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The Podcast!
Subscribe to the only podcast devoted to helping people under the flight path everywhere. It’s definitely not just about noise!Most Recent: Ep #22 Why failed Port Package Update programs keep failing (For Dummies!)
The Issues
The Sustainable Airport Master Plan (SAMP) is the blueprint for increasing flight capacity by one third in the next ten years. It will have the same community impact as the Third Runway. In fact, it is happening now. How this is possible, and what it means for us.continue...
A list of programs and changes to City, Port, State and Federal law we can and must implement in the upcoming legislative calendar. The SAMP is the largest and longest expansion in airport history. These policies will reduce noise, pollution, provide mitigation and compensation for decades of inequity. This is a blueprint not only for Sea-Tac, but for every community unfairly impacted by commercial aviation. Solve for Sea-Tac, solve for every airport.continue...
A two minute presentation on how the Sustainable Airport Master Plan (SAMP) will increase flight operations at Sea-Tac Airport as much as a new runway. Without a new runway.continue...
Does your home have a Port Package of noise mitigation windows and insulation? Having problems with your windows? Mold? You're not alone. Help us help you.continue... -
The SAMP Draft EA Public Comment Period is open now until December 13, 2024. Learn what is coming and what you can do to help reduce the noise, the pollution, and obtain the compensation we’ve deserved for decades.Top Story
Ep #22 Why failed Port Package Update programs keep failing (For Dummies!)
March 5, 2026
The Airport Communities Podcast
The original title was "Maps Are Good, Too!" But that seemed too vague.
In the original Maps Are Good, we introduced several terms and concepts people need to have at their fingertips in order to dive in deeper.
This time, we focus on two big ones DNL and RCW53 in order to explain why we keep failing to obtain Port Package updates -- even though the Port says it wants to do something, money has been allocated by Congress, and several proposals have been put forward by the State.
The big confusion is that there is one land area known as the DNL specified by the FAA, which changes every time the Port does a 'voluntary' Part 150 Study. That boundary determined who gets sound insulation or property buyouts.
We also discuss why that DNL began shrinking and how the process of End of Block evolved to make sure that the noise contours yield as many eligible homes as possible.
Noise remediation can take two forms: abatement and mitigation. The 1970's and 80's were more about abatement: property buyouts, and industry efforts to make quieter aircraft. But with the Third Runway, mitigation: sound insulation, become the main approach. Thus, 90% of Port Packages were done in a very short period from 1998-2005.
For a variety of reasons, in the State of WA, a lot of airport law, including a whole other noise impact boundary, got buried inside the Port Districts law -- RCW53. A lot of that law is not in sync with the FAA. For example, the current RCW53 boundary combines both Sea-Tac and Boeing Field airspaces -- even though Sea-Tac is the only commercial airport in WA owned by a port district.
Could it get more complicated? Of course. This is just the tip of the iceberg.
But that does not mean that there aren't simple solutions. It's only that we're not taking them. That's the Casino.
Every year we try to tell advocates: get your stories straight. Make sure that your electeds and the City, State and Federal levels, are all in sync. And every year it doesn't happen. Every year both people and agencies pursue separate agenda. That is the reason we fail to fix failing Port Packages.
.We have dedicated electeds and non-electeds who want to solve many airport community issues -- including Port Package Updates. But it is that lack of shared understanding and shared strategy holds us back -- not the issues. In the case of sound insulation updates, there is money, and a working program model. The issue of fixing failed Port Packages is a solved problem. It is we who are failing.
How do you tell people of such good will that it's not the issue that is the problem? How do you message that it is the inability to pull together in the same direction that keeps communities all across America from succeeding year after year?
To learn how you can make a difference:
Recent Stories
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Ep #23 SB6240 Emergency Episode
After 50 years of community engagement and millions spent on advocacy, why do airport communities continue to lose battles over noise, air quality, and expansion? The uncomfortable truth is that the Casino rewards community engagement—an approach that never works--over developing one that does. -
When Federal environmental maps go dark
The benefits and consequences for airport communities In January 2025, the Trump administration began removing content from federal websites following Executive Order 14151. The order directed all government agencies to terminate DEI and environmental justice–related programs. These include environmental justice and climate mapping using a nationally consistent dataset for evaluating the socioeconomic impacts of airports. -
Trump’s EPA revokes scientific finding that underpinned US fight against climate change
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration on Thursday revoked a scientific finding that long has been the central basis for U.S. action to regulate greenhouse gas emissions and fight climate change, the most aggressive move by the Republican president to roll back climate regulations. The rule finalized by the Environmental Protection Agency rescinds a 2009 government -
Port Packages mapped: eligibility over time
Changes 1985-2032 The black outline depicts the 1985-2013 Part 150 noise contour. The light orange rectangle is the 92 sq mile area defined under State of Washington law (RCW 53.54.020) that is eligible for funding to mitigate noise impacts–but only those generated by Sea-Tac Airport. All sound insulated homes inside the original DNL65 (1985-2032). Sound -
Senate Ways and Means Comments on SB5652/SB6240
Our comments to members of the Senate Ways and Means Committee. They are tasked with approving these two important airport bills. There are cut-off dates by which bills must be voted on by this committee in order to move forward. If both bills are not voted on within the next week that will not happen.
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Upcoming Events
- Call to order – Roll Call – Quorum Established – Land Acknowledgement We would like to acknowledge that our Agency operates in four present-day counties, which are the traditional lands of the Coast Salish people, past and present. This acknowledgement does not take the place of authentic relationships with indigenous communities in our jurisdiction and [...]
From The Web
Settlement Resources Press Release Lower Duwamish Consent Decree (pdf) (10.95 MB) Lower Duwamish Complaint (pdf) (192.55 KB)On March 4, 2026, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the state of Washington, reached a settlement agreement with more than 100 potentially responsible parties to address hazardous substances released into the Lower [...]
From The Library
The authors, including Washington's Solicitor General, Noah Purcell, reveal how the "gift of public funds" doctrine has become a false barrier for government assistance to communities. For decades, agencies like the Port of Seattle have wrongly claimed that matching requirements, narrow purposes, and small amounts are requirements of the State Constitution although there is absolutely no basis in law and no programs ruled non-compliant in over 45 years - as recently as COVID relief. This legal analysis should be the final nail in the coffin. It is time for the Port to stop hiding behind fabricated legal excuses and provide real compensation for airport impacts, now.continue...
Under The Flight Path
Under The Flight Path: A Community History of Sea-Tac Airport. Help us complete the first comprehensive documentary of any major US airport; the impacts on the cities and the people.continue...
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