RESEARCH ON NOISE LAUNCHED AIRPORT EXPANSION DEPENDS ON STUDY, FLIGHT LIMITATIONS.

Byline: Sylvia L. Oliande Staff Writer

BURBANK - With the aim of making airport expansion palatable to neighbors, the Burbank Airport Authority began work Monday on the federal noise study required for a mandatory flight curfew.

Authority commissioners, wanting to prevent flights from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m., planned public hearings and outlined the scope of the noise study. Some commissioners expressed concern that the hours might change once all is said and done.

Burbank Commissioner Charles Lombardo said the Federal Aviation Administration, which will have final say on a flight curfew, is used to a voluntary curfew at the airport, and he hopes administrators do not try to change the hours.

``It eases the FAA in the sense this is what we've been doing literally for 15 years,'' he said. ``But if the FAA were to come back and say 10 p.m. to 6:45 (a.m.), I'm not going to look a gift horse in the mouth either. . . . We just don't know what they're going to come back to us with, and I think the residents in the city, they're pragmatic if nothing else.''

Airport expansion opponents complained that a curfew solves only part of the noise problem. Commissioners, they said, should be seeking a guaranteed limit or cap on the number of flights as well.

``It's a start, but it's inadequate because it doesn't address things like caps on flights,'' said Ted McConkey, a Burbank resident and longtime foe of the airport's expansion plan. ``I'm cautiously optimistic. . . . I don't want to knock it. We'll go ahead and see what it does.''

Commissioners, however, said they believe chances for approval are better if they raise one issue at a time rather than hit the FAA with several requests at once.

Airport officials estimate it will cost up to $4 million to conduct the study. Under an expedited schedule, the authority's consultant, Landrum & Brown, will collect the information over the next year, and officials hope to have a decision from the FAA by late 2001 or early 2002.

Listening and information sessions at locations throughout the San Fernando Valley will lead up to at least two public hearings.

The study has become one of the key parts of airport officials' ongoing effort to expand and relocate the 14-gate terminal. The Airport Noise and Capacity Act of 1990 requires the study of any airport proposal to limit newer, quieter aircraft, called Stage 3 planes. This is the first airport in the nation to pursue a mandatory curfew on the Stage 3 planes.

Beginning in about two weeks, periodic updates on the progress of the study will be provided at www.burbankpart161.com.