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It is the mission of LAWA to be an innovative leader in regional and global transportation by, among others, acting proactively regarding community and environmental issues. To achieve this mission, LAWA has developed the Strategic Objective of “demonstrating a continuing commitment to the community.� With this in mind, LAWA has decided to embark on the study of a Noise and Access Restriction at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) in an attempt to provide meaningful noise relief to the communities impacted by certain non-conforming aircraft departing to the east during the noise sensitive hours of midnight to 6:30 a.m., when all other aircraft are able to take off to the west. The process that an airport must follow prior to adopting such a rule is dictated by requirements specified in the Airport Noise and Capacity Act of 1990 and the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations, Title 14, Part 161 (also known as Federal Aviation Regulations, or FAR, Part 161). This is an historic project as LAWA is the first airport proprietor in the United States to embark on two simultaneous Part 161 Studies at separate airports -- this one at LAX and a second study at Van Nuys Airport (VNY). In addition, the VNY study is the first one in the United States to attempt to implement multiple proposed noise and access restrictions.
With specific regard to the LAX study, the LAX/Community Noise Roundtable (Roundtable) determined that a serious noise disturbance problem exists with the late night easterly departures and has asked LAWA to eliminate these operations through the Part 161 process. The Roundtable adopted this issue as a noise problem that needs to be mitigated in its Work Program. LAWA designated the LAX Part 161 Study as a mitigation measure in the Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program of the LAX Master Plan EIR/EIS. Further, LAWA agreed to conduct the LAX Part 161 Study in the Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) negotiated with the LAX Coalition for Economic, Environmental, and Educational Justice in support of the LAX Master Plan, and in the LAX Master Plan lawsuit settlement agreement.
Board of Airport Commissioners Actions Pertaining to the Part 161 Studies
LAWA’s Board of Airport Commissioners (BOAC) voted unanimously to approve three recommendations initiating the Part 161 studies.
On 18 February 2003, the Board authorized the Executive Director to advertise and issue a Request for Proposals for consultant services to perform the studies
On 19 July 2004, BOAC approved Staff’s recommendation to select Harris Miller Miller & Hanson Inc. (HMMH) as the best qualified firm to conduct the studies and authorized the Executive Director to negotiate a contract to do so
On 21 March 2005, BOAC approved the award of the three year contract to HMMH for consulting services to conduct the two studies.
A link to the applicable Board Minutes and Board Reports is given below:
http://www.lawa.org/boardAgenda.cfm?FromRec=1
What is FAR Part 161?
The Airport Noise and Capacity Act of 1990. On November 5, 1990, the U.S. Congress enacted the Airport Noise and Capacity Act of 1990, known as ANCA. This legislation called for the FAA to develop a national aviation noise policy with accompanying regulations to implement two provisions of the Act:
The phased elimination of older, louder, so-called “Stage 2� civil subsonic turbojet aircraft having maximum gross takeoff weights over 75,000 pounds, and
The imposition of limits on an airport’s ability to adopt new noise or use restrictions affecting either Stage 2 or newer, quieter Stage 3 aircraft.
The FAA implemented the first provision of ANCA by amending an existing regulation, FAR Part 91, placing new limits on the operation of heavy Stage 2 aircraft after 1999. The FAA implemented the second provision of the Act through a new regulation, Part 161.
FAR Part 161. FAR Part 161, entitled “Notice and Approval of Airport Noise and Access Restrictions�, sets forth definitions of several key terms that determine the scope of the regulation. Part 161 requires that airport proprietors examine the impacts of a proposed noise or access restriction within an "airport noise study area". That area must include all property that lies within the 65 dB DNL (or, for California airports, 65 dB CNEL) noise exposure contour. Second, in determining whether land use around an airport is compatible with airport noise, an airport proprietor must use the land use compatibility guidelines that appear in FAR Part 150.
