EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF THE SENATE CONCERNING AIR TRAFFIC OVER NORTHERN DELAWARE.

SEC. 758. EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF THE SENATE CONCERNING AIR TRAFFIC OVER NORTHERN DELAWARE. (a) Definition.—The term “Brandywine Intercept” means the point over Brandywine Hundred in northern Delaware that pilots use for guidance and maintenance of safe operation from other aircraft and over which most aircraft pass on their East Operations approach to Philadelphia International Airport. (b) Findings.—Congress makes the following findings: (1) The Brandywine Hundred area of New Castle County, Delaware, serves as a major approach causeway to Philadelphia International Airport’s East Operations runways. (2) The standard of altitude over the Brandywine Intercept is 3,000 feet, with airport scatter charts indicating that within a given hour of consistent weather and visibility aircraft fly over the Brandywine Hundred at anywhere from 2,500 to 4,000 feet. (3) Lower airplane altitudes result in increased ground noise. (c) Sense of the Senate.—It is the sense of the Senate that the Secretary should— (1) include northern Delaware in any study of aircraft noise conducted under part 150 of title 14, Code of Federal Regulations, required under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 for the redesign of the airspace surrounding Philadelphia International Airport; (2) study the feasibility, consistent with safety, of placing the approach causeway for Philadelphia International Airport’s East Operations over the Delaware River (instead of Brandywine Hundred); and 114 STAT. 184 (3) study the feasibility of increasing the standard altitude over the Brandywine Intercept from 3,000 feet to 4,000 feet.