Long Beach : New Temporary Limits on Aircraft Noise Adopted

Long Beach is adopting temporary new limits on aircraft noise, while it waits for resolution of a court challenge to its noise control regulations.

The new limits, adopted this week in a preliminary vote by the City Council, require business and charter jets to meet the same noise standards already imposed on commercial aircraft. The restrictions will also allow the city to prosecute one-time violators with misdemeanor citations.

A federal judge last year declared the city’s airport noise regulations unconstitutional in response to a lawsuit filed by commercial aircraft companies. That ruling is now being appealed by the city, and a judge last month ruled that the city could set interim noise standards while the appeal is pending.