This document argues that the FAA and Sea-Tac Airport failed to properly account for combined aircraft noise from both Sea-Tac and Boeing Field when approving the Greener Skies/NextGen flight program, leaving hundreds of Beacon Hill homes without sound insulation assistance they may have been entitled to. A 2002 King County International Airport study had already identified that noise levels in parts of Beacon Hill exceeded the 65 dB DNL federal threshold when both airports' noise was measured together, yet no mitigation was provided. The document also highlights that no public outreach was conducted in the Beacon Hill neighborhood—a majority-Asian, multilingual community—before the new flight paths were implemented.Open full document
Notes
This case study examines FAA’s public outreach failures related to the Greener Skies/NextGen program and its impact on the Beacon Hill neighborhood in Seattle. It argues that FAA ignored combined noise contour data from Sea-Tac Airport and King County International Airport showing noise levels exceeding 65 dB DNL on Beacon Hill, and failed to conduct meaningful outreach to Environmental Justice communities prior to implementing the program. The document contends that hundreds of homes were denied sound insulation assistance as a result of FAA’s oversight failures.