FAA to Burbank: Nighttime Noise Curfew a No-go

By: Matt Thurber

November 3, 2009
Airports

On Friday, the FAA rejected the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority’s application for a nighttime noise curfew. The airport spent more than $7 million applying for permission to restrict nighttime operations under FAR Part 161, submitting a completed application on May 29.

Burbank Airport had to meet six statutory conditions for FAA approval of the curfew but met only two of them, according to the FAA. The agency did agree that “there is substantial evidence that a current or future noise problem exists and that the proposal would relieve the noise problem.

But the curfew doesn’t meet the requirement to be “reasonable, nonarbitrary and nondiscriminatory,” because “there is not substantial evidence that other available remedies are infeasible or would be less cost-effective. Only two conditions were met by Burbank’s Part 161 application, showing that it didn’t conflict with existing U.S. laws and regulations and that plenty of opportunity was provided for public comment.

According to the airport commission, it is “deeply disappointed in the denial of its application and renewed its commitment to seeking meaningful nighttime noise relief.”

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