The Airport Communities Podcast
The original title was “Maps Are Good, Too!” But that seemed too vague.
In the original Maps Are Good, we introduced several terms and concepts people need to have at their fingertips in order to dive in deeper.
This time, we focus on two big ones DNL and RCW53 in order to explain why we keep failing to obtain Port Package updates — even though the Port says it wants to do something, money has been allocated by Congress, and several proposals have been put forward by the State.
The big confusion is that there is one land area known as the DNL specified by the FAA, which changes every time the Port does a ‘voluntary’ Part 150 Study. That boundary determined who gets sound insulation or property buyouts.
We also discuss why that DNL began shrinking and how the process of End of Block evolved to make sure that the noise contours yield as many eligible homes as possible.
Noise remediation can take two forms: abatement and mitigation. The 1970’s and 80’s were more about abatement: property buyouts, and industry efforts to make quieter aircraft. But with the Third Runway, mitigation: sound insulation, become the main approach. Thus, 90% of Port Packages were done in a very short period from 1998-2005.
For a variety of reasons, in the State of WA, a lot of airport law, including a whole other noise impact boundary, got buried inside the Port Districts law — RCW53. A lot of that law is not in sync with the FAA. For example, the current RCW53 boundary combines both Sea-Tac and Boeing Field airspaces — even though Sea-Tac is the only commercial airport in WA owned by a port district.
Could it get more complicated? Of course. This is just the tip of the iceberg.
But that does not mean that there aren’t simple solutions. It’s only that we’re not taking them. That’s the Casino.
Every year we try to tell advocates: get your stories straight. Make sure that your electeds and the City, State and Federal levels, are all in sync. And every year it doesn’t happen. Every year both people and agencies pursue separate agenda. That is the reason we fail to fix failing Port Packages.
.We have dedicated electeds and non-electeds who want to solve many airport community issues — including Port Package Updates. But it is that lack of shared understanding and shared strategy holds us back — not the issues. In the case of sound insulation updates, there is money, and a working program model. The issue of fixing failed Port Packages is a solved problem. It is we who are failing.
How do you tell people of such good will that it’s not the issue that is the problem? How do you message that it is the inability to pull together in the same direction that keeps communities all across America from succeeding year after year?
Topics
- STNI Comments on SB5652/SB6240 (2026)
- Part 150 for Dummies
- RCW 53.020 – Aviation Impacted Area
- Port of Seattle Sound Insulation Repair/Replacement Pilot Program
- San Francisco International Airport Second Chance program
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