Countywide : Cox Wants to Plug FAA Loophole

Rep. Christopher Cox said Thursday that he will lobby vigorously to prevent new Federal Aviation Administration rules from usurping local control over John Wayne Airport’s noise and expansion policies.

If the new FAA rules apply, they could upset a 1985 court settlement that gave the county authority over noise regulations, said Cox (R-Newport Beach).

While the FAA polices were passed last October, they are still winding their way through the Washington bureaucracy, making them susceptible to revisions.

Cox said Thursday at a special congressional hearing in Newport Beach that he wants one of those changes to plug a loophole that could erase John Wayne Airport’s exemption from the new standards.

When the Airport Noise and Capacity Act was passed, Cox got an amendment tacked on to it that would exempt John Wayne Airport and other facilities that had worked out special regulation arrangements with public agencies.

In John Wayne Airport’s case, that arrangement was a 1985 court settlement that sought to balance expansion needs and noise abatement by giving the county regulation powers.

But at the same time, new regulations require a change in takeoff practices. Right now, planes leaving John Wayne Airport cut back power at 500 feet, a practice that spares nearby homes some engine noise. But under the new FAA rules, the cutback would have to wait until 800 feet.

The 300-foot difference adds up to more noise, enough of an increase that the FAA would, under the new act, be able to review the airport’s regulations. That review could lead to the scrapping of the 1985 settlement, Cox said.

“The concern is that the FAA changes to takeoff rules will be used by them as a wedge to upset the entire settlement agreement,” Cox said. “That would be outrageous. We don’t think they are going to advance that logic, but there is a possible loophole here.”

To show the FAA there is concern over the loophole, Cox convened a congressional hearing Thursday at Corona del Mar High School with testimony from city officials and residents from the region.

Again and again, witnesses criticized the FAA-driven change in takeoff procedures as being unnecessary and a threat to the settlement.

Newport Beach Councilman Clarence J. Turner testified that if the new regulations stand, the increased noise levels will hit Santa Ana Heights and parts of upper Newport Beach.

He added that the county may be liable for those increases because of noise-mitigation agreements made with some residents.

“Then there is the question of which aircraft may be disqualified from flying out of John Wayne Airport if these procedures are initiated,” Turner said.

“If that were to happen, we harbor grave concerns about the possibility of any federal judge upholding the settlement agreement under those conditions.”

Cox said the FAA’s changes became law without any true review from Congress because they were tucked into an unrelated 1,000-page budget bill and passed as emergency legislation.

“Consequently, with very few exceptions, the Congress did not know they were voting on this,” he said. “It’s an enormous issue for this community, and it is also a big issue for the rest of the country and its airports.”

Other concerns aired at the hearing include the push by air cargo carriers to use John Wayne Airport and discussion on whether a new airport should be built in the county.