Study Urged for LAX

A coalition of city, county and federal elected officials has urged Mayor James K. Hahn to order new environmental studies of any improvement of Los Angeles International Airport, adding that opponents of past expansion plans should be allowed to help draft any new alternative.

Reps. Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles) and Jane Harman (D-Venice), county Supervisor Don Knabe and Los Angeles City Councilwoman Ruth Galanter joined in asking the mayor not to push through his still-unformed plan for the airport using outdated environmental studies.

The officials joined El Segundo Mayor Mike Gordon and Inglewood Councilman Lawrence A. Kirkley in suggesting that Hahn’s attempt to fast-track airport improvements could violate the California environmental laws.

“By working together, the city of Los Angeles and the stakeholders in the future of LAX can more effectively plan to meet new security requirements, develop a blueprint for LAX that is safe, fair and prudent for the region, and assure an appropriate and acceptable level of environmental review for a project of such scale and importance,” said a letter from the six elected officials.

Gordon said in an interview that he is concerned it appears Los Angeles airport officials have begun working on the new expansion plan, but none of the critics have been invited to any meetings to discuss options.

“We don’t want to be handed a completed plan and be left to vote it up or down,” said Gordon, who has led efforts to slow the expansion of LAX. “We had a horrible experience with Mayor [Richard] Riordan. We were shut out of the process.”

Hahn plans to include interested parties early in talks about the airport, according to spokeswoman Hilda Delgado. She said she was unsure whether opponents of the earlier plan would be allowed to help draft the new proposal or provide comments after a draft is complete.

“As the fifth alternative moves forward, the mayor expects the community and all stakeholders to take part in the process,” Delgado said. Airport Commission President Ted Stein and attorneys for the city believe a supplemental report can provide enough environmental review to comply with state environmental law.

The mayor announced in October that he was scaling back a $12-billion expansion proposed by Riordan and would develop a plan that beefs up security and air safety.

The mayor said his expansion plan would allow the airport to accommodate 78 million passengers a year. That would be more than the 40 million the facility was designed for, but less than the 89 million travelers who could have been accommodated under Riordan’s plan.

The elected officials voiced concerns at press reports that the city plans to use the environmental impact report drafted in 2001 for the previous expansion plan, even though many people said the report was deficient in addressing the negative impacts of an expansion.

Given the controversy involving the first environmental study, the elected officials warned that “moving forward with the master plan process using the previous environmental analysis may leave the city’s environmental review vulnerable to legal challenge and may not constitute the optimal use of public resources.”

To support its contention, the group released a legal opinion, drafted for the El Segundo City Council by attorneys E. Clement Shute Jr. and Christy H. Taylor.

Using the old environmental report to address issues involving a new proposal, the attorneys concluded, would not be allowed by state law, “unless major additional analysis is undertaken and circulated for public review and comment.”

When Hahn first announced his alternative plan, Waters said she would support it only if it limited the annual passengers to 78 million, but even then added: “We don’t want expansion under another name called security.”