Template revised April 12, 2018.
COMMISSION
AGENDA MEMORANDUM Item No. 11a
BRIEFING ITEM Date of Meeting October 14, 2025
DATE: October 8, 2025
TO: Stephen P. Metruck, Executive Director
FROM: Sarah Cox, Director, Aviation Environment and Sustainability
Steve Rybolt, Senior Environmental Program Manager, Aviation Environment and
Sustainability
SUBJECT: Sustainable Airport Master Plan Near-Term Projects Final National Environmental
Policy Act Environmental Assessment, Federal Aviation Administration Finding of
No Significant Impact, Record of Decision, and State Environmental Policy Act Next
Steps
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This briefing will provide an overview of the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) Record of
Decision (ROD) based on the outcome of the Final National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)
Environmental Assessment (EA) of the Sustainable Airport Master Plan (SAMP) Near-Term
Projects (NTP). This will include an overview of the public outreach and engagement that
occurred during the public comment period, changes that were made between the Draft and
Final EA, and requirements that the Port of Seattle must adhere to upon the commencement of
the SAMP NTPs. It will also provide an outline of the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA)
requirements and steps to complete the environmental review process for the SAMP NTPs.
DETAILS
The FAA has completed the NEPA Final Environmental Assessment (FEA) of the SAMP NTPs and
has issued a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) and Record of Decision (ROD). The FEA was
informed by a 53-day public comment period in 2024. The document is the result of rigorous
analysis, extensive public outreach and engagement, reviewing, considering, and responding to
comments submitted by the community and public agencies. It is important to note that in
between the closure of the public comment period and the publication of the FEA the
Administration implemented regulatory changes that removed analysis on environmental justice,
climate, and cumulative impacts. Based on the analyses within the Draft and Final NEPA EA, it
was identified that all significant impacts could be mitigated. There were other impacts
identified; however, these impacts did not exceed regulatory, or human health standards and
FAA does not require any defined action to reduce, avoid, or mitigate them. Based on the
information and analysis contained in the Final NEPA EA, the FAA issued a ROD on September 24,
2025 (published on September 26, 2025), identifying 18 requirements that the Port must adhere
to should any of the NTPs move forward. The Final NEPA EA and ROD are published on the project
COMMISSION AGENDA – Briefing Item No. 11a Page 2 of 3
Meeting Date: October 14, 2025
Template revised September 22, 2016.
website (www.sampntpenvironmentalreview.org) and physical copies are available at Port of
Seattle Sea-Tac Airport Office (Mezzanine Level), Port of Seattle Pier 69 Office, Burien Library,
Des Moines Library, Federal Way, Valley View Library (SeaTac), White Center Library, Tukwila
Library, and Vashon Library.
In February 2019, Port Staff confirmed that SEPA would commence following the completion of
NEPA. Port Staff also identified that the SEPA analysis would consider additional analyses of
subjects that were not within the NEPA evaluation. Examples of additional analyses include
human health, ultrafine particulate matter, and cumulative impacts. The other resource
categories that were removed by FAA from the NEPA documentation due to recent
Administration regulatory changes will be moved into the Port’s work under SEPA. This includes,
but is not limited to, environmental justice and climate considerations.
It is anticipated that a Draft SEPA Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) will be released in late
first quarter of 2026, followed by a public comment period. The Port will provide a thorough and
broad outreach and engagement program in support of the publication of the Draft SEPA EIS.
This includes work to engage a variety of communities and using a range of media outlets,
information on the project website, community meetings, interpretation and translating
materials into additional languages.
Once the public comment period closes, the Port will review and respond to the comments
received. These comments will be considered within Final SEPA EIS. It is expected that the Final
SEPA EIS will be published in late 2026.
SCHEDULE
NEPA
September 26, 2025
(Published)
FAA NEPA Final EA and Record of Decision
SEPA
Quarter 1 2026 Draft SEPA EIS released for public comment (minimum 30-day
comment period [standard])
Quarter 4 2026 SEPA EIS Final Document & Determination (Port issues decision
document)
ATTACHMENTS TO THIS BRIEFING
(1) Presentation slides
COMMISSION AGENDA – Briefing Item No. 11a Page 3 of 3
Meeting Date: October 14, 2025
Template revised September 22, 2016.
PREVIOUS COMMISSION ACTIONS OR BRIEFINGS
October 22, 2024 – Commission Briefing: “Sustainable Airport Master Plan Near-Term
Projects Environmental Review - Draft NEPA Environmental Assessment Findings and
Public Comment Period”
June 27, 2023 – Commission Action: “Sustainable Airport Master Plan (SAMP) Near-Term
Projects Environmental Review – Update and Budget Increase”
February 25, 2020 – Commission Action: “Sustainable Airport Master Plan (SAMP) Near-Term
Projects (NTP) Environmental Review Briefing and Request for Additional Funds”
January 28, 2020 – Commission Briefing: “Sustainable Airport Master Plan (SAMP) Near-Term
Projects (NTP) Environmental Review Briefing – Forecast and Schedule Update”
February 26, 2019 – Commission Briefing: “Sustainable Airport Master Plan (SAMP) Near-
Term Projects (NTP) Environmental Review Briefing – Scoping Report”
May 8, 2018 – Commission Briefing: “Sustainable Airport Master Plan (SAMP) Planning and
Environmental Update”
February 13, 2018 - Commission Briefing: "Sustainable Airport Master Plan (SAMP) Planning
Update"
