Port of Seattle briefs Des Moines on SAMP draft EIS; public comment period runs through July 21

The Port of Seattle presented the Sustainable Airport Master Plan (SAMP) SEPA draft environmental impact statement to the Des Moines City Council on June 11, and officials urged residents to review the document and submit comments during the public comment period, which runs through July 21, 2026.

Dave Kaplan, the port
nd local government relations manager, said the SEPA draft EIS evaluates 16 environmental topics and builds on the earlier FAA NEPA analysis. "The SEPA draft EIS ... is now available for public review and official comment," he said, and noted physical copies are available at the Port of Seattle headquarters and the Des Moines Library and that the SAMP materials are online at seasamp.com.

Nut Graf: The port emphasized that publication of the draft EIS does not authorize any projects; separate commission authorizations will be required for the 31 near-term projects under consideration. The port also identified surface transportation as the single element with significant impacts and proposed roughly $40,000,000 in transportation-related investments to mitigate those effects.

Council members used the briefing to press the port on mitigation and community impacts. Deputy Mayor Ochsiger asked about the port
nd legislative options for broader capacity decisions and urged emphasis on mitigation for communities under flight paths. Council member Harris highlighted local air-quality concerns and questioned the port
bout investing in sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) before production scales up.

Kaplan acknowledged the market for SAF is developing and said the port has supported development of production and incentives, pointing to a recent ribbon-cutting at a production facility in eastern Washington. "The purpose of that is to try and reduce the amount of impacts in terms of the climate," he said.

On noise mitigation, Kaplan described a pilot program for sound-insulation repair and replacement inside the current 65 DNL noise footprint and said testing and construction are underway for a small set of homes. "We have a sound insulation repair and replacement pilot program that is looking to replace noise packages that no longer mitigate for the noise," he said.

Kaplan and council members also discussed the airportapacity forecasts and who decides on adding new commercial facilities. Kaplan said planning for additional commercial airports rests with the state legislature and related regional working groups; the port is focusing its SEPA review on projects on property it already owns.

The port outlined public outreach measures: four identical open-house meetings near the airport (including June 23 in Des Moines at Mount Rainier High School from 6 to 8 p.m.), language translation and child-care support at in-person meetings, and an expanded online comment-access period intended to exceed SEPA minimums.

Next steps: the port expects to publish the final EIS before the end of the year unless additional analysis is required; any project build-out would still require separate commission authorizations. The council encouraged continued port engagement on mitigation options and community impacts.

Quotes in this article come from the meeting record and are attributed to speakers who spoke during the June 11, 2026 Des Moines City Council meeting.