Airport noise limits to be adjusted

Jasmine Lee

Orange County officials promised that residents would not hear the

difference after the county Board of Supervisors this week approved

changes in noise limits at John Wayne Airport.

The changes were made because the airport is using new technology to

measure noise levels, county officials said.

A U.S. District judge last summer authorized the changes in noise levels.

The county is now in the process of putting an ordinance in place to make

the changes official policy, said Kim Koeppen, a staff member for

Supervisor Tom Wilson.

The supervisors on Monday unanimously approved the first steps of the

ordinance. They are expected to formally adopt the noise level changes at

their Feb. 1 meeting.

Koeppen said airport officials explained that the adjustments do not mean

more noise.

“They said that the noise levels haven’t increased -- it’s just being

measured differently,” Koeppen said.

The Newport Beach-based Airport Working Group, which in 1985 helped to

create legal limits on noise levels and the number of flights at John

Wayne, also gave the thumbs up to the new noise monitoring system, said

David Ellis, a spokesman for the organization.

“AWG has been working with the city and the county to make sure we

understand the new system,” Ellis said.