Meng secures funding to address aircraft noise
BY BILL PARRY
Congresswoman Grace
Meng, a member of the House
Appropriations Committee,
secured several key provisions
that seek to increase the Federal
Aviation Administration’s
engagement with communities,
expand security funding for
houses of worship and nonprofits,
improve outreach by the
federal Small Business Association
and enhance important
protections for consumers.
The measures are items that
Meng included in key spending
bills for fiscal year 2021. Specifically,
the provisions would accomplish
the following:
Allocate an additional $5
million so that the FAA can hire
more staff to increase the agency’s
community engagement capacity.
This increased engagement,
which stands to benefit
areas such as Queens, would
include the FAA’s participation
in community roundtables and
meetings with local officials. It
would also allow for more improved
contractor support in
order to make additional data
publicly available about aircraft
positions and altitude, as well as
preparing air traffic histories
and analyses, and conducting
environmental reviews.
Require the FAA to submit
an annual report to Congress
on activities undertaken by
its regional ombudsmen, who
serve as the regional liaisons on
issues regarding airplane noise,
pollution and safety. The report
must log all FAA programs related
to airport, aircraft and environmental
noise. It must also
detail the current FAA intake
and response process for noise
complaints, and the process
expected after the Noise Complaint
and Inquiry Database
and Tracking System is implemented
nationally. The report
must be provided no later than
180 days after the enactment of
the provision.
Boost the Nonprofit Security
Grant Program to a
record-breaking $180 million.
The program is the federal initiative
that provides houses of
worship and nonprofit entities
such as synagogues, churches,
mosques, schools, community
facilities and nonprofit organizations
with funding to protect
their properties against threats
and attacks. In July, Meng announced
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that 16 Jewish and two
Christian facilities throughout
Queens received a total of more
than $1.7 million under the program.
Call on the SBA to increase
outreach and direct support to
women entrepreneurs and small
businesses in underserved
communities such as those in
Queens, including the Asian-
American community, and
to increase engagement with
minority-serving institutions
in its programming and grant
mending. Small businesses
play a critical role in neighborhoods
and communities across
the borough. They provide jobs,
important services and drive
the region’s economy. It is critical
for female entrepreneurs
and businesses in underserved
areas to be made aware of and
afforded all the opportunities
and resources that the SBA has
to offer, particularly as these establishments
recover from the
impact of the COVID-9 crisis.
Require a report to Congress
on the effects of direct and indirect
food additives to determine
if they pose physical and behavioral
health risks to children.
There are more than 10,000 additives
to preserve or modify
the taste, appearance and nutrients
in food. Food additives and
their effects are dramatically
under-studied and probing this
issue would increase safety and
transparency in the foods that
kids eat.
Require the FDA to issue
guidance to manufacturers of
commonly used menstrual hygiene
products, such as scented
and unscented pads, cups and
scented and unscented tampons,
to list the ingredients in
these items. The measure aims
to make menstrual hygiene
products safer by ensuring that
women know what they are putting
in their bodies. Meng has
long worked to increase the
safety and transparency of menstrual
items and has championed
the issue in Congress. Her
bill, the Menstrual Products
Right to Know Act, would mandate
the labeling of ingredients
in menstrual products, which
would be listed in descending
order of concentration.
Congresswoman Grace Meng secured funding to increase FAA
community outreach on aircraft noise and other quality of life
issues for Queens residents. QNS/File
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