Congresswoman Waters Commends FAA’s Decision to Extend Comment Period for FAA Metroplex
Decision Follows Request from Congresswoman Waters and Nine other Southern California Delegation Members
Congresswoman Maxine Waters (CA-43), Ranking Member of the Financial Services Committee, commended the decision of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to grant her request to extend the public comment period on the FAA's Draft Environmental Assessment (EA) for the Southern California Metroplex (SoCal Metroplex) project. The public comment period on the Draft EA has been extended by 60 calendar days to September 8, 2015.
"I am delighted that the FAA granted my request to allow a sufficient period for interested parties to read, analyze, and comment on a very complicated plan, which will hopefully result in a more efficient and environmentally friendly system of managing the arrivals and departures at the airports in our region," said Congresswoman Waters.
In a letter to U.S. Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx dated June 18, 2015, Congresswoman Waters stressed that the initial 30-day comment period announced by the FAA when the Draft EA was released on June 10th was not sufficient to allow community stakeholders to read and analyze how the SoCal Metroplex project will affect their communities. The letter was co-signed by nine additional Members of Congress from the Southern California delegation.
"The Southern California region is one of the most densely populated regions of the country, as well as an extremely busy region for air travel," said the Congresswoman and her colleagues in the letter. "The region includes Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), San Diego International Airport (SAN), and more than a dozen separate airports of various sizes. Thousands of people who live and work near these airports already experience significant levels of airport noise. They deserve to have a sufficient opportunity to give serious consideration to how the SoCal Metroplex project will impact their daily lives."
The full text of the Congresswoman's letter can be found online here:
On July 1, 2015, Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) also sent a letter to the FAA requesting an extension of the comment period.
The Draft EA and supporting materials are available at selected libraries throughout the area and can be found online here: https://www.metroplexenvironmental.com/socal_metroplex/socal_docs.html
The FAA encourages interested parties to review the Draft EA, and provide written comments during the public comment period and no later than September 8, 2015.