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The Airport Communities Coalition filed this preliminary list of legal issues with the Pollution Control Hearings Board for the State of Washington, challenging the Department of Ecology’s Section 401 water quality certification for the Sea-Tac Airport Third Runway project. The document raises numerous legal questions about whether the certification provides reasonable assurance of compliance with water quality standards, covering issues related to stream flow and water rights, stormwater management, and fill criteria for the embankment. The coalition argues the certification is deficient in multiple respects, including inadequate stormwater treatment, failure to require AKART, and insufficient SEPA/NEPA review.

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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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