension or size of an imaginary surface depends on the
runway classification.
Noise Control Act of 1972
The Noise Control Act of 1972 identified that noise not adequately
controlled has the potential of endangering the health and welfare of
people. It states that all Americans are entitled to an environment free from
noise that can jeopardize their general health and quality of life. Along with
state, local, and territorial governments, actions from the federal
government were needed to ensure that the objectives of the Act were met.
Concurrently, military installations were experiencing the impacts from
encroaching urban development located adjacent to the installation and the
resulting complaints regarding noise from military flight operations. The
DOD responded by establishing the Air Installation Compatible Use Zone
(AICUZ) program which was subsequently adopted by the Air Force as
AFI 32‐7063.
The Noise Control Act and the AICUZ program are important because
encroaching development and increased population near military
installations often creates compatibility concerns. As communities grow, it is
important that the military installation, developers, and the communities
work together to mitigate the issue of noise and develop ways to coexist
successfully.
Joint Land Use Study Report
June 2017