9TH CIRCUIT ORDERS FAA TO COMPLETE ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW FOR FLIGHT PATH CHANGES AT LAX
April 26, 2023
On March 10, 2023, a 9th Circuit panel issued a decision ordering the FAA to file a timeline and submit status reports every 90-days related to the completion of its environmental review of flight path changes at Los Angeles International Airport (“LAX”) , which was previously ordered by the Court to be completed nearly two years ago.
The decision comes in response to the City of Los Angeles’ (the “City”) request that the Court enforce a 2021 order requiring FAA to finish an environmental review required by the U.S. Environmental Protection Act and other laws to study noise and other impacts to neighborhoods related to three LAX flight routes that were changed in May 2018 without a proper analysis being conducted and without FAA providing an opportunity for public comment. The City alleged that FAA has made no progress towards completing the review and that under federal guidelines, the review should have been completed in no more than a year. FAA argued that the Court no longer had jurisdiction over the issue, but the Court disagreed, siding with the City and noting that it still had authority to make sure its previous order is enforced.
If you have any questions, please contact Evelyn Sahr (esahr@eckertseamans.com 202-659-6622) or Drew Derco (dderco@eckertseamans.com 202-659-6665).
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