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STAFF CONTACTS ON GENERAL NOISE ISSUES:

Maggie Martinez     840-8840
Victor Gill               840-8840

STAFF CONTACTS ON HOME INSULATION PROGRAM:

Hilda Landaverde        842-1732
Bob Anderson           565-1305

STAFF CONTACT ON PART 150 STUDY

Sid Allen                  840-8840

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Special section on Nighttime Noise issues, click here.

Special Item:
Development Agreement with City of Burbank, 2005
The Airport Authority and the City of Burbank concluded a development agreement in February 2005 aimed at charting a course for Airport facilities and nighttime noise abatement efforts. Click here for more information.

OVERVIEW OF NOISE ISSUES

Jet airline service arrived at Burbank in the late 1960s, and there have been concerted efforts over the past 40 years to minimize the impact of noise on the surrounding communities. Bob Hope Airport’s most successful measures have been:

Becoming the first commercial airport in the country to require airlines to use only quieter technology “Stage 3” jets in 1987. The national noise policy enacted by Congress allowed noisier “Stage 2” jets to remain in use at other airports until 2000.
Minimizing the hours of operations for airline jets. Although Burbank Airport is a 24-hour airport, the commercial airlines have been guided by a voluntary curfew that urges them to avoid scheduling flights after 10 p.m. and before 7 a.m., even when they use the quieter Stage 3 aircraft. Historically, more than 95% of the all airline flights have conformed to that restriction.
Eliminating virtually all flights by noisier jet and propeller aircraft – either airline or privately-owned – between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. As noted above, there is a voluntary curfew governing Stage 3 aircraft. But in 1981, the airport successfully implemented a mandatory curfew banning flights at night by jet aircraft with noise levels equal to or louder than Stage 2, and certain propeller aircraft with noise levels above approved limits.
Aggressively seeking federal funds to insulate schools and homes located inside the noise impact area as determined under California noise standards and federally prescribed noise studies. So far the Airport Authority has obtained and provided $59 million in funding for insulation of five schools and nearly 1300 residential units.

The results of these and other programs over the years have been significant. When the Airport Authority purchased the airport from Lockheed in 1978, there were over 370 acres of residential land impacted by average aircraft noise levels of 70 decibels or more (residential land affected at less than 70 decibels averaged over a 24 hour period was considered compatible with the airport under state standards in 1978). Now there are about 4 acres of residential land impacted at that level.

Today, state standards for compatibility have been tightened. A house must be in an area affected by less than 65 decibels on average to be considered compatible with the airport. Under the newer standards, there are some 71 acres of incompatible land, still significantly less than in 1978, even though today’s standards to attain a “compatible” status are stricter than 20 years ago.

There are further efforts underway that may benefit neighbors who live outside the officially recognized impact area. The Airport Authority is now pursuing a special federal study to qualify a mandatory 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. curfew under federal law. If successful, this curfew would apply to all flights, not just airlines. (See the Part 161 Study section on the menu for more information.)

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AIRPORT NOISE RULES

The Airport Authority has adopted a body of noise rules designed to ensure minimum intrusion of noise in surrounding communities. While the rules contain many technical provisions, their thrust is simple and direct:

Prevent aircraft noise impact areas from increasing beyond their levels of 1978, when the Authority purchased the airport from Lockheed.
Ban all flights at night by noisier Stage 2 jets or equivalent aircraft.
Require all airlines to fly Stage 3 jets, the quietest jets available.

Click here for Noise Rules

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SOUND INSULATION PROGRAM

Burbank Airport, in conjunction with the Federal Aviation Administration, has implemented a Residential Acoustical Treatment Program (RATP). This program will ultimately insulate approximately 5,400 residential units in Burbank and Los Angeles.

The Residential Acoustical Treatment Program is the result of the Federal Aviation Regulation (FAR) Part 150 Study, completed in 1989, that determined which neighborhoods, noise-sensitive public buildings, and local jurisdictional boundaries lie within the noise-impacted area surrounding the airport. Facilities identified by the study are eligible to receive noise mitigation treatments funded by federal grants and local matching funds supplied by the Airport Authority.

The Authority has implemented two primary mitigation measures approved by the Part 150 Study: insulation of homes within the 65 CNEL impact area (the area where aircraft noise exceeds an average of 65 decibels over a 24 hour period); acquiring avigation easements for homes in the 65 CNEL impact area (easements allowing aircraft to fly over the home without the threat of a future lawsuit by the property owner against the Airport Authority).

