TagPuget Sound Regional Council(191)

This collection contains materials from the Flight Plan Project workshops held in January and February 1993, organized for the Regional Council's Transportation Policy Board and Executive Board to address airport planning and capacity needs in the Puget Sound region. The binders include working papers, overhead presentations, environmental impact statement documents, public hearing records, and correspondence from stakeholders ranging from the FAA and Port of Seattle to community groups opposing airport expansion. Key topics covered include demand management, noise abatement, regional airport system alternatives, and the evaluation of sites such as Sea-Tac and Paine Field.

In a November 1992 letter to the FAA's Northwest Mountain Region manager, the President of the Regional Commission on Airport Affairs urges the federal government to defer funding and detailed planning for a proposed third runway at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (Sea-Tac). The letter argues that the Puget Sound Regional Council's ongoing regional airport system planning process must be allowed to fully evaluate all alternatives before any single project receives federal financial commitment. The author warns that proceeding prematurely with site-specific plans and an Environmental Impact Statement risks wasting federal money if the regional plan ultimately selects an alternative other than a third runway at Sea-Tac.

Office of the Hearing Examiner, Puget Sound Regional Council (PSRC) Findings, Conclusions, and Decision on City of Federal Way appeal (filed November 6, 1992) challenging adequacy of the Flight Plan Project Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) issued by PSRC as nominal lead agency and Port of Seattle as co-lead agency. Appeal challenges FEIS adequacy in

Resolution No. 3125, adopted by the Port of Seattle Commission in 1992, authorizes planning and environmental studies for the construction of a third runway at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (Sea-Tac) to address growing air traffic demand and capacity limitations, particularly during poor weather conditions. The resolution follows a two-year study by the Puget Sound Air Transportation Committee (PSATC), which recommended a phased multiple-airport system, including a new dependent runway at Sea-Tac by 2000. The Port also called for broader regional solutions, including a fast rail link between Portland and Vancouver airports and diversion of cargo-only carriers to alternative airport sites.

The Flight Plan Project, a joint effort by the Puget Sound Regional Council and the Port of Seattle, produced this 1992 Final Environmental Impact Statement to evaluate long-term commercial air transportation options for the central Puget Sound region. It examines system-level alternatives ranging from expanding Sea-Tac Airport to building new airport facilities, assessing trade-offs related to noise, air quality, land use, and regional quality of life. The document serves as a programmatic planning tool, with no single preferred alternative identified, intended to guide future site-specific environmental reviews and regional airport policy decisions.

Minutes from the January 9, 1992 Des Moines City Council meeting include discussion of airport-related noise and emissions issues, as Mayor Kennedy distributed a written report from the National League of Cities Congress noting that airport noise and aircraft emissions fall within the domain of the Environment, Energy, and Natural Resources (EENR) Steering Committee. The report also references a vacant seat on the EENR Steering Committee specifically tied to airport issues, including noise and emissions from aircraft, for which the City of Des Moines applied. Membership would require attendance at four EENR Steering Committee meetings per year at a cost of $968 annually for NLC direct member status.

AR037747. Draft Final Report of the Puget Sound Air Transportation Committee’s Flight Plan Project, January 1992, sponsored by the Puget Sound Regional Council and Port Of Seattle with FAA grants. Study findings and draft recommendations for long-term air carrier system needs of the Puget Sound Region, including a Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement. Committee chaired

The Flight Plan Project, published in January 1992 by the Puget Sound Regional Council and the Port of Seattle, examines the long-term air carrier system needs of the Puget Sound region. The report includes study findings, draft recommendations, and a Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement. It was funded in part by grants from the Federal Aviation Administration of the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Vision 2020 is a Growth and Transportation Strategy for the Central Puget Sound Region, published in October 1990, outlining long-range policies for managing regional growth and transportation planning through the year 2020. The document covers trends and issues, growth strategies, transportation policies, and implementing actions for a broad coalition of member jurisdictions spanning King, Pierce, Snohomish, and Kitsap counties, including the City of SeaTac and dozens of other cities, towns, and tribal governments. It serves as a regional framework for coordinating land use and transportation decisions across the greater Seattle-Tacoma metropolitan area.

This archival box (Historical Box No. 1324) contains Airport Litigation Documents related to Sea-Tac Airport noise issues, spanning 1988 to 1996. The materials include correspondence, budget estimates, press releases, and documents submitted to an Expert Arbitration Panel addressing noise reduction and demand/system management. Records are held at the Washington State Archives and were prepared by the Port of Seattle's Administration office.