Template revised September 22, 2016.
COMMISSION
AGENDA MEMORANDUM
Item No.
8c
ACTION ITEM
Date of Meeting
December 11, 2018
DATE: November 29, 2018 (Revised January 3, 2019)
TO: Stephen P. Metruck, Executive Director
FROM: Ryan McFarland, Federal Government Relations Manager
Eric Schinfeld, Sr. Manager, Federal & International Government Relations
SUBJECT: Federal Legislative Agenda for 2019
ACTION REQUESTED
Request Commission approval of the Port’s 2019 federal policy priorities and authorization for
staff to engage with federal officials and other partners in support of these priorities.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Since January of this year, Port of Seattle government relations staff has worked with
Commissioners, executive team members, and internal subject-matter experts to execute the
Port’s Commission-approved 2018 maritime and aviation federal policy priorities. Despite a
significant number of headwinds on Congressional and Administration action, the Port has been
able to both make substantial and tangible progress on core, long-held priorities while
simultaneously responding to new issues and opportunities as they arise. While many of the 2018
agenda items remain as part of the 2019 agenda, a number of items have been reprioritized in
reaction to local and national activity.
Following Commission approval of this legislative agenda, staff will begin engaging local and
national partners to pursue the successful passage and implementation of these priorities.
FEDERAL LEGISLATIVE AGENDA
Priority Agenda Items
Portwide
• Welcoming and Competitive Immigration & Trade Policies:
a. Be a leading voice on immigration policies that ensure the Port, its partners and
its customers have the workforce to succeed in the global economy, and that
immigrants and refugees are fully welcomed into the opportunities that our
region’s economy provides.
b. Advocate for productive engagement and negotiations that ensure a fair and level
playing field for mutually beneficial trade; ensure that enforcement actions such
as tariffs and quotas are a measure of last resort and, when necessary, be carefully
and narrowly targeted to address the problem and minimize the unintended
impacts on American producers and consumers. Prioritize trade promotion and
infrastructure with tariff collection revenues.
COMMISSION AGENDA – Revised Briefing Item No. 8c Page 2 of 7
Meeting Date: December 11, 2018
Template revised September 22, 2016.
Aviation
• Sufficient Infrastructure Funding and Flexibility:
a. Provide leadership on efforts to raise the federal cap on the Passenger Facility
Charge (PFC) from $4.50 while maintaining the Port Commission’s ability to
determine whether or not to change the user fee based on locally determined
needs and competitive dynamics.
• Efficient and Safe Airport Operations:
a. Coordinate with CBP leadership to ensure seamless operational readiness and
activation planning, and to maximize the number of CBP officers available and
trained to start on August 1, 2020 in the International Arrivals Facility.
b. Partner with TSA leadership to continue to address passenger screening wait time
issues through increased staffing, deployment of technology solutions, and
increased passenger screening canine teams (including working with TSA
leadership to implement third-party canine training and procurement by airports
for local TSA use).
• Increased Airport Communities Focus:
a. Increase FAA responsibility for direct engagement with local communities near
airports, both to respond to community concerns as well as inform residents of
any proposed changes; expedite hiring of the regional community engagement
and noise ombudsman staff approved by Congress in the past year.
b. Support changes to regulations that would create greater flexibility to address
airport area community needs – including not only noise and air quality but also
workforce & economic development, Project Labor Agreements, and
disadvantaged business contracting.
c. Engage appropriately in the federally funded study of the impact of overflight
noise on human health that includes Seattle as one of the metropolitan regions to
be examined.
• Expanded Sustainable Aviation Fuel Deployment:
a. Ensure clarity and authority for airports to use airport revenue and federal grant
funding to support the air quality and carbon reduction benefits of fuel switching.
b. Seek new and expanded federal funding for research on sustainable aviation fuels,
as well as for feedstock processing and fuel production facilities, from agencies
including the U.S. Departments of Agriculture, Energy and Transportation.
Maritime
• Harbor Maintenance Tax (HMT) Reform:
a. Continue efforts to reform the HMT to ensure US tax policy does not disadvantage
US ports and to provide greater equity for HMT donor ports through expanded
use of Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund revenues.
b. Support $50 million appropriation for the “donor port” HMT rebate program
authorized under Section 2106 of the 2014 Water Resources Reform and
Development Act to compensate for the current structure and impacts of the HMT.
COMMISSION AGENDA – Revised Briefing Item No. 8c Page 3 of 7
Meeting Date: December 11, 2018
Template revised September 22, 2016.
• Terminal 5 Modernization Project:
a. Support federal funding for the Terminal 5 Modernization Project to meet
changing container industry requirements, ensure the long-term competitiveness
of the gateway and meet our environmental and community goals.
