Notice2026-09236
Agency Information Collection Activities: Request for Comments; Clearance of Renewed Approval of Information Collection: FAA Aircraft Noise Complaint and Inquiry System (Noise Portal)
Primary source
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Published
May 11, 2026
Issuing agencies
Transportation DepartmentFederal Aviation Administration
Abstract
In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, FAA invites public comments about our intention to request the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approval to renew an information collection. The Federal Register Notice with a 60-day comment period soliciting comments on the following collection of information was published on January 20, 2026. This collection involves information voluntarily submitted through the FAA Noise Portal, which is used to respond to noise complaints and inquiries. The required fields in the Noise Portal represent the minimum information necessary for the FAA to respond effectively. In addition, it allows the FAA to prevent fragmented or delayed responses across FAA regions, enhances transparency and public trust, improves community engagement, and supports a centralized intake of noise complaints and inquiries. This voluntary data collection is essential for the FAA to fulfill its public engagement responsibilities, streamline operations, and uphold its commitment to responsive, citizen-centered governance.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 90 (Monday, May 11, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 90 (Monday, May 11, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 25751-25753]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-09236]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Aviation Administration
[Docket No. FAA-2026-0661]
Agency Information Collection Activities: Request for Comments;
Clearance of Renewed Approval of Information Collection: FAA Aircraft
Noise Complaint and Inquiry System (Noise Portal)
AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT.
ACTION: Notice and request for comments.
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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, FAA
invites public comments about our intention to request the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) approval to renew an information
collection. The Federal Register Notice with a 60-day comment period
soliciting comments on the following collection of information was
published on January 20, 2026. This collection involves information
voluntarily submitted through the FAA Noise Portal, which is used to
respond to noise complaints and inquiries. The required fields in the
Noise Portal represent the minimum information necessary for the FAA to
respond effectively. In addition, it allows the FAA to prevent
fragmented or delayed responses across FAA regions, enhances
transparency and public trust, improves community engagement, and
supports a centralized intake of noise complaints and inquiries. This
voluntary data collection is essential for the FAA to fulfill its
public engagement responsibilities, streamline operations, and uphold
its commitment to responsive, citizen-centered governance.
DATES: Written comments should be submitted by June 10, 2026.
ADDRESSES: Written comments and recommendations for the proposed
information collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of
this notice to <a href="http://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain">www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain</a>. Find this particular
information collection by selecting ``Currently under 30-day Review--
Open for Public Comments'' or by using the search function.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nitin Rao by email at: TACT: Nitin Rao
by email at: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#cbf2e68a9b87e68a85888299e688a4a6a6aea5bfb88badaaaae5aca4bd"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="fbc2d6baabb7d6bab5b8b2a9d6b89496969e958f88bb9d9a9ad59c948d">[email protected]</span></a>; phone: 202-267-0965
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Public Comments Invited: You are asked to comment on any aspect of
this information collection, including (a) Whether the proposed
collection of information is necessary for FAA's performance; (b) the
accuracy of the estimated burden; (c) ways for FAA to enhance the
quality, utility and clarity of the information collection; and (d)
ways that the burden could be minimized without reducing the quality of
the collected information.
OMB Control Number: 2120-0773.
Title: FAA Aircraft Noise Complaint and Inquiry System (Noise
Portal).
Form Numbers: None.
Type of Review: Renewal of an information collection.
[[Page 25752]]
Background: The Federal Register Notice with a 60-day comment
period soliciting comments on the following collection of information
was published on January 20, 2026 (91 FR 2416). The FAA collects
information through its Noise Portal to respond to public complaints
and inquiries about aircraft noise. Individuals voluntarily submit
their name, email address, location of the noise event, and a
description of the issue. This data helps the FAA identify noise
sources, respond directly to the complainant, and understand community
concerns. The respondents are members of the public who experience
aircraft noise, typically near their homes. The FAA gathers this
information online through the Aviation Noise Complaint and Inquiry
response (ANCIR) system, which centralizes and streamlines complaint
intake and response.
This collection is essential for the FAA to provide timely,
accurate, and location-specific responses. It also supports broader
goals like detecting noise trends, improving community engagement, and
understanding environmental impacts. The FAA uses deidentified,
aggregated data to develop public FAQ's, share insights with
stakeholders, and support safety analysis across agencies. While no law
specifically requires this data collection, several mandates guide the
FAA's public engagement efforts; 49 U.S.C. 106(q) requires an Aircraft
Noise Ombudsman; the 1976 Aviation Noise Abatement Policy affirms
federal responsibility for noise management; and the FAA
Reauthorization Acts of 2018 (Pub. L. 115-254) and 2024 (Pub. L. 118-
63) direct the agency to enhance transparency and community
collaboration.
Summary of Comments: FAA received public comments during the 60-day
comment period and are summarized into the topics below followed by a
concise summary of the FAA response.
1. Purpose/utility of the ANCIR portal.
Public comment: The portal merely ``summarizes'' complaints and
does not analyze them in an operational context or produce actions to
address noise impacts (AICA and many individual commenters).
