Last Updated: July 21st, 2026

Aviation fuel uplift in the State of Washington 2018 – 2025

Uses and impacts

Aviation fuel “uplift” means fuel deliveries, which makes it a useful proxy for several aspects of airport impacts. But the fuels aircraft burn are very different, and they break down into two classes: kerosene-based (Jet-A), used by commercial jets, and gasoline-based (AvGas), used by the piston-engine aircraft common to private pilots.

Money

Both fuels generate real tax revenue, and the FAA keeps a tight grip on it. The rule is called revenue diversion. The joke around airports is that “what happens at the airport stays at the airport.” Since 2014, state and local taxes on aviation fuel have to go back into aviation: airport operations, a state aviation program, or noise mitigation. Anything else puts federal grant money at risk.

The money is irresistible, so states keep testing that line. Washington has made repeated attempts to restructure its aviation fuel taxes and route the proceeds into separate accounts. Senator Tina Orwall’s SB 6240 would have gone further, taking a slice of the hazardous substance tax collected on aviation fuel and putting it into a new account for noise and air quality mitigation in airport communities. Noise mitigation is already on the FAA’s approved list. Air quality is not, and that is the part that makes the bill risky. Meanwhile ports and pilot groups push the other direction, arguing all of it belongs back on the airfield, which is the FAA’s stated preference.

How well is any of this policed? The USDOT Inspector General looked into it. After reviewing 193 state and local action plans, the FAA had not tested or validated whether the jurisdictions it called compliant were actually spending the money the way their approved plans said. Strict on paper. Barely checked in practice.

Health

Lead

AvGas is gasoline-based, but unlike automobile gasoline it is still leaded. Unleaded versions exist, but they remain controversial and almost no airports (including Boeing Field) offer them for sale. Lead is a serious pollutant and the concern about it is real. When it’s your street, no impact feels small. But that concern is almost always aimed at the small piston aircraft at general-aviation fields, a fraction of the traffic. If we’re serious about public health, we have to follow the exposure to where it’s largest: the commercial jets overhead. Sea-Tac runs more than 1,200 flights a day, and the emissions from those jets reach far more people.

Ultrafine particulates

Jet-A contains no lead and burns clean enough to leave no visible trail. This is important: any “contrails” you see are not the result of combustion. What combustion does produce is enormous quantities of invisible exhaust called Ultrafine Particulates. The UW MOV-UP study found that communities under the flight paths near the airport are exposed to higher proportions of smaller “ultra-ultrafine” particles, over a larger area than the pollution associated with roadways. One UW epidemiologist put it plainly: in terms of ultrafine exposure, people under the flight path are like people standing in the roadway. These particles are less than 0.1 micron across, hundreds of times thinner than a human hair, small enough to pass deep into the body.

Lead at least has a regulatory path. The EPA issued an endangerment finding for leaded avgas in 2023, and standards are working their way through the process. UFPs have nothing. No standard, no timeline, no process.

Greenhouse gases

Fuel uplift is the clearest window we have into aviation’s impacts on climate change. Most of a flight’s carbon isn’t burned over the runway. It’s burned at altitude, far from any local inventory. That makes the fuel pumped here the only real proxy for aviation’s full climate footprint, what is called Scope 3.

It matters which number you use. For years, King County’s inventory counted only about 10% of the fuel pumped at Sea-Tac and Boeing Field, the takeoff and landing share, and left the other 90% off the books. Count all of it, and aviation’s emissions rise to 27% of the county’s total, surpassing cars and trucks. In 2017 alone, the fuel pumped at Sea-Tac accounted for an estimated 5.8 million tonnes of CO2, close to a quarter of King County’s emissions. That is the number this chart is really about.

