What is the Noise Compatibility Ordinance?
• The City began efforts to control noise through adoption of an ordinance more than 20 years ago. These efforts were groundbreaking and precedent settingand they were continuously challenged in the courts. It took more than a dozen years and substantial legal fees to strike a reasonable balance between air commerce and community noise exposure. The resulting Airport Noise Compatibility Ordinance (LBMC 16.43), passed in 1995, gives Long Beach one of the strictest noise-controlled airports in the United States. • Since 1991, no other airport operator has succeeded in enacting an airport noise related ordinance. • Our current Noise Ordinance was grandfathered under the Federal Aircraft Noise Capacity Act (ANCA) of 1990. This act does not permit the enactment of airport flight/noise restrictions without federal approval, which has been withheld in all cases to-date. • No grandfathered airports have been able to change their noise ordinance and remain protected by their grandfathered statu
