QUESTION
What is the cost and feasibility of implementing a noise monitoring program for non-essential helicopters and seaplanes?
1:14:48
·
146 sec
The Department of Environmental Protection does not support the proposed bill for monitoring noise from non-essential helicopters and seaplanes.
- The program for muffler noise, costing $350,000, is very different from what the bill requiring the city to monitor helicopter noise envisions.
- The required noise monitoring technology does not currently exist.
- If developed in the future, installing and maintaining the necessary meters would be extremely costly.
- Staffing the program and storing the large amount of required data would also be very expensive.
- The Department lacks enforcement authority over this type of noise, limiting the usefulness of the collected data.
Amanda Farías
1:14:48
And just for the sake of me right now because the math was never my strong suit.
1:14:57
So that's, like, $350,000 to at least run this program with just the meters each, not associated with administration and staff or whoever else has to work in in the system itself.
1:15:09
Okay.
1:15:09
I look forward
Mark Page
1:15:10
to They I'll just add in though that the summonses go into the general fund.
Amanda Farías
1:15:14
And the summonses go into the general
Mark Page
1:15:16
I don't think it's good.
1:15:17
Paid into the general funding.
Amanda Farías
1:15:18
Got it.
1:15:19
Appreciate that.
1:15:20
That gives me a really good idea and a positive response that I should probably receive from the admin on this plan because we do something similar already.
1:15:28
We already issue some instances.
1:15:29
Apparently, there's a video technology, which is great because that could help us with what's above.
1:15:34
And it does not seem too costly to me in comparison to a $107,000,000,000 budget.
Carleen McLaughlin
1:15:40
Well, Sorry, cancellation number, if I could just jump in to clarify that the program for the muffler noise would be is very different than what we think the bill envisions.
1:15:48
Sure.
Amanda Farías
1:15:49
I wouldn't know because I don't have a response yet.
1:15:51
Sure.
Carleen McLaughlin
1:15:51
Well, we can speak about from the operational side of this bill that we do not support it.
1:15:56
Because first, as I said, we don't think this technology exists.
1:16:00
As far as we know, it does not exist.
1:16:02
And then if it were to be developed, in the future, of course, it would be extremely costly to install an unknown amount of meters at a cost that we don't know because it doesn't exist yet.
1:16:13
To maintain them, to staff a program, to monitor them.
1:16:17
And then, of course, all of the data that's required, which is an extraordinary amount of data and like Doctor Page mentioned, we don't store constant data with our muffler program.
1:16:28
Right?
1:16:28
We only store the snippets of when we believe there is a violation.
1:16:32
The bill calls for constant data to be kept oh, I think, every 5 seconds for an unknown amount of time.
1:16:40
So that the storage even itself would be extremely expensive.
1:16:43
And because DEP does not have enforcement authority over this noise, we wouldn't be able to do anything with this extremely expensive data that we've been gathering.
1:16:52
And so we think it's much more valuable to allocate our resources in areas where we can do enforcement and can really make an immediate difference.
1:17:00
In the lives of, you know, the quality of life and the health of our neighbors.
Amanda Farías
1:17:04
I look forward to getting a full response on the bill and direct amendations on amendments to my bill that would better work for the agency itself and the city of New York.