City Statement on Airport Curfew Efforts
Area Congressmen seek to allow curfew for Bob Hope and Van Nuys
BURBANK, Calif. (July 27, 2010) – In the City of Burbank’s continuing effort to secure a curfew at the Bob Hope Airport, the City is pleased that three local Congressmen have formally proposed federal legislation to allow a curfew at the Bob Hope and Van Nuys Airports.
Congressmen Adam Schiff, Brad Sherman and Howard Berman wrote on June 21 to the Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure seeking his support for legislation to allow a curfew at both Valley airports. The Congressional request came after Burbank, in cooperation with the Mayor’s office in the City of Los Angeles, had sought Congressional support for legislation to permit a curfew.
“We deeply appreciate the efforts of Congressmen Schiff, Sherman and Berman,” said Burbank City Manager Michael Flad. “We know that securing federal legislation is not a sprint. It will be a long and strenuous marathon and we are pleased they will be our partners in this important work.”
The legislative approach is the latest in a decades-long effort by the City to achieve nighttime noise relief for neighbors of the Bob Hope Airport. Most recently, the Federal Aviation Administration last spring rejected the application for a curfew submitted by the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority. In response, the City teamed with the City of Los Angeles to seek an exception from federal law to allow a local curfew at both Bob Hope and Van Nuys Airports. The legislation would apply only to these two airports, in recognition of their sustained work to secure a curfew. It would allow the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority to adopt the same curfew that it proposed in its application to the FAA and would allow Los Angeles World Airports to adopt a similar curfew at Van Nuys.
If the Congressmen are not successful in getting language added last-minute to the FAA Reauthorization legislation, the City will pursue other appropriate legislative vehicles in this or the next Congress, Flad said.
In a strong show of unity, the legislation has the support not only of Congressmen Schiff, Sherman and Berman but also the City of Burbank, the Mayor of Los Angeles and the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority. “We are hopeful that, standing together, we can achieve what none of us could achieve on our own,” commented Flad.
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