California State Sen. Caroline Menjivar (D-San Fernando Valley) has introduced legislation to ban the sale of leaded aviation fuel, implementing the legislation starting in disadvantaged communities and later statewide.
She announced Senate Bill 1193 alongside supporters during a Feb. 15 press conference across the street from Whiteman Airport in Pacoima.
If the proposed legislation is implemented, it would phase out the sale of leaded aviation fuel (also known as avgas) typically used by single-piston engine aircraft that commonly utilize Whiteman.
Pilots who fly into Whiteman and those who work at the airport see the legislation as unnecessary because there is already an ongoing effort in the aviation community to diminish the use of avgas. They say this effort has been underway for some time and they have no objection to it.
“This isn’t anything new,” said Matthew Stone, a licensed noncommercial pilot who routinely uses the airport.
While Stone said he doesn’t mind politicians wanting to push legislation forward that bans the use of leaded fuel, he points out that they [politicians] haven’t been the main driving force of change and it appears that they’re taking credit for something the industry has been working towards for years.
“Nobody wants leaded fuel. Pilots are perfectly happy, myself included, to use unleaded fuel at Whiteman and elsewhere,” said Stone, nobody is a fan of leaded fuel. If we can do better without it … we welcome that. That’s what we want.”
The avgas ban would begin in (or adjacent to) disadvantaged communities – such as Pacoima – starting by Jan. 1, 2026. The legislative fact sheet regarding the bill noted that “lower-income communities with high populations of people of color are exposed to greater numbers … of environmental hazards,” including airport emissions. Whiteman, located in a predominantly Latino neighborhood, has 37 schools and daycares within a one-and-a-half-mile radius.
The initial phase of the ban would be followed by a ban in urban growth areas by Jan. 1, 2028. A ban in the rest of California would be enacted by Jan. 1, 2030. The legislation would also instruct the Department of Transportation to publish guidelines for airport operators intended to help reduce the potentially harmful environmental and public health impacts of lead exposure.
The overview of the bill cites a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) report released last October indicating an “endangerment finding” for leaded aviation fuel, stating that “lead air pollution may reasonably be anticipated to endanger public health and welfare.” It also references a California study that found that children who lived less than a mile away from an airport had lead levels in their blood that were 21% higher than children who lived farther away.
The next stage of the legislation will be policy committee hearings this coming spring. The new bill followed the LA County Board of Supervisors unanimously approving a motion last November to start restricting leaded fuel sales at Whiteman. Dubbed “Reimagining Whiteman Airport,” the motion directed the Department of Public Works to develop a plan within 90 days to increase the availability and usage of unleaded aviation fuel instead of avgas at the airport.
“Legislative efforts on lead are better directed toward household exposure sources such as old piping, paint and pesticides,” Stone said. “Action on residential sources promises greater relief than litigating leaded fuel.”
The problem has been that the engine in some of these smaller aircraft can’t perform as well with unleaded fuel. The majority of planes, however, can operate just fine with unleaded fuel.
As previously reported by the San Fernando Valley Sun/el Sol, standard unleaded automotive fuel – excluding the addition of ethanol – can be used safely in a large percentage of light aircraft with the proper approvals from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Only around 20 to 25% of the aircraft at Whiteman can’t use unleaded fuel.
Stone added that at Whiteman and other LA County-owned airports, unleaded fuel is expected to be pumped beginning this summer.
Whiteman Targeted for Closure
The local airport has been targeted for closure by local Northeast Valley politicians. The nonprofit organization Pacoima Beautiful first led the push followed by Congressman Tony Cárdenas and LA City Councilmember Monica Rodriguez who pointed to health concerns and crashes involving aircraft that had taken off from the airport – 13 in the past decade, according to reports.
In November 2020, a plane crashed on Sutter Avenue and collided with two cars, killing the pilot. On Jan. 9, 2022, a train collided with a plane that landed on the train tracks right outside the airport, though pilot Mark Jenkins was fortunately pulled out of the plane to safety with seconds to spare. A few months later on April 20, pilot John King was killed after crashing into an embankment alongside the westbound Foothill Freeway in Sylmar
The Political Alliances Supporting Whiteman’s Closure
On Feb. 23, 2023, the LA County Community Advisory Committee (CAC) approved a motion for Whiteman to cease operations. The motion was introduced by Pacoima Beautiful Executive Director Veronica Padilla-Campos, who proposed that – should the airport be closed – the space could be used for mixed-income housing, retail and public service agencies.
Whiteman supporters have criticized the politics behind the push for its closure and point to the longtime political connections of those behind it.
Padilla-Campos was appointed to the CAC by former LA City Council President Nury Martinez, who was the previous director of Pacoima Beautiful. Her City Council seat, after a fall from grace, was filled by Imelda Padilla, who is not only the sister of Padilla-Campos but used to work at Pacoima Beautiful under Martinez as a community organizer.
Local residents have raised concerns that deals are being struck behind closed doors for the airport property without concern for the density that a new development will create in their neighborhood where parking is already challenging.
Supporters of Whiteman Point to Its Benefits
Supporters of Whiteman argue that the chances of a plane crash are incredibly low, especially compared to the likelihood of a car crash every day on city streets and freeways. They also point out that the airport brings in hundreds of jobs and provides disaster relief with aerial firefighting support for LA County Fire and the U.S. Forest Service. Search & Rescue Civil Air Patrol U.S. Air Force Auxiliary Squadron 35 is also based at Whiteman.
The airport offers opportunities for kids to receive flying lessons paving the way for future careers as pilots, mechanics and in aerospace. Project JACKPOT for San Fernando Valley youth is a mentoring program that constructs an aircraft that they will eventually fly in, with the guidance of aviation experts.
In addition, there is the Young Eagles program, where kids ages 8 to 17 can fly for free – sometimes even getting the opportunity to briefly control the plane itself. These free flights are held during the airport’s annual air fair when the local community can come onto the tarmac and gaze at all the different planes housed at Whiteman.
More than 11,000 kids have signed up for the program out of Whiteman alone.
A petition has been circulating since November 2020 to support the airport. It currently has more than 4,100 signatures.
Hi, the most immediate thing the airport could implement is a vapor recovery system like we have for cars. The system would catch the vapors from the av/gas wherever it is used such delivery of the fuel to fueling the planes. The airport has direct control of what happens on the ground at the airport. The Airport Improvement Plan (AIP) would pay for this addition to the airport. The storage would have this added too. This vapor recovery system has been around for along time is readily available.