MAYOR BACKS HOUR-EARLIER FLIGHT CURFEW.

Byline: Anne Burke Daily News Staff Writer

Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan on Wednesday endorsed setting an earlier curfew for Van Nuys Airport takeoffs, an action that could boost chances for federal approval of a ban on noisy, late-night jet activity.

The mayor encouraged the Board of Airport Commissioners to send the Federal Aviation Administration a plan to roll back the curfew for departing flights from 11 p.m. to 10 p.m.

In a letter to Daniel Garcia, the airport commissioners' president, Riordan also encouraged the board to send the FAA a proposed rule, called a nonaddition rule, that would allow only quieter replacements when certain noisy aircraft are retired from service. He asked the commission to include a proposed restriction on nonemergency helicopter takeoffs and landings between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m.

Any rule changes would have to be approved by the FAA, but Jack Driscoll, executive director of the Los Angeles Department of Airports, said Riordan's support can help.

``This is a tremendous benefit,'' Driscoll said.

The package of proposals will be submitted to the FAA after the board's next meeting Tuesday.

Neighborhood activists, saying roaring jets roust them from slumber, have long favored an earlier curfew. Some complained Wednesday that Riordan's letter was motivated more by politics than concern that they get a good night's sleep.

``This is just political talk because he's facing a real challenge from (state Sen.) Tom Hayden,'' said airport-noise critic Gerald Silver, president of Homeowners of Encino and a Hayden supporter.

``If this weren't coming just a few weeks before election time, I would say the mayor has finally listened to the noise complaints of those of us who live around Van Nuys Airport,'' said another noise critic, Don Schultz, president of the Van Nuys Homeowners Association.

Riordan faces a challenge from Hayden in the April 8 mayoral election. Hayden also supports the 10 p.m. curfew, as long as it is vigorously enforced, said Sandy Brown, his deputy chief of staff.

Under the plan, the curfew would start an hour earlier at night but end at the same time in the morning, 7.

Riordan aide Steve Sugerman said the mayor was motivated by concern about the quality of life for San Fernando Valley residents, not support from the powerful Valley voter base.

Driscoll said there are usually six to eight takeoffs and landings between 10 and 11 p.m., but the curfew affects only departing aircraft and only those with a noise level of 74 decibels or higher.

The board already adopted the curfew proposal in July 1995 and the nonaddition proposal in May 1996, and the mayor's letter Wednesday encourages the board to seek approval from the FAA.

``It is important that we move ahead with measures to reduce the noise,'' the mayor wrote. ``Without progress on noise reduction, we will be unable to advance the proposed Van Nuys Airport Master Plan.''

The FAA has so far blocked implementation of the rules, asking the board first to submit a legal brief to support them. That brief was recently completed by the Los Angeles City Attorney's Office.

Schultz said the nonaddition rule backed by the mayor and board would not result in a fast-enough replacement of noisy aircraft. He said he favors a scheduled phaseout rather than waiting for the noisy planes to get too old to fly.

Airport tenants have agreed to the 10 p.m. curfew. But they are opposed to the nonaddition rule, said Harold Lee, president of the Van Nuys Airport Association, a 100-member tenants group.

City Councilwoman Laura Chick, who has fought airport noise, said she was pleased with the mayor's endorsement.

``I fully expect to see that we have good fortune with the FAA, and we are going to be able to finally implement a sensible noise ordinance,'' she said.

City Councilman Mike Feuer said the mayor's announcement was a step in the right direction but did not go far enough. He favors adopting a schedule allowing fewer and fewer noisy aircraft to use the airport.