Part 161 Study
The Part 161 Study arose after Congress passed the Airport Noise and Capacity Act (ANCA) of 1990, which prevented airports from passing new noise rules, such as curfews. If an airport has reason to believe a new noise rule is justified, despite ANCA, Part 161 provides a study methodology to examine the reasons why, and to provide a means to persuade the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) that an exception is warranted. No new rule can be adopted unless the Part 161Study is successfully completed and the rule is accepted by the FAA.
The Part 161 Study was necessary for the Authority to be able to apply for a mandatory nighttime curfew that would be enforceable under federal law, superseding the current voluntary airline curfew now in place. The Airport began a Part 161 Study in 2000, in pursuit of a mandatory curfew from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. The study and an application for a curfew were completed in 2009, at a cost of over $7 million, and submitted to the FAA. It was the first Part 161 Study ever accepted as “complete” by the FAA, a landmark accomplishment that attests to the difficulty involved in the endeavor.
The Authority submitted the Study & Application to the FAA on February 2, 2009, and the FAA sent its initial response on March 6, 2009, in which it sought supplemental information within 30 days before proceeding with its evaluation.
Final documentation was submitted to the FAA on May 5, 2009, entitled “Revised Documentation in Support of a NEPA Categorical Exclusion Determination for a Proposed Curfew at Bob Hope Airport.”
On May 29, 2009, the FAA notified the Authority that the Study & Application were deemed complete, and that the FAA would either approve or disapprove the proposed curfew no later than November 1, 2009.
On June 22, 2009, a Notice of Proposed Access Restriction and Opportunity for Public Comment was published in the Federal Register by the FAA. The comment closed July 22, 2009.
In November 2009, the FAA issued its finding that the Part 161 Study did not justify the imposition of the mandatory curfew. However, the Airport Authority continues to seek new avenues that can lead to meaningful relief from nighttime aircraft noise and is currently engaging the airlines, the FAA, the City of Burbank, and the local community in dialogue on that subject.
The Airport Authority’s Part 161 Study is contained in its entirety below. Because of the large file size, the report is listed by individual section, with some PDFs requiring extra time to load.
Part 161 Application for a Proposed Curfew
The rest of this page contains links to the sections of the application, to stakeholder comments, to comments from government and elected officials, to comments from the Airport tenants, to comments from trade groups, to comments from chambers and civic organizations, and to comments from homeowner associations.
Part 161 Application Downloads
Stakeholder Comments
The public comment period for the Part 161 Study closed June 13, 20118. Comments received from focused stakeholders are listed below, accompanied by a preliminary tally of comments received by the general public.