• Fishing Fleet Modernization:
a. Advocate for reforms to NOAA’s Fisheries Finance Program (FFP) that would
remove prohibitions on loans and loan guarantees for the construction and
reconstruction of fishing vessels and that would include safeguards that prevent
overfishing, including limitations on the use of replaced vessels in international
fisheries; support increasing the FFP loan authority, which is presently $100
million annually; support other policies and programs that improve access to
financing in order to facilitate modernization of the North Pacific fleet.
• Hiram M. Chittenden Locks Funding:
a. Support funding for continued federal operation and maintenance of the locks, as
well as additional funding for priority, non-routine maintenance.
• Puget Sound Restoration:
a. Support increased federal resources for Puget Sound and Southern Resident Killer
Whale (SRKW) restoration, including funding to support habitat restoration, to
manage predation of Chinook and other species critical to SRKW recovery, to help
cleanup legacy sources of contaminants that affect SRKW, and to manage
stormwater runoff. Support appropriations for the Puget Sound Nearshore
Ecosystem Restoration Project, the National Estuary Program, the Puget Sound
Geographic Program and the Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund.
• Seattle and Tacoma Harbor Deepening:
a. Support appropriation for design and construction to deepen the federal channels
serving T-18, T-30 and T-5 in Seattle. Support funding for the feasibility study on
deepening channels in Tacoma Harbor.
• National Freight Policy and Funding:
a. Support implementation and increased federal funding for a strengthened
national multimodal freight strategy and related grant programs, including
continued authorization and funding for the TIGER/BUILD discretionary grant
program. Support establishing a sustainable funding source for freight
infrastructure and ensure user fee proposals 1) do not hurt the competitiveness
of the Northwest trade corridor relative to others in North America; 2) are mode
neutral; and 3) funds should spent on improvements that benefit users who pay
the fees and not diverted to other uses.
COMMISSION AGENDA – Revised Briefing Item No. 8c Page 4 of 7
Meeting Date: December 11, 2018
Template revised September 22, 2016.
• Safe and Efficient Cargo Screening:
a. Support adequate Customs and Border Protection (CBP) staffing levels to ensure
efficient movement of cargo through the Puget Sound gateway. The port seeks
increased federal funding for CBP staffing at maritime ports of entry and reforms
to expedite the hiring of new CBP officers.
b. Pursue efforts to ensure the federal government resumes responsibility for
funding CBP services, equipment and facility development.
Additional Priority Issues the Port of Seattle is Supporting or Engaging on:
Port-wide
• Welcoming and Competitive Immigration & Trade Policies:
a. Advocate for new trade agreements that open new markets and level playing
fields for Washington employers and others who use the Port as their
international gateway, while creating verifiable, measurable and enforceable
standards to protect workers and the environment.
b. Support permanent legal protections for immigrant children currently eligible for
the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.
c. Partner with key local stakeholders to implement programs that showcase the
Port as a welcoming gateway for immigrants and refugees.
• Sufficient Infrastructure Funding and Flexibility:
a. Advocate for more federal dollars for airport, seaport and related freight mobility
infrastructure projects, via annual appropriations and/or a comprehensive federal
infrastructure investment package.
• Increased Community Focus:
a. Partner with federal agencies to improve human trafficking prevention and
intervention efforts.
Aviation
• Sufficient Infrastructure Funding and Flexibility:
a. Ensure that federal agencies and members of Congress are supportive of in-
progress and future capital projects and plans; keep federal partners updated on
the progress of the SAMP near-term projects environmental review.
• Efficient and Safe Airport Operations:
a. Increase overall funding for Customs and Border Protection officers dedicated to
international airport passenger processing.
b. Preserve TSA funding for Law Enforcement Officer reimbursement grants.
c. Continued engagement with federal regulators and policy-makers on improved
approaches to perimeter security and insider threat issues based on learnings
from the August 10
th
unauthorized flight incident.
d. Engage appropriately in the formation and work of the National In-Flight Sexual
Misconduct Task Force.
COMMISSION AGENDA – Revised Briefing Item No. 8c Page 5 of 7
Meeting Date: December 11, 2018
Template revised September 22, 2016.
• Increased Airport Communities Focus:
a. Support changes to FAA policies that restrict noise insulation investments to once
per home, such that broken or antiquated infrastructure can be replaced.
b. Support efforts to have the FAA and other federal agencies research the
relationship between aviation activity and ultrafine particulate emissions, as well
as their associated impacts.
c. Engage with FAA leadership to speed the transition to non-fluorinated airfield fire-
fighting foams.
