Northwest Ports Clean Air Strategy Implementation: Get Involved

The Port of Seattle and Northwest Seaport Alliance are developing ambitious and comprehensive implementation plans to address the urgency of the climate change crisis and to reduce Port-related air emissions in the region. These plans will describe how the ports will implement the 2020 Northwest Ports Clean Air Strategy (2020 Strategy). The 2020 Strategy—unanimously adopted by Port commissioners in April 2021 — is a collaborative effort between the Port of Seattle, Tacoma, the Northwest Seaport Alliance, and Vancouver Fraser Port Authority in British Columbia, that sets a vision to phase out seaport-related emissions by 2050.  

2021 Engagement Activities

The ports collected feedback on draft plans over summer 2021 through a series of engagement events documented below. Final plans, incorporating feedback from community residents, will be presented to port commissioners for adoption in late 2021. Read more about the engagement process, feedback heard, and how feedback is being incorporated into the final implementation plans in this Engagement Feedback Summary.

Community webinar

The ports hosted a webinar on July 15, 2021, Implementing the Northwest Ports Clean Air Strategy: A community briefing on maritime clean air and climate action in the region. Watch the recording below:

Virtual community workshops

• Tacoma Community Workshop: Mon. July 26th, 6:00-7:30pm
• Seattle Community Workshop: Tue. July 27th, 6:00-7:30pm

The workshops included a brief presentation about the clean air and climate actions the ports are taking to work toward the zero emission by 2050 vision of the Northwest Ports Clean Air Strategy in the next 5-10 years. Participants divided into breakout groups to share feedback and input on the actions and ideas for how the ports can continue to engage community members in implementation. 

Online survey

The survey closed August 15, 2021 and received 139 responses. It asked questions about how the seaport impacts daily life and sustainability improvements that are most important to communities. It was available in six languages. Read a summary of survey results in Appendix I of the Engagement Feedback Summary.

Draft plans circulated for engagement

Learn more about the collaborative vision, strategies, and planned actions to phase out seaport-related emissions. The ports are updating these drafts to incorporate feedback from engagement. 

• Charting the Course to Zero: Port of Seattle's Maritime Climate and Air Action Plan 
• Northwest Seaport Alliance's Implementation Plan 
• Port of Tacoma's Implementation Plan 

Report-out webinar

on September 28, Port of Seattle, the NWSA, and Port of Tacoma hosted a virtual meeting to report-out on high-level themes of comments and feedback received during engagement on the Northwest Ports Clean Air Strategy implementation plans. The ports developed a full written summary of engagement feedback that summarizes feedback received and where changes were made to each port's implementation plan. 

• Report-out webinar presentation slides (9/28/2021)
• Northwest Ports Clean Air Strategy Implementation Plans Engagement Feedback Summary

Adoption processes

Each port presented their respective implementation plan for adoption in November/December 2021. The Northwest Seaport Alliance and Port of Seattle require an adoption resolution and two readings. Port of Tacoma's plan was presented for adoption in only one reading. The following table identifies the key dates of the adoption process. Commission and Managing Member meetings are open to the public and include an opportunity for public comment. 

How to stay involved

Drop us a line

• Use the button above or email your comments to cleanair@portseattle.org