Notes

This document is a forwarded email chain dated September 9-10, 2001, sharing the latest draft of the Port of Seattle’s Notice of Appeal of the §401 Certification issued by the Washington State Department of Ecology. The appeal, marked as confidential and for settlement purposes only, relates to Ecology’s certification under §401 of the Clean Water Act and the Coastal Zone Management Act for the construction of a third runway and related projects at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. The attached draft notice outlines the Port’s position that Ecology’s §401 Certification fully protects Washington’s water resources and provides reasonable assurance of compliance with state water quality laws.

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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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