Federal Airport Noise Rule May Undercut O.C.’s

A new airport noise policy announced Tuesday by federal aviation officials could end up undermining noise restrictions at John Wayne Airport, where officials are fighting to preserve the strict local controls that permitted the airport’s massive expansion in the late 1980s.

The new federal rules, announced at a press conference by Secretary of Transportation Samuel K. Skinner, are intended, by the end of the decade, to dramatically reduce the roar of jet engines for more than 2.7 million people who live near the nation’s airports.

But some airport officials fear that the new federal policy ultimately could result in looser noise restrictions at some airports, such as John Wayne, that have enacted more stringent controls than those established by the federal government.

“The federal government has preempted, to some extent, the authority of local (airport) proprietors to resolve local issues,” said Courtney C. Wiercioch, chief of government and community relations for the county-operated John Wayne Airport.

Skinner said the new federal policy strikes a balance between the rights of those who live near airports and the rights of the air carriers and their passengers. “This is a very complicated issue,” he added.

In the end, Skinner said, the courts are likely to decide how far individual airports can go in imposing noise regulations that supersede the new federal rules.

The new airport noise policy, drafted at the direction of Congress, requires all airlines to eliminate the oldest, noisiest airplanes in their fleets by the year 2000. The rules apply to domestic carriers as well as foreign-owned planes that use U.S. air terminals.

Skinner portrayed the new policy as an environmental initiative. But critics suggested that the Federal Aviation Administration is simply seeking to maintain airport capacity across the country by limiting the ability of airports to enact new noise restrictions.

“The real purpose is in the name of capacity and uniformity, to see to it that communities don’t do their own thing,” said Sherwin Landfield, a board member of the Washington-based group Citizens for the Abatement of Aircraft Noise.

The noise policy allows more than 100 airports that already have imposed their own noise restrictions to keep them in place. But airports wishing to change their policies will face tough new hurdles, including requirements for rigorous economic impact analyses that some airport officials believe will be all but impossible to satisfy.

That part of the policy is in part a response to air carrier complaints that the proliferation of local noise control policies has hurt air commerce and made it difficult for them to operate efficiently.

John Wayne Airport is one of the quietest in the country. “It’s a measuring stick for the rest of the nation of envious citizens,” Landfield said. But that could spell trouble.

Because John Wayne already excludes all but the newest and quietest of aircraft, any change in its noise regulations would bring special problems--the entire package of noise regulations would have to be turned over to the Federal Aviation Administration for evaluation and approval.

And that is what some John Wayne officials fear could happen later this year when the FAA makes a final ruling on another complex noise-related issue that has vexed both airline pilots and airport officials.

That issue involves the height at which airline pilots are required to reduce the thrust of their engines, after takeoff, to keep noise to a minimum.

Part of John Wayne’s longstanding noise control policy requires some airplanes to cut back power at altitudes as low as 500 feet. Pilots, however, have complained that reducing thrust at such low altitudes poses safety problems. An FAA task force that has examined the issue is set to recommend increasing the minimum altitude for power reductions to 800 feet.

If that happens, Wiercioch said, some airplanes that previously met Orange County noise standards would no longer be eligible to land at John Wayne Airport. To avoid reducing airport capacity--the number of planes that can take off and land each day--the county would have to amend its noise-control plan to permit some louder planes. And once the county amended the noise restrictions, John Wayne officials fear that the FAA would move in to take a hard look at the airport’s entire noise policy.

“We’re not sure it’s going to cause us difficulties right now; we just don’t know,” Wiercioch said. “There are a lot of unknowns.”

In any event, Wiercioch said, county officials will be hesitant to make any changes in the noise plan unless they receive assurances that the FAA will not materially alter the noise restrictions. The restrictions, agreed on as part of the 1985 settlement of a major lawsuit, permitted the county to proceed with plans to dramatically enlarge John Wayne Airport and its operations.

Skinner estimated that the new noise policy will cost airlines between $880 million and $4.5 billion through the end of the decade, depending on whether they replace entire aircraft or upgrade engines to reduce noise. Those costs almost certainly will be passed along to ticket-buyers, he said.

“We are asking the American traveling consumer to pay . . . to provide a quiet environment,” Skinner said.

The new rule will take out of service about 2,270 so-called “Stage II” aircraft, or 55% of the domestic fleet. Among the noisier planes are Boeing 707s, 727s, some 737s, McDonnell Douglas DC-8s and DC-9s. Quieter, “Stage III” aircraft currently make up about 45% of the U.S. fleet.

The noise policy will decrease the number of people living near airports who are subjected to excessive jet noise from 2.7 million this year to 400,000 in the year 2000, Skinner said.

The new rule permits airlines to comply in one of two ways. They can retire Stage II planes in increments of 25% (for a reduction of 25% by the end of 1994, 50% by 1996, 75% by 1998 and 100% by 2000). Or they can add newer, quieter planes to gradually increase the percentage of Stage III planes (55% by the end of 1994, 65% by 1996, 75% by 1998 and 100% by 2000).

At any stage, the FAA is allowed to grant waivers to air carriers who have not complied, for reasons that may include financial troubles.

Keeping It Quiet

John Wayne Airport has the toughest noise rules in the country and is successful compared to other urban California airports in limiting noise. It demands quiet jets, curfews on flights after 11 p.m., noise monitoring an unusual takeoff procedure for some planes to cut sound levels.

Silent Take Off

1. Jets take off at steep angle to gain altitude quickly.

2. Planes level off and reduce power to cut noise.

3. Aircraft turn to follow Newport Bay toward coast, avoiding homes. 4. Over the ocean, pilots increase power and gain altiutude.

Ears on the Ground Complance with noise restrictions is monitored by 10 sensor stations.

Low Impact John Wayne’s noise affects fewer homes than other state airports.

Dwellings Rank Airport Affected 1 Los Angeles 26,299 2 San Diego 18,950 3 San Francisco 5,208 4 Ontario 3,049 5 San Jose 1,600 6 Burbank 1,367 7 Van Nuys 824 8 John Wayne 59 9 Long Beach 30

Source: Caltrans Division of Aeronautics and John Wayne Airport