Countywide : Supervisors Adopt Noise Limits for Private Planes

Despite opposition from a number of private jet operators, the Board of Supervisors gave final approval Tuesday to an ordinance requiring private planes to meet the same noise limits required of commercial carriers at John Wayne Airport.

The ordinance, opposed by the National Business Aircraft Assn., prohibits private jets from taking off at more than 89.5 decibels and imposes an outright ban on many noisier jet models unless their owners prove they can fly quietly.

Many business aircraft owners have said the ordinance discriminates against private plane owners because it requires them to meet the noise limit on every takeoff, while airlines using John Wayne have their noise levels averaged over a three-month period to determine whether they comply with noise regulations.

Steve Atkinson, a pilot for the Southland Corp., said the company operates its eight jets “continually” out of Orange County, yet he said company jets will be banned from the airport if even 3% of their takeoffs exceed the new noise limits during the next three years.

“I believe we should all be treated the same,” Atkinson said.

A spokesman for the business aircraft group, which has challenged a number of local noise ordinances in court, said the organization urges its pilots to fly as quietly as possible on a voluntary basis. He asked the board to appoint a committee of pilots, airport officials and the Federal Aviation Administration to discuss limits on private jet noise after the ordinance is adopted.

But county officials said they have already alleviated the concerns of most corporate jet owners by way of an appeal process that will allow pilots a full hearing before being restricted from the airport. In addition, the ordinance provides that planes will not be banned unless they exceed noise limits at least three times over a three-month period, said airport manager Murry Cable.

Supervisors’ Chairman Thomas F. Riley, who has been one of the strongest proponents of the general aviation noise ordinance, said it would be impossible for the county to monitor private plane flights in enough detail to discern average noise levels for individual planes.

“If you’re asking the County of Orange to monitor 10,000 flights a quarter, you’re talking about an administrative burden and a commitment to noise abatement which we are not prepared to accept,” said Riley, a resident of the area in Newport Beach most affected by jet noise from John Wayne Airport.