HOUSE BILL REPORT

HB 1683

This analysis was prepared by non-partisan legislative staff for the use of legislative members in their deliberations. This analysis is not a part of the legislation nor does it constitute a statement of legislative intent.

As Reported by House Committee On:

Transportation

Title: An act relating to creating a state commercial aviation coordinating commission.

Brief Description: Creating a state commercial aviation coordinating commission.

Sponsors: Representatives Orwall, Dent, Stokesbary, Irwin, Pellicciotti, Reeves and Hudgins.

Brief History:

Committee Activity:

Transportation: 2/7/19, 2/27/19 [DPS].

Brief Summary of Substitute Bill

  • Creates the Commercial Aviation Coordinating Commission to determine Washington's long-range commercial aviation facility needs and the site of a new commercial aviation facility.

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION

Majority Report: The substitute bill be substituted therefor and the substitute bill do pass. Signed by 31 members: Representatives Fey, Chair; Slatter, 2nd Vice Chair; Valdez, 2nd Vice Chair; Wylie, 1st Vice Chair; Barkis, Ranking Minority Member; Walsh, Assistant Ranking Minority Member; Young, Assistant Ranking Minority Member; Boehnke, Chambers, Chapman, Dent, Doglio, Dufault, Entenman, Eslick, Goehner, Gregerson, Irwin, Kloba, Lovick, McCaslin, Mead, Orcutt, Ortiz-Self, Paul, Pellicciotti, Ramos, Riccelli, Shea, Shewmake and Van Werven.

Staff: Patricia Hasan (786-7292).

Background:

Airports nationwide are categorized by type of activities. The categories include commercial service, primary, cargo service, reliever, and general aviation airports.

Commercial service airports are publicly owned airports that have at least 2,500 passenger boardings each calendar year and receive scheduled passenger service. Passenger boardings refer to revenue passenger boardings on an aircraft in service in air commerce, whether or not in scheduled service. There are two subcategories of commercial service airports:

The Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems (NPIAS) is an inventory of United States aviation infrastructure assets and contains a listing of all commercial service airports. According to the NPIAS updated in October 2018, Washington has 10 primary airports: one is a large hub, two are small hubs, and seven are nonhubs. Washington also has one nonprimary commercial service airport.

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Summary of Substitute Bill:

The Commercial Aviation Coordinating Commission (Commission) is created and shall consist of 16 voting members and at least seven nonvoting members. Eleven of the voting members must be appointed by the Governor to represent the following interests:

The remaining five voting members shall consist of:

The seven required nonvoting members must be:

The Governor may appoint additional nonvoting members as deemed appropriate. The Commission shall select a chair from among its membership. The WSDOT shall provide staff support for coordinating and administering the Commission and technical assistance. The Governor or the Governor's designee shall convene the initial meeting of the Commission as soon as practicable.

The Commission's work must include:

When assessing future long-term commercial aviation facility needs, the Commission's recommendations must be consistent with the WSDOT's Long-term Air Transportation Study. The option for a new primary commercial aviation facility may include the expansion of an existing airport facility. The Commission shall select the single preferred location by a two-thirds majority vote using the following process:

The Commission shall submit findings and recommendations to the transportation commissions of the Legislature by January 1, 2021.

Substitute Bill Compared to Original Bill:

The substitute bill:

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Appropriation: None.

Fiscal Note: Available.

Effective Date of Substitute Bill: The bill takes effect 90 days after adjournment of the session in which the bill is passed.

Staff Summary of Public Testimony:

(In support) In 2009 a study was conducted regarding an additional airport in the state. The study indicated that by 2030, there will be an estimated 31 million passengers annually going through Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SeaTac). In 2018 nearly 50 million passengers went through SeaTac, reflecting a 6.2-percent increase over passenger data for 2017. By 2034 the growth is expected to reach 66 million passengers. SeaTac is one of the fastest growing airports in the country, with increases in passenger boardings and increases in air cargo. While the economy and industry of the airport are growing, there is a finite footprint for the airport in terms of both land space and airspace.

Siting a new airport is one of the most significant priorities for many cities, especially around the SeaTac area. Additionally, the South County Area Transportation Board has endorsed the formation of a committee to plan for the siting of a second regional airport. This bill is good public policy; it provides rational planning for a need that is quickly advancing. Washington has one of the most robust economies in the nation, and with that comes increased air traffic. It is highly important to plan for the future of air travel in Washington to prevent even worse bottlenecks in air traffic in the future. Cities near SeaTac suffer disproportionate impacts from aircraft operations in the area. This imbalance must be addressed through the siting process. Most metropolitan areas the size of Seattle and the surrounding cities have multiple options for commercial air travel.

This bill is elegantly simplistic in that it accomplishes three things: (1) establishes a new commission; (2) picks a site for a new airport; and (3) gets it done by 2021. The economic impacts this bill can create would be statewide and no longer focused on a specific location, like what has occurred around the SeaTac area in the past. The trove of economic development data at SeaTac demonstrates the concrete measurable value that a new airport will have in another Washington region. SeaTac airport supports more than 87,000 jobs directly related to the airport and has also created $442 million in state and local taxes. The announcement of a new airport will spark robust competition for the economic development that will follow the establishment of an airport. With this competition, the state will see creativity, innovation, entrepreneurship, and much better ideas about how the entire state can become more competitive nationally and globally.

SeaTac has claimed for many decades and will continue to claim that the airport is able to handle and support all of the needs for both passenger and cargo service for the region into the immediate future. This tactic will be used to prevent the siting of a second airport. With the previous expansion of SeaTac came cost overruns, noise, and pollution to the surrounding area, and an anticompetitive situation which costs the state unnecessary money to benefit only the Port of Seattle. A second airport is needed to provide the best competitive field and the best economic plan for the entire state.

The provisions set out in the bill to guide the Commission's work are good, and the deadlines for providing options are realistic. However, there are some things to consider adding to the bill, such as clarifying that a place with an existing airport could be considered as a location option, making sure that the current capital investment plan in place at SeaTac is not affected by the provisions of this bill, and allowing the Port of Moses Lake to be listed as one of the representatives of ports required in the Commission.

(Opposed) None.

(Other) The WSDOT is ready and willing to participate in the Commission as established in the bill, with one recommendation. The timeline in the bill could benefit from a modest extension to June 2021 in order to take advantage of the information that will be acquired in the Puget Sound Regional Council's Regional Aviation Baseline Study.

Persons Testifying: (In support) Representative Orwall, prime sponsor; Steve Edmiston, The Briefing Project; Traci Buxton, City of Des Moines; Kyle Moore, City of SeaTac; J. C. Harris; Trent House, Port of Seattle; Eric Johnson, Washington Public Ports Association; and Bruce Beckett, Port of Moses Lake.

(Other) David Fleckenstein, Washington State Department of Transportation.

Persons Signed In To Testify But Not Testifying: None.