Governor Vetoes Expanded Airport Noise Reporting Bill

To the dismay of residents fed up with the roar of planes, Gov. Gray Davis vetoed a bill late Thursday to expand the noise reporting requirements at Van Nuys Airport.

SB 2036, by state Sen. Richard Alarcon (D-Sylmar), would have forced the airport to count the number of residents and homes affected by jet noise averaging 55 decibels or more.

It was opposed by San Fernando Valley business interests, who argued that the current 65-decibel reporting standard was sufficient.

“All this proposed study would have done would be to spend taxpayer money and tell us that more people live within a wider radius from the airport,” Bob Rodine, co-chair of the airport committee of the Valley Industry and Commerce Assn., said in a statement Friday.

But homeowners crusading to turn down the airport’s volume said the governor’s veto denied them a better grasp of the noise issue.

“We wanted a more honest and realistic picture of the noise problem,” said Gerald Silver, head of Homeowners of Encino and Stop the Noise!, a coalition of airport-weary residents. “Once we have that, the next step would be to put in restrictions on the airport to address the problem.”