Template revised April 12, 2018.

DATE: February 7, 2019

TO: Stephen P. Metruck, Executive Director

This briefing will provide an overview of the Sustainable Airport Master Plan (SAMP) Near-Term

Projects scoping report, common themes identified, and next steps in the environmental review

process.

SUSTAINABLE AIRPORT MASTER PLAN NEAR-TERM PROJECTS ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW

The Port of Seattle prepared a Sustainable Airport Master Plan (SAMP) to establish a blueprint

for changes at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (Sea-Tac Airport) to meet future demand.

The SAMP planning process was completed in 2018 and identified a Long-Term Vision, as well

as a set of Near-Term Projects that are planned for construction by 2027. The SAMP Long-Term

Vision for Sea-Tac Airport includes projects that are not ripe for environmental review at this

Policy Act (SEPA) Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to evaluate and disclose the potential

environmental effects of the Near-Term Projects.

Scoping, required under a SEPA EIS and not a requirement of a NEPA EA, is one of the first steps

in a multi-step environmental review. It is an early and open process for determining the scope

of issues that will be addressed in the environmental review document, soliciting input

regarding the Near-Term Projects and reasonable alternatives, and identifying concerns

regarding the potential environmental effects of the Near-Term Projects. Comments received

during scoping were reviewed and will be taken into consideration during the preparation of

the environmental analyses.

Template revised September 22, 2016.

There is no requirement under NEPA or SEPA to produce a scoping report. It was compiled at

the request of the FAA to provide an update to the agencies and public on the results of scoping

and because the Port determined it would be useful to the Commission and the public.

The scoping report includes:

The Port also hosted an online open house where individuals could obtain information on the

SAMP Near-Term Projects environmental review and could submit comments online. The

online open house was available in five languages (English, Arabic, Somali, Spanish, and

Vietnamese) and was visited over 3,500 times.

Several thousand comments were received from about 10 agencies and 750 people. The Port

reviewed the comments and categorized and grouped them into major topics and common

themes. A matrix within the scoping report shows how these comments were categorized.

Once the comments were categorized, the Port and FAA reviewed the topics and common

themes in detail and prepared the scoping report.

Template revised September 22, 2016.

Port’s webpage and the project’s website following the Commission briefing.

NEXT STEPS

The scoping comments will be considered throughout the environmental review. Although it

was originally envisioned that a joint NEPA/SEPA document would be prepared, the current

plan is to prepare two separate documents. The Port of Seattle’s consultant will proceed with

the preparation of the NEPA EA document to comply with federal requirements. At the same

time, the Port of Seattle will begin the preparation of a separate SEPA EIS to comply with state

requirements. It is anticipated that the FAA will issue their decision on the NEPA EA prior to the

publication of the draft SEPA EIS. We anticipate FAA release of the Draft EA for public review