Airport Approves Plan to Help Control Noise

BURBANK — The Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority has given the go-ahead for a 15-year, $139-million program to mitigate the effects of aircraft noise on the surrounding area.

About $130 million of the total amount will help pay for insulation of 3,100 homes and eight schools in Burbank, North Hollywood and Sun Valley, said airport authority spokesman Victor Gill.

Airport officials said the funding program was part of the so-called Part 150 process, named for a federal aviation regulation prescribing actions local airports can take to qualify for federal funding.

Typically, the federal government pays 80% of noise reduction costs while the local airport provides 20%, Gill said.

For years, the city of Burbank and the airport fought over what had to be done to reduce noise, which was part of an effort to build a new terminal.

Last August, the sides appeared to resolve many of those issues by agreeing on a proposal to build a 14-gate, $300-million replacement facility.

Contained in that compromise was a provision that would link terminal expansion to a mandatory overnight curfew. Under federal rules, a curfew cannot be imposed without a series of studies.