Airports could impose night curfews, U.S. Rep. Jackie Speier proposes in legislation that she says follows increased flights at San Francisco International Airport that devastate many residents.
“Everyone has the right to sleep at night,” Speier, D-San Mateo, said Thursday.
Jackie Speier
“People are no longer able to sleep, sit outside in their backyards, have conversations or even think straight without being bombarded by ear-shattering and ground-shaking decibels from the whine of airplane engines,” Speier said in a statement.
Airports, at their option, can impose a curfew under specific circumstances at any time between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. in the proposal called Restore Everyone’s Sleep Tonight or REST.
Speier and U.S. Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Palo Alto, will hold a press conference Saturday in South San Francisco about the proposed legislation. Eshoo joined Speier to introduce the legislation dealing with airport noise.
Liz Kniss, then-mayor of Palo Alto, wrote in a 2018 letter to the FAA about what the city said was a lack of community engagement by the federal agency during planning for proposed route changes at the airport in San Francisco.
The federal agency, in correspondence to the city, said the FAA is committed to working with the San Francisco International Airport Community Roundtable — as well with Congress on a range of issues.
San Mateo Mayor Joe Goethals said Thursday that local officials require the measures Speier has introduced.
Fines levied against airlines for noise don’t deter aircraft, he said, and no remedy seems available when rules are violated.
“There’s not much we can do,” Goethals said.
Shoreview in San Mateo is the area most heavily affected by airport noise, Goethals said.
San Mateo County Supervisor David Pine said years of work by local officials about the problem have left them frustrated.
“We haven’t moved the needle,” Pine said. “The FAA cares very little about noise.”
Pine said Burlingame, Hillsborough, Millbrae, San Bruno and South San Francisco are in the District 1 he represents, which is “really in the line of fire when it comes to airport noise.”
Burlingame Councilman Ricardo Ortiz, who along with Goethals and Pine serves on the San Francisco International Airport Community Roundtable, said he welcomes Speier’s proposed legislation.
“We can recommend little changes,” Ortiz said of local officials — who he said don’t really have any power over airport traffic.
Aircraft noise can vary dramatically in Burlingame, Ortiz added. A resident who moved closer to the El Camino Real said the sound, which hadn’t been a problem, became a nightmare with the move.
SFO spokesman Doug Yakel said of the proposed legislation that, “We are reviewing the impact of the proposals and look forward to working with Congresswoman Speier to appropriately address the issues.”
(650) 344-5200 ext. 106
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