• Expanded Sustainable Aviation Fuel Deployment:
a. Engage the participation of key federal policy makers and regulators in the Port’s
Sustainable Aviation Fuels Industry Day.
b. Pursue policies through the annual National Defense Authorization Act that
leverage the U.S. Department of Defense as a key partner in sustainable aviation
fuels research and implementation.
Maritime
• Diesel Emissions Reductions, DERA and alternative fuels:
a. Support authorization and full funding for the EPA Diesel Emissions Reduction Act
(DERA) program, which provides funding for emissions reduction programs.
Advocate for federal programs that support electrification and alternative fuel use
at ports.
• Pebble Mine at Bristol Bay and Offshore Drilling:
a. The Port of Seattle Century Agenda commits the Port to actions and policies to
ensure the long-term vitality of the Northwest fishing industry and to being the
greenest, most energy efficient port in North America. The Port believes the
proposed Pebble Mine at Bristol Bay and offshore drilling off the Washington
coastline to be inconsistent with the Port’s Century Agenda goals.
i. The EPA has determined the proposed Pebble Mine at Bristol Bay would
jeopardize one of the world’s last wild salmon nurseries, a finding the fishing
industry has endorsed. The Port of Seattle opposes mining activity and other
development proposals in the Bristol Bay watershed that put Bristol Bay
fisheries at risk.
ii. Offshore drilling threatens our state’s fishing and tourism industries and puts
wildlife habitat at risk. The Port of Seattle opposes offshore oil and gas drilling
in both state and federal waters off the coastline of Washington state.
• Jones Act:
a. Support the Jones Act and its crucial role in providing the institutional framework
that helps keep the US domestic maritime industry viable. Maintain limited
flexibility to grant waivers from Jones Act regulations in extraordinary cases when
domestic shipping capacity is insufficient to respond to a given need and when
Puget Sound domestic maritime stakeholders validate that a waiver is necessary
to support the vitality of their industry.
COMMISSION AGENDA – Revised Briefing Item No. 8c Page 6 of 7
Meeting Date: December 11, 2018
Template revised September 22, 2016.
• Oil Train Safety
a. Support efforts to increase oil train safety standards and provide resources to
communities to address hazardous fuel incidents.
Additional Priority Issues the Port of Seattle is Monitoring:
Port-wide
• Welcoming and Competitive Immigration & Trade Policies:
a. Coordinate with federal agencies on implementation of REAL ID by the 2020
deadline.
b. Support steps to increase and facilitate tourism into the United States.
• Increased Communities Focus:
a. Ensure federal support for efforts to improve the environmental impact of the
Port’s activities, including funding for the port’s emissions reduction and water
quality programs.
b. Secure additional federal funding for key priorities within the Port’s economic
development, tourism development and workforce development programs.
c. Support the federal priorities of local government partners, such as increased
funding for homelessness & housing, securing transportation investments, and
policies that improve the environment and quality of life for our region’s residents.
Aviation
• Efficient and Safe Airport Operations:
a. Support TSA efforts to expand PreCheck, as well as additional technology solutions
– such as self-service/remote bag drop – that maximize security and efficiency.
b. Ensure that our nation’s Air Traffic Control (ATC) system continues to support a
fully functioning statewide airport ecosystem and is responsive to community
needs related to aircraft impacts; support increased funding and long-term
investment predictability for ATC infrastructure.
c. Encourage FAA to provide structure and systemic context to safety management,
and to require airports to establish and maintain a Safety Management System to
manage airfield risk.
d. Support Congressional efforts to research the impact of increased Transportation
Security Officer compensation on retention and overall net costs.
• Increased Airport Communities Focus:
a. Track federal efforts to evaluate changes to – and alternative metrics for – the
current 65 DNL standard for noise mitigation.
b. Ensure federal support for a broad range of innovative strategies to offset the local
air quality impacts and greenhouse gas emissions associated with increased
aircraft activity.
COMMISSION AGENDA – Revised Briefing Item No. 8c Page 7 of 7
Meeting Date: December 11, 2018
Template revised September 22, 2016.
ATTACHMENTS TO THIS REQUEST -
(1) Presentation slides
(2) 2018 Federal Maritime & Aviation Agendas
PREVIOUS COMMISSION ACTIONS OR BRIEFINGS
November 28, 2017 – The Commission was briefed on the 2018 Federal Legislative Agenda.
January 9, 2018 – The Commission authorized staff to pursue the 2018 federal legislative
priorities.
November 27, 2018 – The Commission was briefed on the 2019 Federal Legislative Agenda.
