City of Burbank v. Lockheed Air Terminal, Inc.
1973 U.S. LEXIS 123, 411 U.S. 624, 36 L. Ed. 2d 547 (1973)
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Rule of Law:
The Federal Aviation Act and the Noise Control Act establish a pervasive scheme of federal regulation that completely occupies the field of aircraft noise, thereby preempting state and local police power regulations such as municipal curfews on aircraft takeoffs.
Facts:
- The City of Burbank, California, enacted an ordinance making it unlawful for pure jet aircraft to take off from the Hollywood-Burbank Airport.
- The curfew was in effect between the hours of 11 p.m. of one day and 7 a.m. of the next.
- The ordinance also made it illegal for the airport's operator, Lockheed Air Terminal Inc., to permit such takeoffs during the curfew.
- The Hollywood-Burbank Airport is a privately owned public airport.
- The ordinance affected one regularly scheduled flight, an intrastate Pacific Southwest Airlines flight that departed for San Diego at 11:30 p.m. every Sunday.
Procedural Posture:
- The operator of the Hollywood-Burbank Airport and others (appellees) sued the City of Burbank in the U.S. District Court, seeking to enjoin the enforcement of the city's curfew ordinance.
- The District Court found the ordinance unconstitutional on both Supremacy Clause and Commerce Clause grounds and issued an injunction.
- The City of Burbank (appellant) appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
- The Court of Appeals affirmed the District Court's judgment, basing its decision solely on the grounds of federal preemption under the Supremacy Clause.
- The City of Burbank appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which noted probable jurisdiction to hear the case.
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Issue:
Does the comprehensive federal scheme for regulating aviation noise under the Federal Aviation Act and the Noise Control Act preempt a local ordinance imposing a nighttime curfew on jet takeoffs?
Opinions:
Majority - Mr. Justice Douglas
Yes. The pervasive nature of the federal regulatory scheme for aircraft noise preempts the local ordinance. The Federal Aviation Act of 1958, as amended by the Noise Control Act of 1972, grants the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), in conjunction with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), full control over aircraft noise, preempting state and local control. The court determined that Congress intended to create a uniform and exclusive system of federal regulation to balance the competing interests of safety, efficiency, and noise abatement. If individual municipalities were allowed to impose their own curfews, it would lead to 'fractionalized control' of air traffic, severely limiting the FAA's flexibility, increasing congestion, and potentially compromising safety, thus frustrating the objectives of the federal legislation.
Dissenting - Mr. Justice Rehnquist
No. The federal scheme does not preempt the local ordinance. The dissent argues that preemption requires a 'clear and manifest purpose of Congress' to supersede the historic police powers of the states, which is absent here. Legislative history, particularly the committee reports for the 1972 Act, explicitly stated that the law was not intended to alter the existing balance of federal and state authority. Congress intended to preempt only the technological aspects of noise control at its source (e.g., engine design), not operational regulations like curfews. The dissent contends the majority incorrectly infers a total preemption of the field where Congress expressed a contrary intent, and that local governments should remain able to protect their citizens from noise, a traditional area of local concern.
Analysis:
This decision is a cornerstone of federal preemption doctrine, establishing that the federal government has exclusively occupied the field of aircraft noise regulation. By finding implied field preemption, the Court significantly limited the ability of state and local governments to use their police powers to address noise pollution from airports within their jurisdictions. The ruling solidified the FAA's centralized authority over the national airspace, prioritizing a uniform, national system for air traffic management over local environmental and quality-of-life concerns. Consequently, communities affected by airport noise must seek relief through federal regulatory channels rather than by enacting local ordinances.
