As the U.S. races to safely and efficiently deploy advanced air mobility (AAM) nationwide, the need for technically feasible, economically viable and environmentally beneficial noise standards is essential. In September 2025,, U.S. Transportation Secretary Duffy announced a new pilot program that will accelerate AAM vehicle deployment aimed at connecting rural American communities, reducing road congestion, and enhancing medical services and transport. The pilot program seeks to form public-private partnerships with state and local government agencies and private sector companies to develop new frameworks and regulations that will enable safe AAM operations.

Existing aircraft noise rules have evolved around conventional aircraft and are not easily adaptable to the distinctive noise profiles generated by distributed electric propulsion and other technologies that define AAM today. Communities under congested flight paths continue to express resistance to expanding aerial operations without assurances of low noise levels and noise monitoring regulations. By streamlining noise certification, U.S. DOT can enable a faster, safer rollout of AAM operations for new entrants such as electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft and other AAM technologies, while maintaining a safe, quiet, and efficient airspace system.

FAA’s Office of Environment and Energy is leading efforts to modernize and harmonize noise certification, in alignment with White House goals and U.S. DOT priorities to accelerate infrastructure delivery, enable public-private collaboration, and ensure rapid yet responsible adoption of transformative aviation technologies.

The U.S. DOT Volpe Center’s multidisciplinary team worked with FAA and other stakeholders to develop a practical, globally harmonized noise-certification framework. The team combined policy analysis, engineering insight, data-driven research, and existing international certification standards procedures to help develop a pathway FAA can implement across a broad range of AAM platforms. To date, key activities have included drafting Rules of Particular Applicability (RPA) tailored to commercial drones and eVTOLs, developing noise measurement methodologies, and conducting targeted acoustic measurement campaigns to develop and validate both models and metrics. 

By anchoring the methodology in empirical noise data, the U.S. DOT Volpe Center team is enabling the development of a technically robust, scalable, and globally uniform noise certification procedures. The work was accomplished through three integrated activities: 

1. The FAA-U.S. DOT Volpe Center team crafted RPAs as interim noise standards for noise certification that reflects the unique noise characteristics of small, electric-powered aircraft, moving beyond one-size-fits-all rules. 
2. The team modified existing noise measurement standards to accommodate modern propulsion technologies and the evolving AAM landscape, providing manufacturers seeking type certification with clear, repeatable tests and providing regulators with standardized and meaningful datasets. 
3. Dedicated acoustic measurement campaigns on multiple eVTOL prototypes generated high-quality data to validate models and refine noise certification metrics.

Together, these steps are helping create a streamlined, scalable pathway for certifying AAM noise that supports rapid innovation while safeguarding public health and the environment.

The initiative has already moved policy forward, with seven manufacturer-specific RPAs published in the Federal Register to date. The U.S. DOT Volpe Center team delivered draft guidance for AAM and commercial drones, and measurement campaigns continue to inform ongoing refinements to FAA noise standards. Looking ahead, the team will refine RPA guidance and measurement methods, broaden testing to cover more aircraft configurations, and continue aligning U.S. standards with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and other international frameworks. The final goal will be a  scalable noise-certification standard that minimizes regulatory burden, incentivizes innovation, ensures a predictable path to certification for OEMs, and sustains a robust U.S. AAM ecosystem. The U.S. DOT Volpe Center team stands ready to continue to support implementation, harmonization, and ongoing performance assessment as the AAM landscape expands.

This work demonstrates how rigorous technical analysis, collaboration, and forward-looking policy design can unlock transformative aviation innovations to propel a new era in mobility.

About the U.S. DOT Volpe Center

Since 1970, the U.S. DOT Volpe Center has advanced transportation innovation for the public good, providing multimodal applied research, collaborating with federal, state, and industry partners, and multidisciplinary technical leadership and expertise to solve complex transportation challenges. Learn more at www.volpe.dot.gov.