Washington House Bill 1303 (2025) aims to reduce environmental and health disparities by requiring government agencies to consider environmental justice when reviewing proposed projects. For projects located in heavily polluted communities, agencies must complete a formal Environmental Justice Impact Statement and hold public hearings to gather community input before permits are granted. The bill does not specifically address Sea-Tac Airport noise policy.

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Washington State House Bill 1303 requires the Department of Ecology to add environmental justice as an element of the environment in SEPA rules and checklists. The bill mandates that lead agencies complete environmental justice impact statements for potentially impactful projects located in pollution burdened communities. It establishes public hearing and community engagement requirements, including publication of impact statements and mailed notices to affected residents.

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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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