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The Airport Communities Coalition (ACC) replies to objections from the Washington Department of Ecology and the Port of Seattle regarding ACC’s motion to file an overlength reply brief. ACC argues that Ecology and the Port embedded extensive legal arguments within declarations to circumvent page limits, and that ACC requires additional pages to respond to 56 pages of briefing, 210 pages of declarations, and thousands of pages of attachments. ACC contends it is entitled to a full and fair opportunity to reply to the voluminous material filed in opposition to its motion for stay of the Section 401 Certification.

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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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