Local efforts to control helicopter noise were dealt another setback Friday, when a federal appeals court sided with a group challenging East Hampton’s local laws regulating helicopter traffic and directed the issuance of a preliminary injunction to prevent their enforcement.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled that federal law requires the municipality to follow specific procedures when enacting laws that regulate public airports and “it appears undisputed” that East Hampton enacted the three laws in 2015 without complying with the federal procedural requirements.
The Airport Noise and Capacity Act’s rules “apply to public airport operators regardless of their federal funding status,” the court wrote — despite a written statement to the contrary issued by the Federal Aviation Administration. The FAA statement was issued in response to an inquiry from former congressman Tim Bishop in December 2011. The federal agency wrote “that, unless the town wished to remain eligible for future federal grants, it was ‘not required to comply with the requirements of the [Airport Noise and Capacity Act] in proposing new airport noise and access restrictions,” the court wrote.
But that is not the case, the court wrote in its decision Friday.
“Accordingly, we remand the case to the district court for the entry of a preliminary injunction as to all three laws and for further proceedings consistent with this opinion,” the court wrote.
The only way to escape the federal law, the court wrote, is to close the airport.
That’s what South Fork Assemblyman Fred Thiele says East Hampton town should now consider doing.
“The health and safety of its residents must always take precedence over commercial enterprise,” Thiele said. “While I have always believed that the responsible operation of an airport in East Hampton is an asset to the town, this court causes all responsible persons to first reconsider whether or not the town should be in the airport business.”
The East Hampton Town Board in April 2015 adopted three local laws intended to address helicopter noise. One would prohibit use of the town’s airport between the hours of 11 p.m. and 7 a.m. A second would prohibit use of of the airport by “noisy aircraft” between the hours of 8 p.m. and 9 a.m. A third prohibited more than two uses of the airport by a noisy aircraft during a calendar week.
Within a week, Friends of the East Hampton Airport and several private companies filed suit in federal court seeking to set aside the legislation and requesting a preliminary injunction against enforcement while the case is litigated.
In June 2015, U.S. District Court Judge Joanna Seybert granted in part the plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction enjoining enforcement of the town laws. The trial court granted the preliminary injunction with respect to the one-trip limit and is denied the preliminary injunction respect to the mandatory curfew and extended curfew. Plaintiffs appealed and the court granted a temporary restraining order against the laws during the pendency of the appeal.
A spokesperson for Rep. Lee Zeldin said the congressman “will continue working closely with East Hampton Town regarding options moving forward at this point.” Zeldin secured House passage of legislative language preventing the FAA from taking negative action against East Hampton Town, said spokesperson Jennifer DiSiena.
