Malibu working to lessen noise from new LAX flight paths

Michele Willer-Allred, Staff Reporter 7:18 am PST December 14, 2020 – Malibu Surfside News

Malibu is continuing to pursue legal means to address an increase in aviation noise cause by new flight paths at LAX as part of the Federal Aviation Administration’s Next Generation Air Transportation System.

During a special meeting on Dec. 2, the council unanimously agreed to increase a legal service contract not to exceed $65,000 with Leech, Tishman, Fuscado & Lampl Inc. and attorney Steven Taber to help further challenge the flight paths and pursue options to reduce the noise.

Taber, who specializes in FAA matters, was tapped by the city in 2018 to work on the effort. His original contract was for $50,000, and will now be increased by $15,000.

Retiring City Attorney Christi Hogin said city officials noticed there had been an increase in airplane noise, especially on the east end of town. After some investigation, officials learned about the newly deployed NextGen technology that LAX and other airports are now using.

The technology uses GPS to create waypoints that a plane could hit that are lower than without GPS, where the ascent is more gradual.

“So, this kind of changed the patterns for takeoffs and landings at LAX, and it had a noise impact that was unexpected and pretty severe in some places,” Hogin said. “It wasn’t clear to us whether or not that change was just a product of that’s just how it is, or the planes were actually just using the GPS, which gives them a lot more nimbleness when they’re flying to come in lower than they should be.”

Hogin explained it took longer than expected for Taber to get all the information from the FAA, and that his preliminary opinion is that some of the planes are flying lower than they should and that there are some problems with the waypoints.

Hogin also said that the next step is pursuing a remedy that includes filing a petition of rulemaking, which basically requests the FAA to amend or repeal certain flight procedures that affect the city.

Outgoing council member Rick Mullen said because of COVID-19, the flights and noise haven’t been as big a problem. That will change, however, when the number of flights return to pre-pandemic levels.

Mullen noted that the issue is not unique to Malibu; that there was a lot of research that went into analyzing other similar cases by cities challenging the NextGen systems.

He said the city of Los Angeles is also pursuing a legal remedy to the problem.

“I think this is a good way to keep our foot in the game, stay smart, and prosecute the desires for the residents of Malibu in a pretty cost effective way,” Mullen said.