FAA response: ANCIR is intended as a centralized, standardized
intake/routing/tracking/response system--not an operational analysis or
automatic mitigation tool; complaint data can inform understanding of
recurring concerns but is not, by itself, determinative of operational
or policy changes.
2. Repeated submissions/very high-volume reporters.
Public comment: Repeated reports from the same people should be
treated as evidence of ongoing exposure (not ``duplicates'') and the
portal currently mislabels or ignores repeat submissions.
FAA response: The FAA acknowledges repeated submissions can reflect
recurring conditions and will consider clarifying how repeated
submissions are handled and described; at the same time, the FAA notes
very high volumes of substantially similar submissions from a few
individuals can overwhelm resources and that procedural limits may be
necessary; use of repeated submissions as direct operational evidence
is a broader policy question outside the immediate PRA scope.
3. Lack of integration with operational/noise-exposure data.
Public comment: Complaint data should be integrated with
operational datasets (flight tracks, noise contours, event metrics like
overflights) so complaints can meaningfully inform operational review
and mitigation.
FAA response: The FAA views that integration as beyond the scope of
this PRA action; practical constraints include privacy laws, separate
systems that don't always interoperate, different airport screening/
validation methods, and governance/legal considerations--so systematic
operational coupling would require broader policy, technical, and legal
decisions.
4. Quality of FAA responses/``form letter''/transparency.
Public comment: Many complainants receive boilerplate or no
meaningful follow-up; the portal feels like a ``black hole'' and
undermines trust.
FAA response: FAA recognizes concerns about clarity of
acknowledgments and whether responses meet user expectations; it will
consider whether portal language, instructions, and acknowledgments
should be improved to better explain purpose and handling of
submissions (while noting limitations on what FAA can or will do in
response).
5. Accessibility and reporting pathways (phone, web, mail).
Public comment: Removing regional phone lines and emphasizing web
reporting disadvantages elderly/disabled or those without internet.
FAA response: ANCIR was centralized to provide a consistent
national intake; FAA observed greater use of the webform but notes
postal mail remains an option; FAA will consider accessibility and
communication as part of its review of the information collection.
6. Portal functionality/usability/technical issues.
Public comment: Problems include inability to record event time
when entered slightly after the event, lack of integration with other
apps (Air-Noise), and other form issues.
FAA response: The FAA will consider design, usability, and
functionality comments insofar as they relate to improving the quality,
utility, and clarity of the information collection and minimizing
respondent burden; specific technical integrations are constrained by
system boundaries and scope.
7. Representativeness and geographic participation bias.
Public comment: The portal's design may distort the geographic
distribution of concerns (e.g., under-reporting from certain
communities).
FAA response: FAA will consider whether portal design/operation
affects complaint participation or geographic representation and
whether adjustments could better capture participation patterns and
representativeness.
8. Role of complaint data in policy, mitigation, or operational
change.
Public comment: Complaint submissions should be treated as evidence
that leads to operational changes (curfews, route changes, mitigation).
FAA response: FAA reiterates complaint data are an important input
but decisions on procedures or mitigation require broader consideration
of safety, efficiency, statutory authority, feasibility, and
environmental review; using complaint data as dispositive evidence is a
policy question outside the PRA information-collection review.
9. Noise metrics, health impacts, and survey metrics (e.g., DNL).
Public comment: The FAA should update noise metrics to reflect
health impacts (sleep disturbance, cardiovascular effects, etc.) and
use metrics beyond DNL.
FAA response: Much of this relates to substantive noise policy and
public-health questions outside the PRA notice; however, the FAA will
consider whether the information collection could better capture types
of impacts complainants report (as a matter of collection clarity/
utility).
10. Interoperability with airport or third-party complaint systems.
Public comment: Portal should accept or be reconciled with airport-
level systems and third-party reporting tools.
FAA response: FAA notes airport systems vary in screening/
validation and that integrating disparate systems raises privacy,
legal, technical, and governance issues beyond the PRA collection
review; FAA will consider
[[Page 25753]]
aspects of how the collection captures and presents information but
full system integration is a larger project.
11. Reporting cadence and public reporting of complaints.
Public comment: Requests for regular (monthly/quarterly) complaints
reports and for complaint data to be paired with proposed FAA actions.
FAA response: FAA reports ANCIR complaint information regularly
(quarterly and annual roll-ups) but notes ANCIR itself is not an
operational analysis platform that automatically yields proposed
operational actions; complaint data can inform outreach and
identification of recurring topics.
12. Broad allegations about FAA capture, NextGen, and enforcement
failures.
Public comment: Some submissions allege FAA misconduct, industry
capture, or that modernization programs (NextGen/MOSAIC) created harms.
FAA response: The FAA treats such broad operational/policy
allegations as outside the scope of this PRA notice (which focuses on
the information collection); specific safety or enforcement concerns
should be pursued through appropriate FAA safety, oversight, or policy
channels.
Respondents: 45,000.
Frequency: As needed.
Estimated Average Burden per Response: 15 minutes.
Estimated Total Annual Burden: 11,250 hours.
Issued in Des Plaines, IL.
Nitin Rao,
Manager, National Engagement Strategy and Policy Division, ARA-200.
[FR Doc. 2026-09236 Filed 5-8-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-13-P
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