February 25, 2008
Los Angeles Board of Airport Commissioners
Approves Air Quality Study

Creating Job Opportunities and Reducing Health Risks for
Residents Near the Airport

For ten years, the City of Los Angeles has attempted unsuccessfully to expand Los Angeles International Airport to accommodate growing passenger and freight demand. However, community and political opposition had defeated plans for massive expansion proposed during the tenure of former Mayor Riordan. Shortly after 9/11, Mayor James Hahn announced that his plan for LAX "modernization" would be consistent with his "no expansion" pledge, but would make the airport more "safe and secure." The Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Report and Study (EIR/EIS) for the new plan was released in June 2003. Hahn's modernization plan commits LAX to cap passenger and air cargo capacity, and is thus in accord with the goal of "regionalizing" air traffic first articulated by the communities neighboring LAX and by the environmental justice community.

Nonetheless, development of LAX presented the potential for a classic case of pitting “jobs” against the “environment.” LAX generates close to 400,000 jobs in the regional economy, and provides employment in service industries to thousands of residents of the neighboring communities. Although many of the jobs held by local residents are low-quality ones, in communities plagued by unemployment and poverty, these are important to family survival and the local economies. These same communities, however, suffer immeasurable negative environmental impacts from LAX as it exists – subjected to filthy air and intolerable noise levels due to the automobile and airplane traffic. Without mitigations, modernization could exacerbate these problems.

The LAX Coalition for Environmental, Economic and Educational Justice determined to redefine the debate and to advocate for improvements to the environment and creation of quality jobs targeted to local residents. The Coalition organized collectively to design a Community Benefits Agreement that includes important environmental mitigations and community benefits for Inglewood, Lennox, and South L. A., as well as guaranteeing that the new jobs will be good ones. Over ten months, the Coalition met with airport officials and negotiated a CBA that includes significant benefits for residents of the communities around LAX.

The CBA which was approved by the City Council, the Airport Commission calls for spending one-half billion dollars over ten years for state of the art measures to abate noise and air pollution generated by the airport and design and implement public health programs to address the consequences of that pollution. In addition, the funds will be used to provide job training for 500 neighborhood residents per year and to give preference to local residents in filling jobs at the airport.

The Coalition, with support from LAANE staff, began monitoring implementation of the CBA as soon as it began in early 2005.