Bill Urges O.C. to Fly Its Share

A bill that would strengthen regional efforts to pressure Orange County to provide more airport capacity passed the Assembly on Wednesday.

The bill by Assemblyman George Nakano (D-Torrance) calls for Southern California’s regional planning agency for transportation projects to distribute future airline passengers and cargo based on a “fair-share” basis among Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties.

The bill, AB 2333, also would require the Southern California Assn. of Governments to create its five-year regional transportation plan so that low-income and minority neighborhoods would not shoulder a disproportionate burden of noise, traffic and pollution from aviation.

The bill, which passed 42 to 24, now goes to the Senate.

The legislation advanced in March after lawmakers near Los Angeles International Airport said they were frustrated by Orange County voters’ defeat of plans for an airport at the closed El Toro Marine base. The regional association’s five-year plan called for El Toro to handle 30 million airline passengers by 2025.

Nakano originally proposed withholding transportation funds if Orange County refused to handle its share of airport traffic. His bill was later amended to give funding preference to compliant counties--a section removed from the bill last week.

As worded now, the bill would forbid bundling future air travel at only one or two airports, or concentrating the growth of aviation facilities in minority neighborhoods, said Becki Ames, Nakano’s chief of staff.

The bill is “forcing the state to really look at what its role is in regional planning. That’s something the state hasn’t touched in aviation planning in 25 or 30 years,” Ames said.

Orange County’s Assembly delegation opposed the bill, including former El Toro airport proponent Lou Correa (D-Santa Ana).

Orange County supervisors voted last month to let Irvine take the lead in redeveloping the base. The city wants to annex the bulk of the 4,700-acre property.

Supervisors also voted to raise capacity at John Wayne Airport from 8.4 million passengers a year to 9.8 million, pending Federal Aviation Administration approval.

The SCAG five-year plan capped Los Angeles International Airport at 78 million passengers a year.

The forecast for Ontario International Airport, which handled about 6.5 million passengers last year and is owned by Los Angeles, was 30 million.