Moratorium Expected on Noise Abatement Program : Airport: Decision would come amid efforts to change procedures at John Wayne that may raise jet noise.

The County Board of Supervisors is expected today to declare a moratorium on a noise abatement program for Santa Ana Heights homeowners because of government and airline industry attempts to change takeoff procedures at John Wayne Airport that might increase jet noise.

Airline pilots contend that a rule requiring them to cut power at 500 feet altitude to reduce noise is unsafe because it leaves too little time and space between the jetliner and the ground for them to recover if something goes wrong immediately after takeoff.

In federal incident reports, some pilots have described harrowing near mid-air collisions and have said that the steep takeoff angle at the airport and the power cutback make for a “crazy” situation and amount to a serious accident “waiting to happen.”

But airport officials argue that the Federal Aviation Administration approved the power cutback several years ago, and the procedure was actually developed by the airlines’ own pilots. The FAA regulates takeoff procedures, not the airport administration.

The airlines argue that they were pressured by airport noise policies that award additional takeoff slots--and thus highly profitable market share--based on quieter performance.

The decision expected today would at least temporarily halt the processing of homes in Santa Ana Heights, a semi-rural neighborhood just off the end of the runway.

To date, the county has purchased 23 homes under the airport noise abatement program. Seven homes have been acoustically insulated and resold. Four residences and one vacant lot are ready to be placed on the market for resale, county officials said. Sixty-six homes are waiting to be brought into the program.

“This will definitely hurt us,” said Santa Ana Heights activist Edwin C. Hall. “Already, we can’t sell homes in this neighborhood because of the airport noise, and this will make it worse.”

But county officials say the program must be stopped at least temporarily in order to assess the environmental and economic impacts under the assumption that the FAA will bar the power cutback at 500 feet.

For example, changing the cutback to 800 feet, as the pilots have proposed to the FAA, might increase the number of homes subjected to noise levels that violate state environmental regulations, thus increasing the county’s costs under the purchase and soundproofing program.