TagPuget Sound Regional Council(191)

The Puget Sound Regional Council (PSRC) 2022 Annual Report highlights key regional planning achievements, including the opening of the Northgate Link Light Rail Extension, the adoption of the region's first Regional Housing Strategy, and updates to the Regional Transportation Plan. The report also notes the passage of the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Washington State's Move Ahead transportation package, which together provide historic funding for transit, roads, bridges, and ferries. While focused broadly on regional growth and transportation planning for the central Puget Sound area, this document does not address Sea-Tac Airport noise policy specifically.

The Puget Sound Regional Council (PSRC) 2022 Annual Report highlights the organization's key regional planning achievements, including the adoption of the first-ever Regional Housing Strategy, an update to the Regional Transportation Plan, and $102 million in funding for the Northgate Extension of Link Light Rail. The report also notes the passage of the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Washington State's Move Ahead transportation package as significant funding milestones for transit, bridges, and roads in the central Puget Sound region. Note: this document does not contain information specifically related to Sea-Tac Airport noise policy.

The Puget Sound Regional Council's May 2021 Regional Aviation Baseline Study examines the roles and interactions of airports across the central Puget Sound region, including Sea-Tac, Paine Field, Renton, and dozens of smaller facilities spanning King, Pierce, Snohomish, and Kitsap counties. The study aims to identify future aviation needs, gather stakeholder input on airspace constraints, and provide a regional perspective on how airports affect communities and the broader economy. Notably, PSRC clarifies that the study does not make recommendations on expanding existing airports or siting new ones.

The PSRC Regional Aviation Baseline Study, published in May 2021 and funded by a $1.6 million FAA grant, examines the current state and future demand of the 29 airports serving the central Puget Sound region. The study supports coordinated regional planning to ensure the airport system can meet long-term growth needs, and its findings were shared with Washington State's Commercial Aviation Coordinating Commission, which is tasked with recommending sites for new or expanded commercial aviation capacity. While COVID-19 temporarily slowed passenger travel, the study notes that aviation has historically maintained consistent long-term growth despite periodic downturns.

The Regional Aviation Baseline Study, published in May 2021 by the Puget Sound Regional Council, examines the current state and future needs of the aviation system in the greater Puget Sound region, including commercial service, air cargo, and general aviation. The study evaluates airport capacity scenarios through 2050, assesses infrastructure requirements, and explores options for meeting growing regional air travel demand. It was funded by a Federal Aviation Administration grant and prepared by WSP in association with several partner firms.

The Puget Sound Regional Council (PSRC) 2021 Annual Report highlights the organization's 30th anniversary and its key accomplishments during the COVID-19 pandemic, including directing $549 million in federal funding to 128 regional transportation projects and adopting the VISION 2050 long-range growth plan. The report also covers efforts to advance housing and equity initiatives, conduct passenger-only ferry studies, and lead a Regional Aviation Baseline Study examining current conditions and future aviation demand across the central Puget Sound area.

This January 2021 report documents public engagement efforts conducted by the Puget Sound Regional Council (PSRC) as part of its Regional Aviation Baseline Study, a federally funded project examining aviation needs across the 29-airport central Puget Sound region. The study gathered community input through surveys, focus group interviews, technical working groups, and virtual public meetings to understand priorities and concerns about managing future aviation growth. The findings are intended to inform future regional airport planning decisions, including considerations around noise, capacity, and community impacts.

The Puget Sound Regional Emissions Analysis is a King County-led project launched in 2021 to comprehensively measure greenhouse gas emissions across King, Kitsap, Snohomish, and Pierce counties. The project covers multiple types of emissions inventories—including community activities, consumption of goods and services, and government operations—while also modeling pathways to reduce emissions and achieve carbon neutrality. It incorporates social equity principles to address disproportionate environmental impacts on communities of color.

This working paper, prepared for the Puget Sound Regional Council, examines four future scenarios for meeting regional aviation demand in the greater Seattle area, ranging from near-term improvements at Sea-Tac Airport through 2027 to long-term capacity expansions by 2037 and beyond. It evaluates existing and potential supplemental airports across criteria such as runway length, airspace conflicts, flood hazards, land use compatibility, and accessibility. The study aims to identify which airports could help absorb projected passenger and cargo demand that Sea-Tac alone may not be able to accommodate.

In this October 2020 letter, the City of Des Moines formally objected to the Puget Sound Regional Council's Regional Aviation Baseline Study, arguing that it wrongly assumes full implementation of SeaTac Airport's long-term expansion plan (the SAMP) before any required environmental review has been completed. The City warned that this flawed assumption skews all study scenarios, understates community noise and pollution impacts on neighborhoods near SeaTac, and creates a circular logic problem that undermines sound regional planning. Des Moines requested that the baseline be revised to reflect only already-approved and environmentally reviewed projects, and called for planning toward a second international airport to relieve pressure on SeaTac.