Cities
On October 28, 2026, the City of Burien released the joint statement below from Burien, Des Moines and SeaTac. It announces their October 26 letter asking the Port of Seattle to postpone its final environmental impact statement for airport expansion projects until the Ninth Circuit rules on the cities’ pending challenge to the FAA’s environmental review.
The statement follows unchanged.
Cities Urge Port to Pause SAMP Final EIS
(provided by City of Burien October 28, 2026)
Cities Highlight Risk of Prematurely Finalizing Environmental Impact Statement for Seattle-Tacoma International Airport’s Sustainable Airport Master Plan Near-Term Projects
The Cities of Burien, Des Moines, and SeaTac delivered a joint letter to the Port of Seattle on October 26 requesting they postpone issuance of the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for the Sustainable Airport Master Plan Near-Term Projects (SAMP NTPs) until the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit resolves the Cities’ pending litigation challenging the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) underlying Environmental Assessment (EA).
The Cities’ letter explains that the Port’s Draft EIS under the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) is not independent of the FAA’s review under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). It incorporates the EA’s analyses by reference for more than a dozen resource categories, including noise, water resources, surface transportation, biological resources, and historic and cultural resources. It also carries forward the EA’s forecasts, emissions inventories, modeling assumptions, and significance thresholds.
“The SEPA process does not stand apart from the NEPA process. It rests upon it,” the Cities wrote. A ruling that vacates or remands the EA could affect every section of the FEIS that depends on it.
The letter identifies three concrete risks if the Port finalizes the EIS before the Ninth Circuit rules. Significant portions may need to be revised or reconsidered, wasting time and money. Issuing the final statement would close the main opportunity for public participation under state law, and later changes would likely require a new comment period. Lastly, any state decision built on a federal analysis later found inadequate would be more vulnerable to legal challenge.
The letter also notes that the EA states that the FAA and the Port chose to conduct the NEPA and SEPA reviews “separately and sequentially,” and that the Port has described its Draft EIS as having “built upon” the completed EA. Having chosen a process in which SEPA follows NEPA, the Cities argue, it makes sense to wait for the court to determine whether the federal analysis remains legally sound.
According to the Cities, “A principled pause would preserve the integrity of the SEPA process and protect public, agency and potentially judicial resources.”
The Cities remain committed to working with the Port on practical, collaborative solutions and welcome the opportunity to discuss the request with Port SEPA staff and legal counsel.
What is the pending litigation?
Burien, Des Moines and SeaTac are challenging the FAA’s environmental approval of 31 proposed projects in Sea-Tac Airport’s Sustainable Airport Master Plan.
In September 2025, the FAA issued a Finding of No Significant Impact/Record of Decision following its environmental assessment. The cities contend the review did not adequately address impacts on surrounding communities. They submitted a petition for review to the Ninth Circuit on November 24, 2025. Read the cities’ original announcement.
The current request concerns the Port’s separate environmental review under Washington law. Because that review relies on the FAA’s analysis, the cities want the Port to wait for the court’s ruling before finalizing it.
For more detail, read the FAA’s decision and the public case docket, which was last updated May 21, 2026.
Case: City of Burien, et al. v. Federal Aviation Administration, et al., Ninth Circuit case 25-7439. Burien, Des Moines and SeaTac submitted their petition on November 24, 2025.
Burien, Des Moines, and SeaTac File Joint Petition for Review of FAA Decision
On September 26, 2025, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) completed their National Environmental Policy Act review of the Port of Seattle’s Sustainable Airport Master Plan (SAMP) Near-Term Projects. Based on the review, the FAA approved a Final Environmental Assessment and a Finding of No Significant Impact/Record of Decision (FONSI/ROD) for 31 proposed SAMP Near-Term Projects at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.
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