LOS ANGELES WORLD AIRPORTS RELEASES DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT REPORT FOR LAX SPECIFIC PLAN AMENDMENT STUDY; PUBLIC MEETINGS SCHEDULED

Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) released today the Draft Environmental Impact Report (Draft EIR) for the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) Specific Plan Amendment Study (SPAS) and the SPAS Report.  Three public meetings are scheduled to provide interested parties the opportunity to review and comment on the Draft EIR.  Public comments on the SPAS Draft EIR may be submitted during a 75-day period that ends Wednesday, October 10, 2012.   

The SPAS Project Draft EIR and SPAS Report are available for public review on-line at www.laxspas.org , or at the following six locations (review times vary by location):

•   Westchester-Loyola Village Branch Library, 7114 West Manchester Avenue, Los Angeles, CA  90045 
• Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune Regional Branch Library, 3900 South Western Avenue, Los Angeles, CA  90062
• Culver City Library, 4975 Overland Avenue, Culver City, CA  90230
• Inglewood Library, 101 West Manchester Boulevard, Inglewood, CA 90301
• El Segundo Library, 111 West Mariposa Avenue, El Segundo, CA  90245
• Hawthorne Library, 12700 Grevillea Avenue, Hawthorne, CA  90250

No decisions on the project will be made at the three public meetings* , which will be held:

• Saturday, August 25, 2012, from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., at the Proud Bird Restaurant, 11022 Aviation Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA  90045
• Tuesday, August 28, 2012, from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m., at the Los Angeles Central Library,Mark Taper Auditorium, 630 West 5th Street, Los Angeles, CA  90071
• Wednesday, August 29, 2012, from 5:30 p.m.to 8 p.m., at the Proud Bird Restaurant, 11022 Aviation Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA  90045

            Written comments on the SPAS Draft EIR (not the SPAS Report) may be submitted at  any of the three public meetings; by e-mail tospaseircomments@lawa.org ; or submitted to:  Los Angeles World Airports, Facilities Planning Division, Attention:  Diego Alvarez, One World Way, Los Angeles, CA 90045-5803.  Comments must be received no later than 5 p.m. Pacific Standard Time on Wednesday, October 10, 2012.

            The documents also may be purchased from Printco Graphics, Inc., 2943 Supply Avenue, Los Angeles, CA  90040; phone (323) 727-6868; e-mailron@printcola.com.

The SPAS Draft EIR identified and evaluated potential alternatives to certain LAX Master Plan elements referred to as “Yellow Light Projects” because the City Council required these elements undergo further studies when it passed the LAX Master Plan in 2004. 

Nine SPAS alternatives were studied:  one alternative that implements all the Yellow Light Projects; one alternative that proposes none of the Yellow Light Projects; and seven alternatives that offer various options to the Yellow Light Projects involving north airfield configurations that would still remain inside LAX’s northernmost boundary fence, as well as ground transportation measures. 

The SPAS Draft EIR and accompanying SPAS Report include discussions on safety, security, environmental and financial implications of each of the nine alternatives to the Yellow Light Projects.  Each alternative was evaluated for its impacts on a wide range of issues of concern to the public, such as:  on- and off-airport vehicular traffic, air quality, water quality, land use, aircraft noise, construction equipment noise, coastal resources, transit noise and vibration, human health risk, cultural and historical resources, and law enforcement services.  The SPAS Draft EIR evaluated alternatives at an activity level of 78.9 million annual passengers, the same level as the City Council-approved LAX Master Plan. 

According to airport officials, the majority of environmental impacts presented in the SPAS Draft EIR result from the forecasted growth in regional population and development, coupled with an expected increase in the number of passengers using LAX.  Consequently, the majority of the impacts are expected to occur whether LAX does nothing or implements the remaining LAX Master Plan Yellow Light Projects.

            “The future development of LAX requires a holistic approach that will address both the needs of an aging airport infrastructure and relationships with its neighbors,” said Los Angeles World Airports Executive Director Gina Marie Lindsey.  “We have two choices: either prepare now by creating a long-term plan to continue the modernization, or limp along with an airfield designed for 1960s-era aircraft and leave the planning and improvements for others to deal with in the future, after natural demand arrives and airport facilities at LAX will be both insufficient and, in some cases, near the end of their useful life.”

Eventual completion of the LAX Specific Plan Amendment Study will allow the airport to complete modernization of its runway and taxiway system; to redevelop the passenger terminal area; to improve vehicular and public transit access to the airport; to enhance passenger safety and security; and to ensure LAX will be capable of handling the forecasted growth in air travel demand.

Today’s release of the SPAS Draft EIR follows six years of preparation during which multiple, well-attended public meetings were conducted as part of a continuing community-based planning process that seeks to maximize community involvement by gathering ideas, comments, inputs and feedback from community members; and then analyzing and developing Yellow Light Projects concepts.  In addition, LAWA formed and met 24 times with the Specific Plan Amendment Process Advisory Committee comprised of representatives from the cities of Culver City, El Segundo and Inglewood; Los Angeles County; and the Alliance for a Regional Solution to Airport Congestion.  Numerous representatives of local, state and federal elected officials also attended advisory committee meetings.  LAWA staff consulted with advisory committee members during each significant step of the process, including prior to releases of the 2010 Revised SPAS Notice of Preparation and today’s SPAS Draft EIR and SPAS Report.

For more information on the LAX Master Plan Specific Plan Amendment Study, contact SPAS Program Director Diego Alvarez at (424) 646-7690 or visitwww.laxspas.org.

            *As a covered entity under Title II of the Americans With Disabilities Act, the City of Los Angeles does not discriminate on the basis of disability and, upon request, will provide reasonable accommodation to ensure equal access to its programs, services and activities.  The public meeting locations and parking facilities listed above are wheelchair accessible.  Sign language interpreters, assistive listening devices, and other auxiliary aids and/or services may be provided, if requested a minimum of 72 hours prior to the public meetings, by calling the LAX Stakeholder Liaison Office at (800) 919-3766.