Says Agency Did Not Take Environmental Consequences Into Consideration

The City of Los Angeles, CA has filed a lawsuit against the FAA in the U.S. Court of Appeals challenging changes in the traffic patterns implemented as part of the Southern California NextGen Metroplex plan.

Television station KNBC reports that in the lawsuit, LA City Attorney Mike Feuer alleges that the changes in the approach and departure corridors for KLAX were made "without proper environmental review or public input", saying the changes are just the most recent  failure by the FAA to "address noise and other negative impacts from aircraft overflights" in parts of the Mid-City and central LA.

Feuer said in a statement that the agency did not give the public enough opportunity to respond to its Metroplex proposal. "The FAA made changes to a major flight path over Los Angeles without ever considering the environmental consequences of those actions. Then, the agency sought to curtail public comment on the FAA's own flight procedures website, including compelling members of the public to agree their input on the environmental impacts of proposed flight procedures won't count, as a condition of commenting on those procedures in the first place.

"Those decisions must not stand. We're fighting to give L.A. residents the chance to engage on a major issue affecting their quality of life, and, ideally, to create opportunities to find real solutions to noise and other concerns. And we're fighting for the American public's right to have their comments on FAA actions actually matter," the City Attorney said.

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti cited one approach corridor in particular. "Angelenos should be informed, heard, and presented with options for relief when flight path changes affect their communities," he said. "This did not happen when FAA implemented the new North Downwind Arrival flight path — and this lawsuit demands that the agency better engage the public and help protect our residents' quality of life."

The FAA said it would not comment on pending litigation.

(Image from file)

FMI: Source report