Notes

The Pollution Control Hearings Board denied the Airport Communities Coalition’s motion to supplement the record on its motion to stay the effectiveness of the re-issued § 401 Certification No. 1996-4-02325 (amended-1) issued by the Department of Ecology. The Board found that reopening the record would not have provided new information and would have eroded the orderly process set forth in the pre-hearing order. The order was signed by Presiding Officer Kaleen Cottingham on December 11, 2001.

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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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