LAX MASTER PLAN PLACED ON FEDERAL PRIORITY LIST
(Los Angeles, February 27, 2003) -- Los Angeles Mayor Jim Hahn today hailed the decision by the Bush Administration to place the Los Angeles International Airport Master Plan and Environmental Impact Statement on a project priority list to help speed up the environmental review process for the airport's impending construction project.
The decision, announced by U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta, means the LAX Master Plan that includes Mayor Hahn's Enhanced Safety and Security Alternative (Alternative D) will receive priority environmental reviews under President Bush's Executive Order on Environmental Stewardship.
"I am pleased that the Bush Administration has recognized the importance of LAX in the global aviation system and the need to expedite safety and security improvements," said Mayor Hahn. "I am committed to doing everything possible to ensure that LAX sets the standard for safety and security in the world aviation community in the 21st Century."
Mayor Hahn, who serves as the Chair of the U.S. Conference of Mayors Airport Safety and Security Task Force announced his alternative to the LAX Master Plan on July 2, 2002.
Under the Enhanced Safety and Security Alternative, LAX will be designed with gate space to accommodate 78 million annual passengers. The airport's north runway system will be reconfigured to accommodate a center taxiway and improve the separation between the runways. A new center taxiway will be added between the south runway system. The new center taxiways will improve airfield safety and reduce the possibility of runway incursions.
In announcing that the LAX Master Plan had been placed on the federal priority list, Secretary Mineta said, "We must do all we can to ensure that this important international gateway will be able to meet demand while improving security and enhancing airfield safety. Our initiative on environmental stewardship is a pioneering effort in transportation that will benefit taxpayers and help build a better future for Americans."
Secretary Mineta underscored the Administration's commitment to environmental stewardship and said the selected projects will be required to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and all other environmental statutes.
"The President's and Secretary Mineta's leadership furthers the FAA's efforts to design and build a national airspace system for the next century of flight," said FAA Administrator Marion C. Blakey. "Los Angeles' placement on the priority list recognizes that now is the time for us, the community and industry to do all we can to ensure safer, more efficient flying for tomorrow's world traveler."
Lydia H. Kennard, executive director of Los Angeles World Airports, was pleased that the LAX Master Plan would be receiving priority federal review. "We have an urgent need to modernize our airport for enhanced safety and security," Kennard said. "I join with Mayor Hahn in thanking Secretary Mineta for recognizing the crucial role LAX plays in our nation's aviation system and for helping us to get on with the much needed improvements."
The LAX Master Plan is one of 13 projects on the project priority list created as a result of the President's Sept. 18 executive order, "Environmental Stewardship and Transportation Infrastructure Project Reviews." The executive order called for a Cabinet-level task force to ensure that projects are not unnecessarily held up by inefficient review procedures.
The LAX plan and environmental impact statement was among 70 transportation construction projects nominated for expedited environmental review by governors from around the country, with input from metropolitan planning organizations.
The Cabinet-level task force, which is chaired by Secretary Mineta, will review projects on the priority project list and work to expedite environmental reviews. In addition to Secretary Mineta, the task force members include the U.S. Secretaries of Agriculture, Commerce, the Interior and Defense, as well as the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, Chair of the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation and the Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality.
The Draft Supplemental EIS/EIR for the LAX Master Plan will be released to the public for review and comment this spring.
