SB5380 and companion House bill HB1303 are collectively known as the CURB act. The sponsors call it the follow up to the 2021 HEAL Act. The concept is to add an Environmental Justice layer to large project permitting (such as the SAMP) for State-defined overburdened communities (such as residents near Sea-Tac Airport.
Today’s hearing had the expected opposition from developers, contractors, and specifically the Port of Seattle. More than one speaker incorrectly criticized the bill’s harm to residential construction – even though that is specifically excluded from the bill’s mandate.
Our Take
One of the biggest obstacles to progress on airport community issues has been denial. The airport does not look like a factory. The pride we’ve had in the aviation industry writ large exaggerated any benefits for residents living near it. And, in past decades, airport communities were mainly white.
But the airport always had the environmental harms of any large factory. The economic benefits for aviation workers never accrued to the communities in which they lived, and as local economies declined the demographics shifted dramatically to people of color.
Being labeled as ‘overburdened’, with its acknowledgment and correlations between race, economic decline, and environmental harms, is our reality. It is a conversation we should have had a long time ago.
Populations near Sea-Tac Airport now rank at the top of every index of pollution-impacted communities. It is time to use the available tools to obtain the relief we’ve always needed and deserved.
SB5380/HB 1303 is a necessary step to rebuild and strengthen our communities.