Court Rejects Airport Noise Case
The U.S. 9th District Court of Appeals has rejected a request by the airline industry to reconsider an October decision that cleared the way for the city of Long Beach to regulate noise levels at Long Beach Municipal Airport.
“This is an affirmation of the earlier decision with which we were happy, and we are happy with this,” said Lee Blackman, an attorney representing the city.
In the earlier decision, issued Oct. 24, the court had barred Long Beach from enforcing its noise ordinance, but only on the narrow grounds that the city failed to hold hearings before restricting flights. After that ruling, attorneys representing the city said they would eventually rewrite the ordinance to conform with the law.
John Lyons, an attorney representing the airline industry, expressed disappointment at the court’s refusal to reconsider its earlier action.
“I think it’s going to be dangerous for the air transportation industry in the future,” Lyons said. He said no decision had yet been made on whether to appeal the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court.
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