The Los Angeles City Council voted on February 26 to ban Stage 2 aircraft from operating at Van Nuys (Calif.), phasing out these noisier jets over the next six years. The ban immediately affects aircraft generating more than 85 decibels and lowers the decibel limit in stages in 2011 and 2014. In 2016, any aircraft noisier than 77 decibels will be banned from using Van Nuys. According to the National Air Transportation Association (NATA), the city of Los Angeles, which owns and operates Van Nuys Airport, doesn’t believe that FAA Part 161 regulations apply in this case. The Los Angeles World Airports board of airport commissioners approved a resolution that proposed a seven-year Stage 2 phase-out in 1990. Because this occurred before the Airport Noise and Capacity Act was passed, NATA said the airport claims it does not have to go through the lengthy Part 161 process to enact a noise curfew.