NBAA thanks NY gov. Kathy Hochul for vetoing Stop the Chop act

After urging from the NBAA to members, Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York vetoed Senate bill S7493A. The NBAA thanked Hochul on Friday for her decision to veto the bill, which would have allowed anyone to sue a pilot, line service personnel, flight department or company employee for rotorcraft noise pollution.

The NBAA thanked stakeholders and members for the effort to stop the bill from passing. The bill itself was deemed too broad by the NBAA, stating many elements of it would have been detrimental to business aviation.

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“Regulation of aircraft and airspace is primarily a federal responsibility, and federal law significantly constrains the state’s ability to legislate in this area,” Hochul said. “Certain elements of this legislation run counter to the federal scheme regulating New York’s airports and airspace.”

A Twitter account for the bill had a petition that began in 2020. The “Stop the Chop” act was passed on June 3 by the state assembly. The petition cited numerous accidents, fatalities and property damage due to non-essential helicopters in densely populated areas. The movement also complained that the noise from copters was an inconvenience faced by many in the NY area and caused property values to lower and added to noise pollution in the city.

“As written, the act operates as an access restriction at the West 30th Street heliport,” a letter from stakeholders said. “But that is prohibited by the federal law governing the implementation of noise and access restrictions, the Airport Noise and Capacity Act of 1990 (49 U.S.C. § 47521, et seq.).”

Thank you @GovKathyHochul for vetoing the “Stop the Chop” act, which would have had detrimental impacts on #bizav. Thank you also to our members and other stakeholders who answered our call to action and contacted the governor. Your efforts paid off!https://t.co/KQ7aM1sbR1 pic.twitter.com/U7pvSUF8RM

— NBAA (@NBAA) December 16, 2022

The veto of this bill prevents damage to the business aviation industry, which provides jobs and economic output to the NY metropolitan area.

“We thank Gov. Hochul for her swift action in vetoing this obstructive bill,” NBAA President and CEO Ed Bolen said. “In New York, the general aviation industry is responsible for 43,200 jobs and more than $8.6 billion in total economic output, and this proposed legislation would have done great harm to our industry.”

“We also thank the many NBAA members who reached out to the governor over the past few months to let her know the harm this bill would cause to business aviation across the state of New York,” he added.

Hochul had until Dec. 23 to sign or veto the bill, choosing to veto the bill Friday.