Notes

Port Of Seattle sur reply memorandum filed in Pollution Control Hearings Board cases No. 01-133 and No. 01-160, Airport Communities Coalition (ACC) v. Department of Ecology and Port Of Seattle. Addresses ACC’s motion for stay of the amended §401 Certification for STIA, arguing: (1) WAC 173-225-030 requires public notice only for new applications, not amendments; (2) the amended §401 Certification complies with 40 CFR §121.2(a)(3) per Pearce Declaration; (3) 100% of existing airport will be retrofit for stormwater quantity and 460 of 540 acres for stormwater quality per Stormwater Management Plan (SMP), condition J(1)(c); (4) pre-construction monitoring of downslope wetlands is unnecessary per 2nd Declaration of James C. Kelley Ph.D.; (5) fill criteria including Phase I and Phase II environmental assessments under §401 §E.1(a) are adequate. Prepared by Foster Pepper & Shefelman PLLC, AR 006520–006522.

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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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