What WA Senate vote means for airport prospects in Pierce, Thurston and what’s next
The Washington Senate voted Wednesday to supplant the Commercial Aviation Coordinating Commission, the state-created group whose consideration of three greenfield sites for Washington’s next major airport ignited a furor in Pierce and Thurston counties.
By a 31 to 17 vote, state Senators approved Engrossed Substitute House Bill 1791. Due to minor changes, the House must concur before sending the amended bill to Gov. Jay Inslee’s desk for approval. Pierce County Council member Amy Cruver, who represents the district encompassing two greenfield sites in the county, wrote in a newsletter to constituents that there were no anticipated problems related to concurrence.
If signed by Inslee, the legislation will go into effect immediately.
The bipartisan bill, which was championed by Reps. Jake Fey, D-Tacoma, and Tom Dent, R-Moses Lake, among other lawmakers, would effectively reset a process underway since 2019 when the CACC was pegged with recommending a preferred location for the state’s next major airport.
The CACC’s mandate from legislators was prompted by existing concerns that Washington was nearing commercial flight capacity, with Seattle-Tacoma International Airport expected to max out by 2032.
ESHB 1791 would replace the CACC with a work group that would be directed to broadly examine the state’s future aviation needs and analyze the strengths and weaknesses of an expanded list of potential airport sites. Unlike its predecessor, the work group would not be tasked with recommending any location.
The bill, which is supported by anti-airport activists, would also specifically exclude from airport site consideration any location incompatible with nearby military operations. Joint Base Lewis-McChord has said that all three sites being considered by the CACC would interfere with its operations.
In September, the CACC’s search for a preferred place to construct a two-runway airport landed on two sites in rural Pierce County near Graham and Roy and a third in Thurston County, setting off a wave of opposition from local residents, lawmakers and others. They expressed concerns about an airport’s feasibility and its effect on quality of life, health, wildlife and the environment.
The CACC, which last met in March but did not push any sites forward, currently has until June to advance a final site recommendation to the state. Inslee’s signature on ESHB 1791, which passed the House last month, would make that deadline moot.
Editor’s note: A previous version of this story misstated the procedure for ESHB 1791 following its passage in the Senate.
This story was originally published April 12, 2023 at 4:21 PM with the headline "What WA Senate vote means for airport prospects in Pierce, Thurston and what’s next."
