Comments Now Accepted Through October 8

The FAA is extending the public comment period for the Draft Environmental Assessment (EA) of the Southern California Metroplex project by an additional 30 days. The comment period will now run until midnight on Oct. 8.

The latest extension allows for a full 120 days of comment on the proposed project. The FAA previously extended the comment period by 60 days in July.

The agency also has installed new features on the project website that allow people to look up current and projected flight tracks, as well as current and modeled noise levels, in their local communities using Google Earth. Additionally, the website now includes visual depictions of noise corridors and more information about all of the proposed procedures, including the latitudes and longitudes of all waypoints. This information is available under “Supplemental Materials” on the project website linked below.

The Southern California Metroplex project is a comprehensive proposal to improve the flow of air traffic into and out of Southern California by making the airspace safer and more efficient. It proposes to replace dozens of existing conventional air traffic procedures with new satellite-based procedures, which are a key component of the FAA’s Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen). The Metroplex proposal encompasses most of Southern California and includes six major airports.

The FAA released the Draft EA for the project on June 10, 2015 for public review and comment and held 11 public workshops in Southern California communities between June 16 and July 1, 2015. The Draft EA considers the potential environmental impacts of the project.

The Draft EA is available online and at selected libraries throughout the General Study Area.

FMI: www.metroplexenvironmental.com/socal_metroplex/socal_docs.html