For many years the City of Burbank and its residents have been looking forward to meaningful nighttime noise relief at the Bob Hope Airport. Since 1977 there has been a semi-successful voluntary nighttime curfew from 10pm til 7am. Federal law has established a formal process which, among other things, provides a way to turn this voluntary curfew into a mandatory one - this is know as a Part 161 application. In the year 2000, the Airport Authority initiated a Part 161 study for this purpose and in recent months announced its determination that the cost/benefit analysis they performed may adequately meet Federal Requirements and justify the granting of a mandatory nighttime curfew.
In preparation to file this application with the FAA, the Airport Authority must first complete a number of procedural requirements, including implementing a public participation process. therefore, on March 31st, 2008 the Airport Authority commenced a 45-day public comment period (closing May 14th at 11:59pm) regarding its proposed application. During this period, members of the public and organizations are invited to provide comments and ask questions regarding the application.
The City of Burbank encourages residents to participate in this public outreach process by submitting comments and questions to the Airport Authority via the following opportunities:
- the May 12th Airport Authority public hearing at the Marriott Hotel 6pm.
- the June 16th Airport Authority regular meeting in the Burbank Airport Sky Room at 9am(at which time the Authority will formally consider the submittal of the Part 161 application to the FAA)
- via either of the Authority's websites http://www.bobhopeairport.com/ or http://www.burbankairport.com/
Once the Airport Authority submits the Part 161 application to the FAA, there is no guarantee that the FAA will indeed grant the mandatory nighttime curfew. In order to have any chance of success, involvement from the public is going to be essential. Therefore, the City urges that you contact your Federal representatives and let them know your feelings on this landmark event. For your convenience the contact information is provided below:
Honorable Dianne Feistein, 331 Hart Senate Office Bldg, Washington DC 20510. www.feinstein.senate.gov/
Honorable Adam B. Schiff, 326 Cannon House Office Bldg. Washington DC 20515. www.schiff.house.gov/hor/ca29/
Honorable Barbara Boxer, 112 Hart Senate Office Bldg, Washington DC 20510. www.boxer.senate.gov/
Honorable Brad Sherman, 2242 Rayburn Office Bldg, Washington DC 20515. www.sherman.house.gov/
Should you have any questions on the process or the study please feel free to contact Mark Hardyment with the Airport Authority via e-mail at mhardyment@bur.org
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