March 21, 2001August 2, 2026

Port Of Seattle Letter to Department of Ecology Regarding Synthetic Minor Permit and Puget Sound Clean Air Agency Order

Notes

A March 2001 letter from Port of Seattle’s Senior Environmental Program Manager to the Washington Department of Ecology transmitting a copy of the airport’s synthetic minor permit. The letter provides background on a September 1999 Puget Sound Clean Air Agency Order limiting facility-wide air emissions of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and carbon monoxide at Sea-Tac Airport to less than 99 tons each during any 12 consecutive months. The attached Order details monitoring, recordkeeping, and reporting requirements for various emission sources including boilers, space heaters, and emergency generators.

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As the source for federal transportation grants, the Puget Sound Regional Council was charged with developing a system to meet the growing need for commercial aviation. When the search for a second airport failed, they authorized the Port of Seattle to build the Third Runway, with a mandate to develop a noise abatement and mitigation program. In their effort to stop the Third Runway, the ACC argued over every detail of the Port's efforts--including property buyouts and sound insulation. The dispute was meant to be settled by a three member Expert Arbitration Panel. This is their final report. It finds 2-1, that the Port's program was insufficient in several respects. Despite that, funding for the Third Runway was approved by the PSRC, and the 'Port Package' program, proceeded largely unchanged. Expert Arbitration Panel's final decision finding that the Port of Seattle had not shown sufficient reduction in real on-the-ground noise impacts to satisfy noise reduction conditions required for approval of a third runway at Sea-Tac International Airport. The majority decision concluded the Port's noise abatement programs were insufficient despite being impressive in scope.

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