The Southern California Association of Governments, commonly known as SCAG, includes more than 40 elected officials from six Southland counties. By a 38-to-2 margin, it approved a plan that would limit airline-passenger trips at the nation's third-busiest airport to 78 million a year.

LAX currently handles 67 million passengers annually, but demand is expected to rise to a staggering 167 million over the next 25 years. Before and after their vote to curb the LA airport's expansion, several SCAG members said they hope to force more development at other Southland facilities, particularly Ontario Airport in the Inland Empire and a site proposed for a new airport at the closed El Toro Marine base in Orange County.

Despite SCAG's vote, a top official says LAX will continue with its expansion plans. The vote will "have no impact whatsoever" on efforts to grow, Jim Ritchie, deputy director of long-range planning for the airport, said in a prepared statement after the vote.