An appeal filed by conservation group Black Hills Audubon Society, along with eight residents, has derailed the Port of Olympia’s timeline for adopting an updated master plan for Olympia Regional Airport.
Port staff previously mentioned they would bring the plan before the Port of Olympia Commission for adoption in March.
Now, the port will have to wait on the appeal before the commission can vote on adopting the plan.
According to Resolution 2015-12, which details the port’s policies about the State Environmental Policy Act, “no major action in regard to a proposal may be taken during the pendency of an administrative appeal.”
Taber Lee, the port’s communication manager, told The JOLT the appeal process could take several months.
“The Port is in the process of retaining a hearings examiner now. As soon as the hearings examiner is on board, he or she will identify the process and timeline for hearing the appeal,” Lee said.
The appeal has to do with the port’s decision to go ahead with the master plan without an environmental impact statement.
The group and residents filed an appeal on Thursday, March 13.
The appeal seeks the reversal of a decision the port made on Feb. 6 when it issued a “mitigated determination of non-significance” for the master plan update, as part of its State Environmental Policy Act review process.
Such a determination means the master plan update would have no probable adverse impacts to the environment.
In issuing its determination, Port of Olympia Executive Director Alex Smith previously said the port did not pursue an environmental impact statement (EIS) as the master plan is purely “conceptual."
Doing so at this time would be purely speculative, as the port would not have all the information they would need to develop an EIS, according to Smith.
The appellants however argue that development is probable following the adoption of the master plan update as the port has a “pattern of practice,” which shows the port intends to expand the airport. Attached to the appeal is an eight-page document that demonstrates the pattern since the 1990s.
The group also criticized the port’s case-by-case approach to reviewing future development projects in the airport.
They believe without an EIS now, the port had insufficiently evaluated the environmental impacts of the master plan and in doing so, proposed insufficient measures to mitigate those impacts.
Particularly, the appellants believe the port was insufficient in assessing the master plan’s impact on noise pollution, water quality and quantity, air quality, wildlife, and habitat and climate change.
As part of the request for relief, the appellants asked the port to invalidate its Feb. 6 decision and to produce an environmental impact statement for the master plan update.
A copy of the appeal may be downloaded through upnotout.net, a website hosted by Ronda Larson Kramer, who is one of the appellants.
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RondaLarsonKramer
Thank you for this coverage. The appeal can be found near the top of the page here: https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/stop-olympia-airport-growth, along with links to the Facebook page and website for Stop Olympia Airport Growth.
Friday, March 21 Report this
ejpoleii
The port should have to follow all the state and federal requirements for any work just like all the private individuals and entities. While it is clear that environmentalists use the courts to delay and stymie private projects (increasing housing prices, for example), government has to follow its own rules. Revenge is a dish best eaten cold.
Saturday, March 22 Report this
Skywarrior-Pilot
Left out of the discussion is the reality that future Port Commissioners are not bound by the verbal assurances that the runway will not be lengthened, for heavier jet traffic. This will severely impact the Capitol, Carlyon, and Tumwater Valley neighborhoods. These communities are directly aligned with the primary runway. In addition to intolerable noise, the carbon micro-particles from turbine engines, will add to the existing I-5 burden on the air-shed.
It's time to get Tumwater involved in this effort by zoning appropriately against any effort to expand the use of the existing facility.
Saturday, March 22 Report this
MowJoe
Great Move! Thank You
Sunday, March 23 Report this