Under the insulation program, consultants for the Authority design a specific treatment for each home to ensure that interior noise levels will always remain quiet enough to enjoy normal use of the home, no matter how much aircraft activity there might be. The acoustical treatment may include door and window replacement, attic insulation, weather stripping, ventilation and air conditioning. Once designed, the treatment is installed by licensed, bonded contractors selected by the Authority.

THIS PROGRAM IS FREE OF COST TO THE PROPERTY OWNER, PROVIDED HE OR SHE GRANTS THE AUTHORITY AN AVIATION EASEMENT.

To find out more about this program, contact Hilda Landaverde at 842-1732, or Bob Anderson at 565-1305.
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NOISE STUDIES: PART 150 AND PART 161

The Federal Aviation Regulations contain specific sections, or “parts,” that describe how noise studies are to be conducted to improve the compatibility between airports and the various land uses that surround them.

Part 150 studies are intended to map where noise impact areas are, then study various options for reducing noise at its source (called “abatement”) or reducing the impact of noise on the receiving end (called “mitigation”). A primary incentive for an airport to do a Part 150 Study is the resulting eligibility for federal grant funds that goes to mitigation measures adopted by the study and accepted by the Federal Aviation Administration.

Burbank Airport did its first Part 150 Study from 1985-1989 and has since been able to secure $49 million in federal and local funds to insulate four schools and over 900 homes. A total of 2,300 homes were identified in the study as eligible for federal grants for insulation.

The airport began an update of its Part 150 Study in 1997and submitted it to the FAA for review in February 2000. Now approved by the FAA, the study indicates that another 800 single family homes are eligible for insulation funding. The program has now grown to include multi-family units, bringing the total of residential units eligible for insulation treatment to 5,400.

Part 161 arose after Congress passed the Airport Noise and Capacity Act of 1990, which prevented airports from passing new noise rules such as curfews. If an airport has reason to believe a new noise rule is justified, despite the Noise and Capacity Act, Part 161 provides a study methodology to examine the reasons why, and to provide a means to persuade the Federal Aviation Administration that an exception is warranted. No new rule can be adopted unless the Part 161 Study is successfully completed and the rule is accepted by the FAA.

Bob Hope Airport began a Part 161 Study in 2000 in pursuit of a mandatory curfew from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. In January 2005, we added a new streamlined section to this website designed to summarize the Airport's efforts to address NIGHTTIME NOISE, especially with respect to the Part 161 Study.

On March 5, 2008, the Authority released an Executive Summary of the Part 161 Study Application for a Proposed Curfew, and a 45-day public comment period on the Study and Application began March 31, running through May 14, 2008. Click here for the Executive Summary. More information -- including access to the entire two-volume Part 161 Study Application is now available on the AIRPORT AUTHORITY page.

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CURRENT NOISE CONTOUR

The noise contour shown here depicts the boundary line between “compatible” and “incompatible” noise levels under the California Noise Standards. The contours are often misunderstood because some viewers assume the line is meant to show that there is no aircraft noise outside the contour. That is not the intent – clearly there is aircraft noise well beyond the contour boundary.

Click here for noise contour map

However, under the state-prescribed standards, the average noise levels inside the contour are presumed to be so intrusive as to be incompatible with normal residential use. Outside the contour, the standards presume that average aircraft noise -- even if it might be intrusive to some – is generally compatible with residential land use.

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TABLE: DECREASE IN NOISE IMPACT AREA

While it is clear that there is still a significant noise impact area associated with Burbank Airport, it is equally clear that incompatible land use as determined by the California Noise Standards has been reduced dramatically since the airport was purchased from Lockheed in 1978. The following table lists, on an annual basis, the number of acres of incompatible land use due to aircraft noise at both the 70 decibel and 65 decibel levels under the state’s Community Noise Equivalency Level (CNEL) measurement system.

The standard for compatibility was 70 CNEL prior to 1986, and 65 CNEL thereafter. Although there are still some 71 acres of incompatible land under the 65 CNEL standard today, the Authority anticipates eliminating all incompatible land by the year 2015.

REDUCTION OF INCOMPATIBLE LAND USE
WITHIN THE 70 & 65 CNEL CONTOURS

YEAR

Acres of Incompatible
Land Use

70 CNEL

65 CNEL

1978 375 -

1979 384 -

1980 406 -

1981 210 -

1982 200 -

1983 196 -

1984 186 -

1985 159 -

1986 84 437

1987 81 433

1988 82 466

1989 44 385

1990 22 294

1991 19 313

1992 33 358

1993 27 351

1994 30 372

1995 38 406

1996 37 391

1997 27 364

1998 32 340

1999 26 327

2000 14
278

2001 8
265

2002 7
214

2003 10
134

2004 6
118

2005
5
89

2006 4
71

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