SEPA

1995-03-20
Sea-Tac International Airport Hotel draft environmental impact statement

This March 1995 Draft Environmental Impact Statement, prepared by Kato & Warren, Inc. for the Port of Seattle, evaluates the proposed construction of a 16-story, 384-room hotel on a 77,000-square-foot site at Sea-Tac International Airport, located between the 'D' Concourse and the airport entry drives. The hotel, which would include 10,000 square feet of meeting rooms plus a restaurant and lounge, was to be connected to the terminal and parking garage via pedestrian skybridges on land then occupied by a United Airlines office building. The document was issued for public comment under Washington State's Environmental Policy Act (SEPA), with responses due by April 20, 1995.

TagsEIS, Environmental Impact Statement, Port Of Seattle, Sea-Tac Airport, SEPA

As the source for federal transportation grants, the Puget Sound Regional Council was charged with developing a system to meet the growing need for commercial aviation. When the search for a second airport failed, they authorized the Port of Seattle to build the Third Runway, with a mandate to develop a noise abatement and mitigation program. In their effort to stop the Third Runway, the ACC argued over every detail of the Port's efforts--including property buyouts and sound insulation. The dispute was meant to be settled by a three member Expert Arbitration Panel. This is their final report. It finds 2-1, that the Port's program was insufficient in several respects. Despite that, funding for the Third Runway was approved by the PSRC, and the 'Port Package' program, proceeded largely unchanged. Expert Arbitration Panel's final decision finding that the Port of Seattle had not shown sufficient reduction in real on-the-ground noise impacts to satisfy noise reduction conditions required for approval of a third runway at Sea-Tac International Airport. The majority decision concluded the Port's noise abatement programs were insufficient despite being impressive in scope.

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