Template revised April 12, 2018.
COMMISSION
AGENDA MEMORANDUM
Item No. 11a
BRIEFING ITEM Date of Meeting October 28, 2025
DATE: October 17, 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
On October 14, Port Staff provided an overview of the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA)
Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) and 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). At the Commission’s October
28 meeting, staff will provide a short update on the public outreach and engagement that has
occurred since the FAA’s documents were released, as well as an update on next steps for the
State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) process.
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 FONSI 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
COMMISSION AGENDA – Briefing Item No. 11a Page 2 of 3
Meeting Date: October 28, 2025
Template revised September 22, 2016.
forward. The Final NEPA EA and ROD are published on the project 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. This was a result of the Port wanting to better understand how human health and ultrafine
particulate matter consideration might be incorporated into SEPA, as these are not typically
evaluated in NEPA. 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 Environmental Justice, Climate, and Cumulative Impacts.
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 28, 2025
Template revised September 22, 2016.
PREVIOUS COMMISSION ACTIONS OR BRIEFINGS
October 14, 2025 – Commission Briefing: “Sustainable Airport Master Plan Near-Term
Projects Environmental Review”
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"
