LOS ANGELES WORLD AIRPORTS APPROVES $18.42 MILLION FOR INGLEWOOD RESIDENTIAL SOUND INSULATION PROJECT

The Los Angeles Board of Airport Commissioners today authorized a Letter of Agreement with the City of Inglewood that will result in a grant of $18.42 million in Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) funding for sound insulation. 

These funds, along with a $13.66 million Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) grant for a combined total of $32.08 million, will enable Inglewood to design and sound insulate 746 dwelling units. The project cost covers all acoustical, architectural, engineering, construction and administrative activities. Construction contractors typically install double-paned windows, solid-core doors, fireplace doors and dampers, attic baffles, insulation, and other elements to achieve a targeted exterior noise level of 65 decibels. 

The homes included in this project are directly impacted by aircraft approaching Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). Owners of these dwellings have committed to participate in the program by signing agreements with the City of Inglewood’s Residential Sound Insulation Program. 

The FAA approved LAWA’s Federal Aviation Regulation (FAR) Part 150 Noise Compatibility Program at LAX in 1985, making land-use mitigation projects with the cities of Los Angeles, El Segundo and Inglewood and the unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County eligible for FAA funding. 

Inglewood has participated in this Noise Compatibility Program since the 1980s, and has received noise mitigation-funds from both LAWA and the FAA since 1985 for its voluntary acquisition and relocation program and its residential sound insulation program. To date, LAWA has awarded $102 million and the FAA has awarded $216 million to Inglewood, for a total of $318 million. 

In all, more than 18,000 homes around LAX have been soundproofed, with more than 4,900 of those homes being in Inglewood. 

The grant is in accordance with the LAX Master Plan Stipulated Settlement Agreement reached in February 2006, with the County of Los Angeles; the cities of El Segundo, Culver City, and Inglewood; and the Alliance for a Regional Solution to Airport Congestion. Per this settlement, the cities of El Segundo, Inglewood and the County of Los Angeles together are eligible for up to $22.5 million per year for sound insulation. 

Approval of this grant fulfills LAWA’s Settlement Agreement to the City of Inglewood for calendar years 2013 and 2014.