Bill Would Allow Flight Curfews Without FAA Consent

Hoping to untangle a dispute that has stalled expansion of Burbank Airport, Rep. James Rogan introduced legislation Friday that would allow the airport’s operators to impose night-time flight curfews without the approval of the Federal Aviation Administration.

The bill by Rogan (R-Glendale) comes a day after the FAA issued a legal opinion reaffirming that under a 1990 federal law such curfews cannot currently be imposed without first conducting a comprehensive noise study.

The opinion was a significant setback for the city of Burbank, which has long complained about noise impacts on nearby neighborhoods.

The city has opposed a plan to build a new airport terminal until airport officials agree to ban all flights between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. and limit the total number of flights. Officials with Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority, which is jointly owned by the three cities, have repeatedly maintained that they cannot impose the curfew until a study is conducted and need to build the terminal to improve safety.

Rogan’s bill was an attempt to remove the study hurdle and separate the two issues.

“We can achieve both of these goals simultaneously,” Rogan, who supports the expansion, said in a news release. “Public safety must not be held hostage and used as a bargaining chip.”

But both sides in the impasse said Friday that they doubted the bill would solve the problem--even if it is approved by Congress.

“The authority has simply not discussed [imposing a curfew],” said Victor Gill, a spokesman for the airport authority. “The issue has always been hypothetical.”

Peter Kirsch, an attorney representing Burbank, was more blunt.

“We’re exactly at the same position we have always been,” he said. “This legislation does not change the authority’s position on a curfew, which is that they do not support one.”

Kirsch criticized the effort to separate the curfew issue from the construction of the new terminal, saying the city should not be asked to give any leeway in its negotiations with nothing in return.

“The city has made its position crystal clear for five years, and that is that the impacts of the airport have to be addressed before any expansion can take place,” he said. “To say that the airport should get what it wants without the community receiving what it wants is silly.”