Port of Seattle outlines near-term airport projects, discusses noise and emissions as Federal Way residents urged to comment

Mayor Jim Farrell opened a Port of Seattle open house at Wildwood Elementary and asked that a recording be made available for residents who could not attend, saying, "The public comment period closes on Monday, July 20, so it's really important that your voice is heard." The session presented the Port's near-term project proposals and the environmental review framework for Seattle International Airport.

Port presenters told attendees the near-term projects are intended to accommodate projected passenger and cargo demand, keep airfield infrastructure aligned with evolving FAA standards, make the airfield layout more efficient and provide additional fuel capacity. The presenter emphasized, "There is no new runway. I just wanna be very clear about that," and said most work is expected to be substantially complete between about 2032 and 2037.

The Port framed the analysis within the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA), saying the environmental review compares a "build" scenario with a "no-build" baseline to measure incremental effects. Presenters said the projects would yield only a modest incremental increase in operations compared with the no-build case—about 2.7 percent—while overall operations are projected to grow roughly 20 to 23 percent by 2037 relative to present-day levels.

Tom Fagerstrup, a presenter, explained how noise was modeled and displayed on public maps: forecast-year noise contours (65 DNL) were shown as a purple "no-build" line and a blue "build" line for the proposed projects. He described DNL as "the noise metric that the FAA requires"—an annual average that applies a 10-decibel penalty to nighttime noise—and showed that, on the maps discussed at the open house, Federal Way falls outside the 65 DNL contour. Presenters also described mitigation and outreach programs including Fly Quiet initiatives and late-night noise limitation programs designed to encourage airlines to operate quieter aircraft.

On greenhouse gases and air pollution, a Port presenter explained the accounting approach used in the environmental review. The presenter said the largest contributor to CO2 totals is the jet fuel pumped at the airport for flights—"that's mostly driven by the fuel consumed across all flights"—and that construction emissions are reported separately in the analysis. The presenter also said sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) can substantially reduce life-cycle emissions depending on the production pathway, citing a possible reduction "somewhere between 50 and 80 percent," but noted the Port did not model SAF reductions in the scenarios because the modeling includes reductions only when they are regulated or required.

Presenters described dispersion modeling for air pollutants using a grid of receptors; the grid spacing is tightened where the model identifies maxima so the analysis produces conservative estimates of concentrations and captures where the highest impacts occur. The Port presenter said the environmental review will publish responses to public comments in the final environmental impact statement, which the presenter said they hope to publish by the end of the calendar year.

On how to comment, the presenter listed multiple methods: through the project's web portal (sea-samp.com), by email at samp@portseattle.org, by postal mail, or by hand-delivery to staff. Note: the record contains inconsistent statements about the comment deadline—Mayor Farrell said the comment period closes on July 20, while a Port presenter later cited July 21 at 4 p.m.—and attendees should rely on the Port's official submittal instructions on the project portal for the authoritative deadline.

The Port encouraged continued community input and said staff will read and respond to comments as part of the SEPA process. Attendees thanked presenters and the session concluded.