The Airport Communities Podcast
On May 22, 2026 the Sustainable Airport Master Plan DEIS was released and a sixty day public comment period began.
In Ep #31, we said that the only winning move was not to play — at least, not the game Congress has programmed all of us to play for forty years. They know you’re desperate. They know you can’t win. They make the FAA the bad cop.
But in the case of the SAMP, the Port of Seattle is in a unique position: their environmental team prepares the SEPA study. Their environmental director approves the study. Their commission provides a final sign-off. And last but not least, the Port of Seattle has a core mission to be The Greenest Port In America.
They can do better in any regard not constrained by the FAA. Public health is one of them.
In their SEPA process, they promised to do a ‘detailed analysis’ of these harms. That effort consisted only of reading the existing work — something anyone could do. Clever. But completely insincere.
The Port cannot control flight paths, but they could always do a lot more. They have depended on the ignorance of the public–which relies on them as the single source of truth–to avoid doing it.
Current research does have significant gaps. We should stop denying that it does and stop promoting incomplete work as conclusive. The real question is: why hasn’t the Port Of Seattle, “The Greenest Port In America” lifted a finger to help further that work?
Using any of those ‘gaps’ in research literature, decade after decade, as a get out of jail free card, without sincerely working to provide answers, is unconscionable. The public may not understand the research needed to build a solid regulatory standard, but the Port does.
Your comments should start with public health because that is the one concern no emitter of harmful substances — including noise and aviation emissions is allowed to ignore.
Topics
- 2025 – FAA SAMP NEPA Final ROD/FONSI
- 2025 – Port of Seattle press release on SAMP-NTP/SAMP-SEPA DEIS
- 2026 – SAMP/SEPA Draft EIS
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