TagEnvironmental Impact Statement(400)

This document is the References section of the Environmental Assessment for Seattle-Tacoma International Airport's Sustainable Airport Master Plan Near-Term Projects, finalized in September 2025. It lists all sources cited across the assessment's chapters, including federal regulations, FAA advisory circulars, technical memoranda, city comprehensive plans, and environmental studies used to evaluate the airport's proposed development projects. The referenced materials cover topics such as air quality, facility requirements, stormwater management, land use, and aviation activity forecasting.

The Final Environmental Assessment for Seattle-Tacoma International Airport's Sustainable Airport Master Plan near-term projects explains that cumulative impact analysis has been removed from the document. This change reflects recent legal developments, including the revocation of CEQ regulations implementing NEPA and a May 2025 Supreme Court ruling, which together mean federal agencies are no longer required to assess the combined environmental effects of separate but related projects. As a result, the section that previously contained cumulative impacts data and analysis is now absent from this final report.

This section of the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport Environmental Assessment describes how planners evaluated different alternatives to the airport's near-term expansion projects, using a two-step screening process to determine whether each option met the project's stated goals and was practical to implement. Public suggestions submitted during the scoping process—such as building a new airport, using high-speed rail, limiting growth, or relying on other existing airports—were largely rejected because they could not meet current and future passenger demand at SEA. A No Action Alternative is also included, representing a future scenario in which none of the proposed new construction takes place.

The Port of Seattle is conducting an Environmental Assessment (EA) under federal law for 31 near-term improvement projects at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA), covering airfield upgrades, taxiway extensions, and passenger facility improvements. The projects, collectively known as the Sustainable Airport Master Plan Near-Term Projects, are intended to reduce congestion, improve safety, and enhance the passenger experience, with construction potentially beginning in late 2025 and completion targeted for 2032. The federal review will determine whether the projects could significantly impact the surrounding human environment, including potential noise and other effects on neighboring communities.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in May 2025 that federal agencies have broad discretion in determining the scope of environmental reviews required under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The case involved a proposed 88-mile railroad in Utah, where the Court held that agencies do not need to analyze the environmental effects of separate upstream or downstream projects — such as oil drilling or refining — when reviewing a specific infrastructure project. Courts must give substantial deference to agency decisions about what to include in environmental impact statements, rather than imposing their own judgment about what details are required.