2018 Filing Period2018 Fuel Type2018 Gallons2019 Filing Period2019 Fuel Type2019 Gallons2020 Filing Period2020 Fuel Type2020 Gallons2021 Filing Period2021 Fuel Type2021 Gallons2022 Filing Period2022 Fuel Type2022 Gallons2023 Filing Period2023 Fuel Type2023 Gallons2024 Filing Period2024 Fuel Type2024 Gallons
31-Jan-2019Aviation Gas175,89531-Jan-2020Aviation Gas108,88031-Jan-2021Aviation Gas920,93631-Jan-2022Aviation Gas595,17931-Jan-2023Aviation Gas441,88531-Jan-2024Aviation Gas428,458
31-Jan-2019Jet Fuel132,505,06731-Jan-2020Jet Fuel122,859,83731-Jan-2021Jet Fuel61,431,73431-Jan-2022Jet Fuel109,972,41731-Jan-2023Jet Fuel122,540,32831-Jan-2024Jet Fuel127,669,817
28-Feb-2019Aviation Gas218,45329-Feb-2020Aviation Gas187,55728-Feb-2021Aviation Gas487,11628-Feb-2022Aviation Gas769,59928-Feb-2023Aviation Gas689,47929-Feb-2024Aviation Gas519,735
28-Feb-2019Jet Fuel120,193,14429-Feb-2020Jet Fuel129,005,32528-Feb-2021Jet Fuel54,663,69028-Feb-2022Jet Fuel119,488,73628-Feb-2023Jet Fuel102,205,26129-Feb-2024Jet Fuel137,483,477
31-Mar-2019Aviation Gas200,80631-Mar-2020Aviation Gas609,73531-Mar-2021Aviation Gas884,07431-Mar-2022Aviation Gas1,141,08631-Mar-2023Aviation Gas949,54231-Mar-2024Aviation Gas1,046,638
31-Mar-2019Jet Fuel140,123,06631-Mar-2020Jet Fuel91,058,30131-Mar-2021Jet Fuel67,306,21431-Mar-2022Jet Fuel108,031,10631-Mar-2023Jet Fuel162,879,32131-Mar-2024Jet Fuel139,312,409
30-Apr-2019Aviation Gas263,43330-Apr-2020Aviation Gas353,34030-Apr-2021Aviation Gas829,52530-Apr-2022Aviation Gas981,34630-Apr-2023Aviation Gas742,92230-Apr-2024Aviation Gas1,109,666
30-Apr-2019Jet Fuel122,156,19530-Apr-2020Jet Fuel53,145,97430-Apr-2021Jet Fuel74,558,10930-Apr-2022Jet Fuel101,095,77630-Apr-2023Jet Fuel111,684,88630-Apr-2024Jet Fuel102,987,955
31-May-2019Aviation Gas214,55331-May-2020Aviation Gas490,79231-May-2021Aviation Gas1,189,60431-May-2022Aviation Gas1,066,53731-May-2023Aviation Gas1,357,43631-May-2024Aviation Gas1,258,541
31-May-2019Jet Fuel106,791,37831-May-2020Jet Fuel40,056,26631-May-2021Jet Fuel77,048,15331-May-2022Jet Fuel115,733,11531-May-2023Jet Fuel107,409,93231-May-2024Jet Fuel117,740,698
30-Jun-2019Aviation Gas478,86730-Jun-2020Aviation Gas711,60330-Jun-2021Aviation Gas1,216,20830-Jun-2022Aviation Gas1,203,96030-Jun-2023Aviation Gas1,565,34930-Jun-2024Aviation Gas1,221,826
30-Jun-2019Jet Fuel133,984,30230-Jun-2020Jet Fuel57,619,30730-Jun-2021Jet Fuel80,897,25330-Jun-2022Jet Fuel109,245,64030-Jun-2023Jet Fuel131,648,62330-Jun-2024Jet Fuel123,118,060
31-Jul-2019Aviation Gas569,21831-Jul-2020Aviation Gas851,35331-Jul-2021Aviation Gas2,307,99031-Jul-2022Aviation Gas1,065,23831-Jul-2023Aviation Gas1,460,09531-Jul-2024Aviation Gas1,810,178
31-Jul-2019Jet Fuel152,405,93931-Jul-2020Jet Fuel60,810,25431-Jul-2021Jet Fuel94,471,65231-Jul-2022Jet Fuel118,206,63031-Jul-2023Jet Fuel138,694,70431-Jul-2024Jet Fuel113,655,568
