October 8, 2001August 2, 2026

Declaration of Senator Julia Patterson, Senator Dow Constantine, Senator Tracey Eide, Representative Shay Schual-Berke, Representative Karen Keiser, Representative Joe McDermott, Representative Erik Poulsen, Representative Mark Miloscia, and Representative Maryann Mitchell

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A joint declaration by nine Washington State legislators submitted to the Pollution Control Hearings Board in the case of Airport Communities Coalition v. State of Washington Department of Ecology and Port of Seattle. The legislators argue that the public interests cited by the Port of Seattle in opposing a stay of the Department of Ecology’s Section 401 Certification for the Sea-Tac Airport third runway project are not overriding. The declaration identifies the legislators’ committee responsibilities and asserts that competing public interests must be weighed by the Board.

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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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