Despite a flurry of legal challenges and a hotly contested mayor’s race, the $11 billion overhaul of Los Angeles International Airport could break ground as early as this fall.

The Federal Aviation Administration is expected to approve Mayor James Hahn’s plan this month, which would give airport officials the final regulatory green light that would allow construction to begin.

“We’re waiting for a record of decision from the FAA to really promulgate and consummate the project,” said City Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski, who helped draft the revised plan.

Still, final regulatory approval does not necessarily mean an end to haggling over the project. Plenty of pending lawsuits and other challenges may yet thwart the plan’s progress.

Even Laura Brown, a spokeswoman for the FAA, said that while the agency expects to announce its decision this month, approval does not mean the plan will progress smoothly. “The federal record of decision does not constitute implementation of the project,” she said. “The final decision to go ahead fundamentally is a local decision.”

The revised plan before the FAA has essentially the same elements of Hahn’s original LAX Master Plan. Under the revised version, however, only a handful of the original aspects of the project would be green-lighted this year. Those include the consolidated rental car facility, reconfiguration of the southern runways and an inter-modal transportation center that connects passengers from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Green Line to a tram-like “people mover.”

More controversial elements of Hahn’s initial plan, such as a remote check-in facility at Manchester Square, the tearing down of Terminals 1, 2 and 3 and the closing off of the main parking garages, would be set aside for further environmental reviews and approvals.

*The full version of this story will be available in the March 14 edition of the Los Angeles Business Journal.