MSP Airport Noise Oversight Committee marks 20 years of service

The Noise Oversight Committee (NOC) for the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport (MSP) is celebrating its 20th anniversary this month. In those years serving as an advisory committee to the Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC), the NOC’s responsiveness and creative solutions have led to numerous achievements.

In 2000, the MAC CEO at that time, Jeff Hamiel, established a Blue Ribbon Panel to develop a new framework for an aircraft noise advisory committee. The panel was comprised of three community representatives from the cities of Eagan, Mendota Heights, and Minneapolis, and three airport user representatives from Northwest Airlines, UPS, and the Minnesota Business Aviation Association (MBAA). After six meetings from 2001 to 2002, the Blue Ribbon Panel proposed a balanced membership framework for a new MSP Noise Oversight Committee comprised of equal community and aviation industry representatives.

The cities of Bloomington, Eagan, Mendota Heights, Minneapolis, and Richfield each have a representative on the committee. The cities of Apple Valley, Burnsville, Inver Grove Heights, St. Louis Park, St. Paul, Sunfish Lake, and Edina are represented through an at-large member. Each representative serves a two-year term and each city appoints its representative and an alternate.

The aviation industry is represented by a scheduled air carrier, a cargo air carrier, a charter/scheduled operator, a chief pilot of an airline serving MSP, the MBAA and an at-large member. All industry representatives, except the MBAA representative, are appointed by the MSP Airline and Airport Affairs Committee.

The NOC officially convened for the first time twenty years ago on June 26, 2003, and has since held over 120 meetings and 80 community input and listening sessions. The NOC has achieved over 300 workplan tasks related to airport noise issues, monitored MSP noise abatement policy use, and has collected and disseminated information to the public.