MALIBU—The city of Malibu filed on February 8, filed a Petition for Rulemaking with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), asking it to adopt rules that would decrease the aircraft noise and emissions that Malibu residents have been experiencing since the FAA’s implemented its “NextGen” flight procedures at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).

“In Malibu, we cherish the natural beauty and peace and quiet of our surroundings, and the habitat and wildlife, all of which are heavily impacted by aircraft noise and emissions,” said Mayor Paul Grisanti. “I urge the FAA to take seriously the harm that our community and our environment, and communities across the country are experiencing, and to come up with alternatives.”

According to a news release from the city, Malibu has asked the FAA to examine the environmental impacts that NextGen flight procedures are having on Southern California, and Malibu. New details show that the FAA’s method of assessing aircraft noise is outdated and is in need of an update.

Aircraft noise and emissions are a concern of public health and safety, which has resulted in Malibu asking the FAA include a Health Impact Assessment that studies the effect that aircraft noise and emissions have on human health in areas beneath flight paths.

The city’s petition requested that the FAA take specific steps to lower the thresholds of significance, used by the FAA to decide the impact of aircraft noise, to reflect the actual impact on communities, in line with recent research showing aircraft noise and emissions are detrimental to the health of people living under flight paths. Malibu requested specific flight rules be implemented to mitigate the impacts of noise and emissions on residents.

The petition noted aircraft noise and emissions are a national public health and safety problem that the FAA needs to address urgently.

The city of Malibu’s Petition for Rulemaking is available at: https://downloads.regulations.gov/FAA-2022-0198-0001/attachment_1.pdf.  The rulemaking docket can be accessed at:  https://www.regulations.gov/document/FAA-2022-0198-0001.