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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 #30 Emergency! NTP (2/3)
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... -
The SAMP SEPA EIS Public Comment Period is open now from May 22 – July 21, 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
Ep #30 Emergency! NTP (2/3)
June 1, 2026
On May 22, 2026 the Sustainable Airport Master Plan DEIS was released and a sixty day public comment period began.
Our fifth3 minute explainer on how you can help your community by being patient and providing high quality comments. It is not click bait to say: It's easier than you think. It's not what you think.
In Ep #29, we said that there was plenty of time to prepare your comments. The most immediate task is to get your local governments to start treating this as an ongoing effort rather than waiting the 11th hour all the time.
Many people ask us what 'NTP' means. It's 'near-term projects'.
An airport can never shut down to perform upgrades. It needs to keep upgrading while the plane (all the planes) are in the air. People see the construction and think it's being done piecemeal just to work around that challenge.
But these projects are planned and sequenced as much according to permitting as anything else. If you can break the work into pieces, you can avoid a ton of regulatory oversight.
In fact, the plan the Port calls the sustainable airport master plan took shape in 2012 as the Century Agenda. Since then and at least four billion dollars in construction projects have been completed which are really part of the plan but not required to be permitted together.
What they call 'the SAMP' was created in 2015, and then immediately broken into two pieces: Near Term Projects and Long Term Projects (LTP.) The LTP is known, but it is almost never spoken of now, and then only as 'unforeseen'. It's completely foreseen. It is intentionally talked about that way because FAA regulations only require a 5-year window on 'foreseeable projects'.
We're now in the NTP phase. Everything you think of as 'the SAMP' is really just the Near-Term Projects phase.
But whether or not you remember that SAMP == NTP, you can be certain that the LTP is real and it will begin as soon as the NTP closes. How can we be so sure? Because that is what happened after the Third Runway. That is how all major airports work. The construction never ends.
Projects are intentionally broken into segments in order to avoid considering cumulative impacts. If you only have to review impacts within foreseeable 5 year windows, you can never be held accountable.
To learn how you can make a difference:
Recent Stories
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Ep #29 Emergency! Be Prepared (1/3)
**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. -
Port of Seattle Commission May 26, 2026
Introduction of SAMP-NTP 2026 05 26 Regular Meeting Packet At almost four hours, the May 26 Port Commission meeting had several lengthy presentations. The longest was not the one of interest to airport communities: the first public briefing on the Sustainable Airport Master Plan Near-Term Projects SEPA Draft EIS. The practical outcomes: no required mitigations -
Ep #28 Emergency! SAMP/SEPA DEIS (3/3)
**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. -
Ep #27 Emergency! SAMP/SEPA DEIS (2/3)
**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. -
Ep #26 Emergency! SAMP/SEPA DEIS (1/3)
**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.
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Upcoming Events
Purpose and Recommendation To provide the Council with an update on the status of the Sustainable Airport Master Plan (SAMP) environmental review. Background Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Approval On September 26, 2025, the FAA completed their National Environmental Policy Act review and approved a Final Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact/Record of Decision
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The Port of Seattle is sponsoring four open houses to answer your questions about the SAMP/SEPA Draft EIS. There will be a reporter to take your comments in-person. Monday, June 22: 6–8pm Glacier Middle School Entrance lobby/commons 2450 S 142nd St SeaTac, WA 98168
[...]The Port of Seattle is sponsoring four open houses to answer your questions about the SAMP/SEPA Draft EIS. There will be a reporter to take your comments in-person. Tuesday, June 23: 6–8pm Mount Rainier High School Cafeteria space 22450 19th Ave S Des Moines, WA 98198
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From The Web
Customers line up to board Alaska’s inaugural trans-Pacific flight to Tokyo at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport last year. Fatal aviation incidents are rare, but because they are highly publicized and… (Kevin Clark / The Seattle Times, 2025)More By Lauren Rosenblatt Seattle Times business reporter If you’re worried about flying on an airplane, you’ve probably heard this [...]
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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