The Institute for Policy Integrity submitted comments to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on its proposed rule to replace the longstanding ban on commercial supersonic overland flight with a noise- and overpressure-based standard. While we support shifting to a flexible performance standard as a sound first step, we urge the agency to explicitly acknowledge key uncertainties in its final rule, including potential public health and welfare impacts from evanescent waves, secondary sonic booms, and accidental overpressure limit exceedances. To ensure that future stages of this multi-step regulatory process maximize net benefits, our comments recommend that the FAA establish a concrete timeline and allocate resources to quantify and monetize these potential health and welfare effects in coordination with NASA, EPA, and international partners. Proactively strengthening its economic analysis will position the FAA to foster commercial supersonic innovation while safeguarding long-term public welfare.

