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Thomas R. Luster, a former senior policy and technical expert at the Washington State Department of Ecology, declares under penalty of perjury regarding his qualifications and experience in water quality certification and CWA Section 401 reviews. The declaration was submitted to the Pollution Control Hearings Board in support of an appeal by the Airport Communities Coalition challenging a Section 401 certification issued for construction of a third runway at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. Luster describes his 12 years at Ecology working on water quality, wetland, sediment issues, and federal permit reviews.

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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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