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Court grounds plan for new terminal at Burbank airport, saying construction noise will bother neighbors who live near I-5

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA RECORD

Thursday, November 21, 2024

Court grounds plan for new terminal at Burbank airport, saying construction noise will bother neighbors who live near I-5

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Terminal at the Hollywood Burbank Airport, formerly the Bob Hope Airport | Ponderosapine210, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

A split appeals panel has grounded plans to build new terminal at the former Bob Hope Airport in Burbank, saying federal aviation authorities did not adequately consider the noise that construction will cause for nearby neighborhoods.

A dissenting judge contended any construction noise will be swallowed up by the traffic sounds of the adjacent I-5 freeway.

The March 29 decision was authored by Judge Stephen Higginson, with concurrence from Judge Morgan Christen, of the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Judge Patrick Bumatay dissented. The majority ruling favored the city of Los Angeles in its action against the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Glendale-Burbank-Pasadena Airport Authority.

The Airport Authority wants to erect a new terminal, replacing the existing one built more than 50 years ago at the Hollywood Burbank Airport, formerly known as the Bob Hope Airport, after the iconic comedian. A new terminal is needed, because the current one is in a zone that should be clear of installations to prevent aircraft from striking vehicles, objects or buildings. Officials recognized the necessity of a new terminal in 1980, but bureaucratic difficulties delayed action for decades. 

Demolition of the old terminal and construction of the new one will take about six years, according to court papers.

In 2018, the Authority presented a plan for a new terminal to the FAA for that agency's approval. In 2021, the FAA gave its thumbs-up to the project.

The city then went to appellate court to block work from proceeding for several reasons. However, the only argument that found a safe landing with the court was that the FAA's noise analysis was faulty.

"FAA calculated how loud different types of equipment would sound at various distances from the site. Yet FAA did not calculate noise levels from multiple pieces. FAA’s conclusion rests on an implicit premise that construction noise would be generated by one piece of equipment at a time. This assumption defies common sense," Judge Higginson found.

Higginson went on to say the FAA's "analysis rested on an unsupported and irrational assumption that construction equipment would not be operated simultaneously."

Moreover, Higginson pointed out the FAA itself acknowledged that two sounds of the same decibel level increase the overall sound level by three decibels.

In dissent, Bumatay said "analytical perfection isn't necessary" and the FAA made "reasonable assumptions." Bumatay added, "The FAA thoroughly considered the environmental consequences of the project's construction noise."

Bumatay said the neighborhoods close to the airport are already subject to noise reaching 70 decibels from the adjacent I-5 freeway.

"The construction equipment would be quieter than the noise from the freeway" and "construction noise would be temporary and intermittent," Bumatay noted.

In Bumatay's view, construction noise, when it is present, "would likely be drowned out by the highway noise," which is at a near constant level.

Bumatay further said two sounds of different decibels create only slightly higher levels.

The city of Los Angeles has been represented by Andrea Leisy, Laura Harris and Casey Shorrock, of Remy, Moose & Manley, of Sacramento, as well as by city attorneys David Michaelson, Robert Mahlowitz and Michael Feuer.

The FAA has been represented by federal attorneys Justin Heminger, Anna Katselas, Todd Kim, Joseph Manalili and Catherine Basic.

The Airport Authority has been represented by Thomas Ryan and Jessica Thomas, of Chicago-headquartered McDermott, Will and Emery, as well as by Terence Boga, Ginetta Giovinco and Chelsea O'Sullivan, of Los Angeles-based Richards, Watson & Gershon.

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