When the airport was granted a variance in 2002, the noise impact area was 214 acres. It has been reduced to 105 acres, the draft application stated.
"That has had a very positive impact," Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority Commissioner Charlie Lombardo said. "That is a high number of homes that have been insulated."
Also contributing to the noise reduction is the use of quieter aircraft by airlines at the airport, Lombardo said.
This is the first time during the variance process that the city was provided a copy of the draft application to review and give input.
Review of the application was part of a development agreement reached between the city and airport earlier this year.
"The city now has the opportunity to make suggestions that can be included in the application," airport spokesman Victor Gill said.
In its continuing efforts to reduce the noise impact area, the airport will seek a mandatory nighttime curfew through a Federal Aviation Administration-required study.
The airport currently has a voluntary nighttime curfew prohibiting jet operations between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m.
The airport is seeking the city's backing to lobby federal lawmakers for changes in the criteria used in a study required to be eligible for the curfew.
Mayor Jef Vander Borght wants the airport to pursue the study "vigorously but intelligently."
"They should not wait for legislative action but if there is the potential to adjust the study to get likely approval, they should pursue that," Vander Borght said.
A central goal of the California Noise Standards is to eliminate incompatible noise uses within an area where aircraft noise is 65 decibels or greater, Gill said.
Factory and office uses are considered compatible uses near an airport while homes, schools, churches and hospitals would be deemed incompatible, Gill said.
Out of 1,825 residential units within the noise impact area, 1,005 have received acoustical treatment, the application said.
In April, the airport commission increased its maximum fine for noise violations to $3,375 from $3,258.
"By increasing the amount we hope it will act as a deterrent to not fly when they shouldn't," Lombardo said.
In the three years since last given the variance, the airport has collected $19,400 in fines.
