King County Airport: Accountability and Transparency Could Strengthen Community Engagement

King County International Airport (KCIA) lacks a clear strategy to achieve its goal of becoming a world class green airport. Its last strategic plan expired in 2020, and KCIA cannot clearly demonstrate how its efforts align with larger county goals like the King County Strategic Climate Action Plan and the King County Equity and Social Justice Strategic Plan. KCIA leaders indicated that Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) requirements present a financial barrier to environmental and equity activities, but peer airports use strategic plans to advance these goals and, in some instances, are supported by FAA grants. In cases where the FAA is not funding a project, we found that the FAA does not prevent airports from pursuing environmental or equity activities supported and funded by an airport’s respective jurisdictions.

KCIA has a variety of avenues to receive community input that could influence airport projects and operations but has no formal strategy to incorporate community input into its processes. Without a formal strategy, KCIA relies on projectbased community engagement where communities may be engaged late in the capital project process. As a result, community concerns may not be considered or be addressed. Lastly, the KCIA Airport Advisory Roundtable, a body of community members and stakeholders intended to advise the airport and elected county leaders, is not performing key functions, consequently limiting community input in KCIA operations.

We recommend that KCIA develop, document, and implement a new strategic plan that includes goals, objectives, strategies, and performance measures that align with county environmental and equity commitments. To close communication gaps, we recommend KCIA have better plans to effectively communicate its environmental and equity strategies and associated data to the surrounding community. We also make recommendations to help ensure KCIA’s Roundtable is meeting its stated goals.

Communities living around the airport are largely Black, Indigenous, and People of Color, underscoring the importance of addressing environmental harms in line with the County’s commitment to address racism as a public health crisis. For example, the communities near KCIA have higher rates of poverty and greater racial diversity than King County as a whole. Airport operations have significant environmental impacts that can harm people, including impacts to air and water quality.