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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 #33 Emergency! Do This... (Part 2/3 Appendix K-Socioeconomics)
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 #33 Emergency! Do This… (Part 2/3 Appendix K-Socioeconomics)
June 9, 2026
On May 22, 2026 the Sustainable Airport Master Plan DEIS was released and a sixty day public comment period began.
In Ep #32, we said that the most basic 'do' is public health. As a society, Public health is the one thing, we all agree should not be traded away. Those are individual impacts.
But both NEPA and SEPA address community harms--the collective impacts, especially on children, and particularly in Appendix K. Unfortunately, the FAA rigged the game in several key ways, including confining the study area for impacts on children to the census tracks immediately connected to the runways. How many people live near the runways? Not. Too. Many.
They also accepted the Port's Economic Impact Study as its sole exhibit. It is riddled with exaggerations and claims that cannot be true. But even worse is that it takes the Greater Good argument to extremes with sections talking about commercial fishing and its partnerships with the Port of Tacoma. What does any of that have to do with any of communities under the flight path?
To add insult to injury, in early 2025, President Trump issued a series of executive orders removing most of what remained from consideration.
In our last episode we said that more research was necessary for aviation emissions and noise, that those gaps were the Port's get out of jail free card on NEPA, and that the Port had promised to do better in SEPA. But did not.
On Socioeconomics, they did not even try to do better. The entire chapter is a straight copy/paste from the NEPA document.
Still, your comment must include Appendix K. It may seem harder to quantify community impacts than noise or air or water pollution, in some ways it's much easier.
The promise was, "As we do better, you'll do better." That was what they said back in 1975 to respond to the second runway and the non-stop construction ever since.
We now have decades of lived experience -- first predicted in the 1997 HOK Study that this was never true. The only research left to do is to put numbers to that decline.
What does that mean for us? Most of us do not make the connection, but we depend on our cities in order to flourish as individuals and as a community. So much of what we count on to thrive depends on roads, water, parks, recreation, public safety -- the services municipalities provide. And yet, if the airport has been such a boon for surrounding communities why do we struggle so much with declining service levels and budget deficits.
The Port cannot control flight paths, but socioeconomics is an area that cannot be constrained by the FAA. Your comments should contrast the ongoing benefits to King County with those constant struggles for your local government.
To learn how you can make a difference:
Recent Stories
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Proposed Seattle Tacoma airport expansion will be good for region
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Ep #32 Emergency! Do This… (Part 1/3 Mind The Gaps)
**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 #31 Emergency! The only winning move (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 #30 Emergency! NTP (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.
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Upcoming Events
I. CALL TO ORDER 10:30 a.m. II. ITEM OF BUSINESS Commission Planning Retreat 2026 III. ADJOURNMENT Document Link
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By King Conservation District Midway CovenantDes Moines, WA Saturday, June 20 • 10 AM – 2 PM Overview Join us for free lead and arsenic soil testing at our SoilSHOP event at Midway Covenant in Des Moines! Puget Sound has a rich history of land and industry – but industrial practices from long ago may
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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
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From The Web
By Angela Birney and Dana Ralph Special to The Seattle Times As elected officials, we are committed to serving the public good. That requires us not only to think beyond what’s needed for our communities to thrive today but also to focus on long-term planning for current and future residents. That is why we both [...]
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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