The regulations distinguish among three types of noise and access restrictions:
Negotiated agreements
Restrictions on the operation of the older, noisier Stage 2 aircraft, and
Restrictions on the operation of the newer, quieter Stage 3 aircraft.
The procedures for enacting each type, and the FAA's scrutiny of each, are different. Since the proposed restriction of nighttime operations at LAX would affect Stage 3 aircraft and even newer Stage 4 aircraft (about which Part 161 is silent), the highest level of review and approval is involved
Restrictions on Stage 3 Aircraft. . ANCA and the associated Part 161 regulation impose substantial impediments to local restrictions on Stage 3 aircraft. The process has three principal elements:
Data collection and analysis to justify the restriction and to explain its environmental and economic impact
Notification to the public and provision of a comment period on the proposed restriction, and
Submission of the restriction to FAA for review and approval.
As the proprietor of LAX and proposer of the restriction, LAWA must collect substantial evidence to support that:
The proposed restriction is reasonable, nonarbitrary, and nondiscriminatory
The proposed restriction would not create an undue burden on interstate or foreign commerce
The proposed restriction would maintain safe and efficient use of navigable airspace
The proposed restriction would not conflict with any existing federal statute or regulation
The applicant has provided adequate opportunity for public comment
The proposed restriction does not create an undue burden on the national aviation system.
In essence, the airport proprietor must show that the benefits of the restriction outweigh the costs. The noise benefits can be defined as decreases in noise exposure above 65 dB DNL (65 dB CNEL in California) in those areas with noise sensitive land uses; costs must be expressed in financial terms, though Part 161 provides little guidance regarding the exact nature of such an evaluation.
What is the Specific Noise Rule Proposed for LAX?
The goal of the the Part 161 Study at LAX is to establish an operational restriction that would prohibit the easterly departure of all aircraft, with certain exemptions, between the hours of 12:00 midnight and 6:30 a.m. when the airport is in Over Ocean Operations, or when it remains in Westerly Operations during these hours.
Over Ocean Operation (OOO) is the existing voluntary noise abatement runway use program that has been in place at LAX since 1985. During OOO, departing aircraft take off to the west – away from the City – while arriving aircraft are able to come in over the ocean and land to the east, also avoiding the City. Operations can generally occur in these opposing directions as long as the runways provide good braking action and the tailwind component of the wind does not exceed 10 knots.
The OOO runway use program has kept many late night flights out over the water as they arrive or depart from the airport. Yet, because it is voluntary, occasional non-conforming flights choose to take off to the east over the City causing significant disruption of sleep. If implemented, the new noise rule would replace the existing voluntary program and prohibit these occasional easterly departures.
The proposed rule is also intended to prohibit easterly departures any time the airport is in a westerly flow between midnight and 6:30 a.m. The exact wording of the restriction will be determined later in the study.
Several categories of aircraft will be exempt from the restriction, including: military aircraft; medical/mercy flights; and government owned/operated aircraft involved in law enforcement, fire/rescue operations, or other emergency operations.
Examples of Non-Conforming Flights
The figure below depicts a several-day sample of radar traces superimposed on each other to show typical nighttime traffic flows at LAX when the airport is in Over Ocean Operations. Over Ocean arrivals are shown in green coming in north of the airport, joining other arrival streams to the west and turning inbound, lining up to land to the east. Over Ocean departures are shown in orange, most of them making an initial left turn to 210 degrees after takeoff, followed by a right turn to the west on their way to Pacific rim destinations, or by a further left turn to the south where the traffic flow splits again to southerly and easterly destinations. All of this traffic conforms to the voluntary OOO runway use program.
Non-conforming departures occurring during these nighttime hours are shown in purple. There are many fewer of these compared to normal OOO departures, but their easterly takeoff clearly takes them over heavily populated areas that otherwise experience little flight activity during the midnight to 6:30 a.m. time period. These are representative of the types of operations that LAWA is trying to restrict through the Part 161 study process.
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VNY - Part 161 
Project Background