31-Aug-2019Aviation Gas586,43731-Aug-2020Aviation Gas852,07531-Aug-2021Aviation Gas1,246,43731-Aug-2022Aviation Gas1,574,54031-Aug-2023Aviation Gas1,487,09131-Aug-2024Aviation Gas1,677,524
31-Aug-2019Jet Fuel152,124,34131-Aug-2020Jet Fuel81,766,24031-Aug-2021Jet Fuel103,156,20031-Aug-2022Jet Fuel126,663,74331-Aug-2023Jet Fuel141,024,87331-Aug-2024Jet Fuel127,414,735
30-Sep-2019Aviation Gas319,14430-Sep-2020Aviation Gas690,94130-Sep-2021Aviation Gas971,25530-Sep-2022Aviation Gas1,325,18230-Sep-2023Aviation Gas1,262,47830-Sep-2024Aviation Gas894,198
30-Sep-2019Jet Fuel132,054,39630-Sep-2020Jet Fuel76,754,62130-Sep-2021Jet Fuel89,897,04630-Sep-2022Jet Fuel120,433,09430-Sep-2023Jet Fuel128,150,29630-Sep-2024Jet Fuel103,772,573
31-Oct-2018Aviation Gas166,80931-Oct-2019Aviation Gas351,04131-Oct-2020Aviation Gas530,50931-Oct-2021Aviation Gas1,070,75331-Oct-2022Aviation Gas1,065,96031-Oct-2023Aviation Gas1,077,33231-Oct-2024Aviation Gas893,398
31-Oct-2018Jet Fuel148,612,35431-Oct-2019Jet Fuel119,602,54731-Oct-2020Jet Fuel74,844,80731-Oct-2021Jet Fuel104,449,91431-Oct-2022Jet Fuel120,834,23131-Oct-2023Jet Fuel139,007,19331-Oct-2024Jet Fuel138,710,551
30-Nov-2018Aviation Gas66,31530-Nov-2019Aviation Gas344,82430-Nov-2020Aviation Gas465,10230-Nov-2021Aviation Gas653,25130-Nov-2022Aviation Gas671,18630-Nov-2023Aviation Gas806,90730-Nov-2024Aviation Gas554,326
30-Nov-2018Jet Fuel114,007,84830-Nov-2019Jet Fuel133,238,14930-Nov-2020Jet Fuel60,302,57330-Nov-2021Jet Fuel120,586,49830-Nov-2022Jet Fuel105,442,64930-Nov-2023Jet Fuel123,086,25630-Nov-2024Jet Fuel98,683,153
31-Dec-2018Aviation Gas104,60531-Dec-2019Aviation Gas219,27831-Dec-2020Aviation Gas439,75931-Dec-2021Aviation Gas422,59731-Dec-2022Aviation Gas377,86831-Dec-2023Aviation Gas866,45331-Dec-2024Aviation Gas508,563
31-Dec-2018Jet Fuel119,759,96831-Dec-2019Jet Fuel144,912,07931-Dec-2020Jet Fuel71,998,20731-Dec-2021Jet Fuel97,404,75831-Dec-2022Jet Fuel114,343,62531-Dec-2023Jet Fuel146,106,31031-Dec-2024Jet Fuel92,814,923
Aviation Gas Totals337,729Aviation Gas Totals3,941,949Aviation Gas Totals6,291,646Aviation Gas Totals12,199,746Aviation Gas Totals11,837,681Aviation Gas Totals12,706,969Aviation Gas Totals11,923,051
Jet Fuel Totals382,380,170Jet Fuel Totals1,590,090,603Jet Fuel Totals920,221,712Jet Fuel Totals1,025,871,221Jet Fuel Totals1,369,490,762Jet Fuel Totals1,554,437,983Jet Fuel Totals1,423,363,919
Totals382,717,899Totals1,594,032,552Totals926,513,358Totals1,038,070,967Totals1,381,328,443Totals1,567,144,952Totals1,435,286,970

Sources: UW MOV-UP study; Seattle Times, ultrafine particles under Sea-Tac flight paths; KUOW, King County aviation emissions; King County greenhouse gas emissions data; FAA policy on proceeds from taxes on aviation fuel (2014); USDOT OIG, Airport Revenue Diversion audit; SB 6240 Senate Bill Report (2025-26); EPA endangerment finding, aircraft lead emissions; Port of Seattle airport statistics

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