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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 #24 The 400,000lb tube going 200mph
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 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... -
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The SAMP SEPA EIS Public Comment Period begins May 22, 2026. 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
SAMP/SEPA Preview
May 17, 2026
How we got here
On Friday, May 22, the Port of Seattle will release the Draft SEPA Environmental Impact Statement for the Sustainable Airport Master Plan Near-Term Projects. (SAMP-NTP SEPA/EIS) That mouthful is the next milestone towards the largest and longest airport expansion in Sea-Tac history. Thirteen years in one minute.
Four years after the Third Runway opened, the Port began talking about the next round of airport expansion as part of its Century Agenda. By 2015, that talk had a name: the Sustainable Airport Master Plan, or SAMP. The Port spent the next three years researching, presenting dozens of options in a series of workshops, and describing the SAMP as a twenty-year blueprint for passenger and cargo growth.
Concurrently, several major projects originally expected to be part of the SAMP were built separately — before that review process.
2018: Two parts, one processThe Port completed the planning for a two-phase approach: Near-Term Projects by 2027, followed by Long-Term Projects in 2032.
In July, the Port and FAA began formal environmental scoping for the Near-Term Projects. At the time, the Port talked about a single combined federal/state EIS (NEPA/SEPA) and led the public to expect that environmental review would begin soon. Delays began almost immediately.
The pandemic put the process on hold. Critics argued the forecasts should be revisited before any plan moved forward. The most controversial piece — an employee parking project that would have taken part of North SeaTac Park — was dropped.
The state Commercial Aviation Coordinating Commission (CACC) reopened the bigger question the SAMP had quietly assumed away: should the region's aviation future stay concentrated at Sea-Tac, or should future growth be distributed elsewhere? That question was not answered before the group was shut down in 2024.
2023–2024: Environmental review reappearsAfter years of delay, the FAA releases the draft federal (NEPA) Environmental Assessment (EA). An EA is a far less rigorous review than an environmental impact statement (EIS). Projects once framed for 2027 had slipped to 2032. The Long-Term Projects were now mentioned as only a "vision" — but with exactly the same drawings.
2025: FAA issues a FONSIIn April, President Trump issued executive removing two review categories from consideration — environmental justice and cumulative impacts.
In September, the FAA issued a Finding of No Significant Impact and Record of Decision for the federal NEPA process, concluding that no mitigation of any kind was required except for modifications to a few traffic intersections.
The Port signaled that preparation of the state (SEPA) document would begin immediately and that it would consider categories omitted from the NEPA process, such as cumulative impacts.
Next Friday's release will begin a 30 day public comment period to help decide whether these same projects should be approved by the Port under state regulations. This will reopen debate over the cumulative effects of aircraft noise, ultrafine particles, greenhouse gas emissions, roadway traffic, and induced aviation demand. It will also revisit a question the region has never confronted: what it means to keep concentrating growth at Sea-Tac.
Recent Stories
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Ep #24 The 400,000lb tube going 200mph
**Discover why environmental progress stalled for airport communities while cars got cleaner** Ever wonder why your car's emissions have dramatically improved over decades, but aviation seems stuck in the past? In this eye-opening episode of The Airport Communities Podcast, we explore the fascinating tale of two environmental paths that diverged after 1970. While Washington Senator Scoop Jackson spearheaded NEPA—one of the largest expansions of environmental policy in American history—and California secured game-changing carve-outs in the Clean Air Act that led to massive air quality improvements, aviation somehow got left behind. Despite Boeing being headquartered in Washington, aviation environmental standards never caught up. UW Meteorologist Cliff Mass delivers some stark perspective: those two annual flights to Europe generate more greenhouse gases than most people produce in their entire homes over a year. Meanwhile, Boeing's monopoly status has eliminated market incentives for cleaner technology. This wasn't an oversight—it was intentional. Today, every airport community continues paying the price for decisions made decades ago that exempted aviation from automotive-level engineering standards. -
StART meeting April 29, 2026
SAMP/SEPA teaser offers no spoilers. Just confusion over a process completed six months ago The latest meeting of the Stakeholder Advisory Roundtable provided a recap of the Sustainable Airport Master Plan federal approval process (NEPA SAMP FONSI/ROD) and a teaser of the upcoming state process (SEPA) which will begin on May 22, 2026. StART Meeting -
Earth Day 2026
Airport advocacy’s roots in environmentalism When Earth Day began in 1970 the problems of environmental damage were obvious to everyone. There was almost complete bipartisan support for major legislation to improve the quality of life for everyone in America — including airports. Even President Nixon was on board, signing into law every piece of environmental -
Port of Seattle’s Draft Environmental Impact Statement for Sustainable Airport Master Plan Near-Term Projects to be released May 22
We want to hear from you! The draft State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Port of Seattle’s Sustainable Airport Master Plan (SAMP) for Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) will be available for review starting May 22, 2026. You can visit the SAMP website to learn more, sign up for updates, and -
Sea-Tac’s second terminal still 15 years away, new director says
Seattle-Tacoma International Airport’s new managing director Wendy Reiter, pictured at her office in SeaTac on Thursday. (Ivy Ceballo / The Seattle Times) By Lauren Rosenblatt Seattle Times business reporter Seattle-Tacoma International Airport needs a second terminal to accommodate more planeloads of travelers coming practically every year. The new terminal is one of several projects the
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Upcoming Events
- **SAMP SEPA EIS Planning Session** (30 min) – Full committee discussion
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- **StART Restructuring Proposal** (15 min) – Jeff Harbaugh and Joe Dusenbury from Des Moines Airport Advisory Committee
- **NEPA Review Update** (5 min) – Bob Larson, Interim City Manager
From The Web
Plumes of smoke rise from the area of a UPS cargo plane crash at Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport, Nov. 4, 2025, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry, File) This photo provided by the National Transportation Safety Board shows UPS plane crash scene, Nov. 6, 2025 in Louisville, Ky. (NTSB via AP, File) This photo [...]
From The Library
A report examining the barriers to implementing sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) in Massachusetts, authored by Neil Rasmussen and Chuck Collins from the Institute for Policy Studies. The report analyzes challenges and obstacles facing SAF adoption in the state.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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