TagExpert Arbitration Panel(32)

This document summarizes the Puget Sound Regional Council’s planning process for amending the Metropolitan Transportation Plan to include a third runway at Sea-Tac International Airport. It covers the history of regional aviation planning from the 1988 Regional Airport System Plan through the Flight Plan Project, Sea-Tac Master Plan, and Expert Arbitration Panel findings on noise

The Puget Sound Regional Council (PSRC) held an Executive Board Meeting on April 25, 1996, at the Olympic Room, Seattle Center, beginning at 9:00 A.M. A key agenda item was a communications packet regarding an Expert Arbitration Panel's decision on airport noise and demand/system management issues, with follow-up action on noise also listed under New Business. The meeting covered additional regional transportation matters, including certification of local comprehensive plan transportation elements and amendments to the 1996–98 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP).

In March 1996, an independent expert panel concluded by a 2-1 vote that the Port of Seattle had not done enough to reduce real-world noise impacts from Sea-Tac Airport to meet the conditions set by the Puget Sound Regional Council for approving a third runway. While the panel acknowledged the Port's extensive noise abatement programs, the majority found they fell short of the meaningful reductions required under Resolution A-93-03. The panel also determined that neither demand management improvements nor alternative transportation options, such as rail, would sufficiently reduce air travel demand to eliminate the need for the additional runway.

This document compares a 1996 Expert Arbitration Panel's findings on aircraft noise at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport with the FAA's 2013-2018 Part 150 Noise Compatibility Program approval, revealing that many of the same unresolved noise abatement and mitigation issues identified decades ago remain unaddressed today. Communities surrounding Sea-Tac — including Burien, Normandy Park, and Des Moines — continue to experience increasing noise and air pollution as flight operations have grown from 387,000 in 1995 to over 438,000 in 2018. The document calls out regulators and the Port of Seattle for failing to make meaningful progress on commitments such as nighttime flight restrictions, engine run-up controls, and departure corridor compliance.

The Expert Arbitration Panel on Noise and Demand/System Management Issues issued its final decision on noise issues related to Resolution A-93-03, which set noise reduction conditions for PSRC authorization of a third runway at Sea-Tac International Airport. A majority of the Panel found that the Port of Seattle had not demonstrated a sufficient reduction in

This archival box (Historical Box No. 1321) contains airport litigation documents from 1993–1996, including Expert Arbitration Panel audio tapes, meeting transcripts, and diskettes related to proceedings involving Treece, Shirley & Brodie. It also holds records on the FAA Grant MSA Phase II, the MSA Consultant Selection Process, Regional Airport System Plan applications for federal assistance, and materials related to the Four Post Task Force and North/Adjacent planning. The box is held on long-term loan at the WA State Archives.

This archival record (Box 1317, CID 10992) from the Port of Seattle's Administration office covers documents related to airport litigation, noise reduction, and policy from 1992 to 1996. Contents include correspondence with executive board members, legal memos on noise panel decisions, Port of Seattle resolutions, noise monitoring data, and materials sent to arbitration panel members regarding noise reduction measures at Sea-Tac Airport. The collection also contains environmental impact statements, runway litigation records, and studies on the effects of aircraft noise on nearby communities.