Tool now shows eligibility proposal by install date
We’ve updated our Port Packages mapped tool with an important Install Date filter to show which properties may be eligible under the recently passed federal pilot program.
What Section 8801 means for you
As we reported last week, Congressman Adam Smith and Senator Patty Murray succeeded in inserting what had been a freestanding bill to provide FAA funding for sound insulation updates as an earmark (Section 8801) into the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act.
Previous versions of the bill had been limited to systems installed before 1993 which meant that almost no homeowners would be eligible. Section 8801 expands eligibility to installations before 2002–which covers a majority of homes treated during the Third Runway era.
However, there are several ‘gotchas’, the biggest being a limit to homes inside the current DNL65. That will reduce the total number of homes to a third of original installs!
Despite what the Port says, we want to make it very clear: there is absolutely no correlation between proximity to the airport (the DNL65) and the need for relief. In almost all cases what determined the quality of the system was the contractor and the workmanship. In addition to that false limitation, the law also adds language which makes relief contingent on the Port’s inspection, and explicitly prevents consideration of the most common installation defects.
Use the map to check your eligibility
Our map tool now includes filters to show properties that were surveyed in 2024 for possible Port Package updates, as well as the evolving noise boundaries from 1991, 2018, and the speculative 2032 boundary currently under development.
Use it to see if your home might be eligible based on location and install date and the review our summary of the next steps for relief.
Call to action
The next step for real relief will be at the state level. The state has the ability to make sure that the Port provides greater eligibility and encourages the Port to spend its own money. The program has always been voluntary, and they have always been able to spend their own funds.
Contact your legislators: the Port Commission, your city councils, and your state electeds. Tell them you know they can choose to interpret Section 8801 in the broadest possible manner within the current DNL 65. Tell them you know that the Port of Seattle can spend its own money to fix bad Port Packages. Tell them to stop making excuses and fix your Port Package, now.