August 9, 2001August 2, 2026

EXH AR051004: FAA Letter to Army Corps of Engineers Re: STIA Third Runway Environmental Re-Evaluation

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FAA Northwest Mountain Region letter dated August 9, 2001, from Lowell H. Johnson (Manager, Airports Division) to Colonel Ralph Graves (District Engineer, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Seattle District Office) regarding Seattle-Tacoma International Airport third runway project. References May 22 meeting and April 30 Memorandum for Record. Describes two written environmental re-evaluations of the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) and Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS), a new Record of Decision, and concludes no new SEIS is required. Topics include air quality conformity, de-minimis threshold compliance commitment from Port of Seattle, master plan update (MPU) project modifications, wetlands, endangered species, migratory birds, noise, land use, and surface traffic. Record of Decision originally issued July 3, 1997. AR051004, AR051005, exhibit 1273.

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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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