Court Dismisses HoCo's Request To Review FAA Flight Path Change

HOWARD COUNTY, MD — The Fourth Circuit of U.S. Court of Appeals has dismissed Howard County’s petition for judicial review of the Federal Aviation Administration changing flight paths as part of its implementation of NextGen. The case stems from FAA changes to flight patterns at BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI), which the county claims were made "without proper notice or environmental consideration that have caused terrible noise pollution in some neighborhoods."

“We’re disappointed at the court’s ruling and are carefully considering our options moving forward,” said Howard County Executive Calvin Ball in a statement. “We know this is a significant issue for our residents and we’re not done fighting on behalf of them. In the meantime, we will continue engaging with the BWI Roundtable and encourage the FAA to implement proposed changes to flight paths. We’re also urging the state of Maryland to get back on track with the noise abatement plan, which has been severely delayed. Our residents deserve progress and we will continue to pursue all options to provide relief.”

In October 2019, Ball announced a procedural win in one of the county’s two ongoing cases against the Federal Aviation Administration in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit. The court granted Howard County’s “Motion to Allow Extra-Record Evidence.” The FAA and the state of Maryland opposed the motion, but the court decided evidence should be presented to help determine whether the FAA unlawfully ignored the facts.