The FAA received Office of Management Budget approval for a noise perception study that could change the agency’s approach to regulating noise. Work on the study is expected to kick off in the next few months and will involve surveys of public perceptions of aircraft noise around selected U.S. airports. The FAA calls the study the next step to update scientific evidence surrounding aircraft noise exposure. It expects to collect data through the end of next year.

The current science behind noise measurements dates back to studies conducted in the 1970s, the FAA said. Those surveys led to the establishment of a 65 Day-Night Average Sound Level (DNL) target in 1981, a noise measurement that was subsequently reaffirmed in the 1980s and 1990s. Since then, manufacturers have made “dramatically quieter aircraft,” the FAA said, but the agency noted that residents still express displeasure with noise associated with increased traffic.

Last month, FAA Administrator Michael Huerta outlined plans for the study to industry leaders, who are concerned by calls of some community officials to scrap new performance-based navigation procedures and/or adopt new noise metrics and thresholds. The industry leaders urged the agency to take a “fact- and science-based approach” to noise.