Seattle-Tacoma International Airport

FAR Part 150 Study Update

Seattle, Washington

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Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) located in Seattle, WA, is currently the seventeenth busiest passenger airport in the U.S. and is a major economic engine for the Seattle/Tacoma metropolitan area.

SEA is surrounded by five separate jurisdictions and has light industrial, commercial and residential land use to the north; commercial, retail and residential to the east; residential mixed to the south; and, commercial, retail and residential development to the west. This large hub two-runway airport has approximately 441,000 annual aircraft operations and had almost 14 million enplanements in the year 2000.

This Part 150 Study Update is further evolution of the earlier FAR Part 150 Study for Sea-Tac prepared by Barnard Dunkelberg & Company. The management and continued mitigation of aircraft noise through technology is an important process for this airport which is surrounded by dense mixed-use development. Approximately 4,100 acres and 19,000 people reside within Sea-Tac’s 65 DNL contour.

The Noise Compatibility Program for the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport FAR Part 150 Update received its Record of Approval from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in June of 2002.

Project Features

  • This study is an update of the prior Sea-Tac Part 150 Study prepared by BD&C.
  • Major Final Report Recommendations include the following:
  • Significant aircraft flight track evaluation based upon the use of supplemental noise metrics to better utilize existing noise abatement corridors.
  • Construct a Ground Run-up Enclosure (GRE) to reduce the impacts of on-airport engine run-ups for aircraft maintenance.
  • Recommending airborne aircraft Flight Management System (FMS) routings and a preferential runway use system to further mitigate noise impacts on airport environs.
  • Continue acquisition and relocation of incompatible residential land uses, including existing mobile homes.
  • Defining Approach Transition Zones (ATZ) to further determine incompatible land uses within th airport’s environs and identify parcels for acquisition within the ATZ.
  • Amendment to existing zoning and zoning maps to include recognition of ATZ and mitigation measures.

Client:
Port of Seattle
Diane Summerhays, Planning Program Manager
(206) 433-5216