Washington Senate Bill 5898 proposes redirecting tax revenue collected on aircraft fuel to the state aeronautics account, rather than having it flow into general environmental cleanup funds. The bill amends several existing tax statutes to carve out aircraft fuel proceeds and deposit them specifically into the aeronautics account created under RCW 82.42.090. While not directly an airport noise policy, the reallocation of aviation fuel tax revenue could affect funding available for state aeronautics programs, including those touching on airport operations near communities like Sea-Tac.

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Senate Bill 5898 proposes to direct proceeds from taxes on aircraft fuel to the aeronautics account. The bill amends several RCW sections related to hazardous substance taxes, oil spill response taxes, and other petroleum product taxation, specifically creating provisions for aircraft fuel tax proceeds to be deposited into the aeronautics account.

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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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