Item Number:   6d 
Meeting Date:  February 10, 2015 
DRAFT MOTION OF THE 
OF THE PORT OF SEATTLE COMMISSION 
REGARDING FORMULATION AND ESTABLISHMENT OF 
ENERGY AND SUSTAINABILITY GUIDING PRINCIPLES 
AS OF FEBRUARY 4, 2015 

TEXT OF THE MOTION 
The Commission hereby establishes a committee to develop and recommend to
the Commission energy and sustainability guiding principles. The goal will be to create a
Port policy to guide both the agency's operations and business partnerships. 
The committee shall be composed of two Commissioners [            and
].
The committee shall work closely with environmental staff from Seaport and
Aviation divisions and others, including policy experts, academics and port stakeholders,
including, but not limited, to members of the local industrial, labor, government and 
environmental communities. 
Further, the committee shall have the authority to establish one or more advisory
groups and to conduct roundtables with the members of these group(s), who can counsel 
the committee on best practices in establishing energy and sustainability guidelines. 
Finally, a member from the Port's legal staff will be assigned to the committee to ensure
the policy is in compliance with Washington state statutes and federal regulations. 
STATEMENT IN SUPPORT OF THE MOTION 
The mission of the Port of Seattle (the "Port") is to create jobs by advancing trade
and commerce, promoting industrial growth, and stimulating economic development. In
pursuing its mission, the Port is committed to environmentally sustainable policies that
protect our region's precious natural resources through economically feasible means. 
The Port of Seattle employs its own complementary adaption and mitigation
strategies for reducing and managing the environmental impacts of port operations as
well as risks of climate change. As a part of the Century Agenda, the Port Commission
established the goal to "be the greenest and most energy efficient port in North America."
The strategy to achieve this goal includes: 
A. Meet all increased energy needs through conservation and renewable sources 
B. Meet or exceed agency requirements for storm water leaving Port owned or
operated facilities 
C. Reduce air pollutants and carbon emissions, specifically: 
- 1 -


a.  Reduce air pollutant emissions by 50 percent from 2005 levels 
b.  Reduce carbon emissions from all Port operations by 50 percent from
2005 levels and reduce aircraft-related carbon emissions at Sea-Tac
Airport by 25 percent 
D. Anchor the Puget Sound urban-industrial land use to prevent sprawl in less
developed areas 
E.  Restore, create, and enhance 40 acres of habitat in the Green/Duwamish
watershed and Elliot Bay. 
In collaboration with the Port of Tacoma and Port Metro Vancouver, Canada, the Port of
Seattle initiated the Northwest Ports Clean Air Strategy (NWPCAS). Updated in 2013,
the NWPCAS includes goals to reduce both diesel particulate matter and Green House
Gas emissions. As part of this Strategy, the Port made the commitment to: 
1.  Reduce diesel particulate matter (DPM) emissions per ton of cargo by 80 percent 
of 2005 levels by 2020 (reducing DPM decreases human health impacts in nearby
communities) and 
2.  Reduce greenhouse gas emissions per ton of cargo by 15 percent of 2005 levels
by 2020 to limit contributions to climate change and reduce associated
environmental, health and economic impacts. 
Similarly, in its 2009 Environmental Strategy Plan, Sea-Tac Airport adopted two
energy and climate protection goals: 
1.  Reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 15 percent and 
2.  Meet all future load growth through conservation measures and renewable
energy.
Beyond, the Century Agenda, NWPCAS and the Airport Environmental Strategy
Plan, the Port continues to pursue a wide range of initiatives, both internally and together
with our tenants and stakeholders, aimed at achieving our carbon reduction goals and
other sustainably-minded objectives. The Seaport and Sea-Tac Airport are also
developing climate adaptation plans to evaluate the impact of future climate change on
the port and ensure safe operations. 
STATEMENT OF POLICY DIRECTION 
As indicated in the Climate Change 2014 Synthesis Report (http://www.ipcc.ch)
prepared by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC): 
"Human influence on the climate system is clear Effective decision making to
limit climate change and its effects can be informed by a wide range of analytical
approaches for evaluating expected risks and benefits, recognizing the importance of
governance, ethical dimensions, equity, value judgments, economic assessments and
diverse perceptions and responses to risk and uncertainty." 

- 2 -

The Port is confronted with a variety of opportunities and challenges as we strive
to make good on these commitments, growing jobs and economic activity for our region
while doing so in an environmentally responsible and sustainable manner. Often we are
required to weigh competing or even conflicting community priorities. 
The Commission desires to establish a temporary committee to propose guiding
principles for approval by the Commission. The guiding principles will build on our past
success as an environmental leader, take guidance from our current goals and objectives,
and further develop the Port's leadership in energy conservation, emissions reductions,
water quality protection, habitat development and the use of renewable energy. They will
also account for our mission to advance trade and commerce, promote industrial growth
and stimulate economic development. 
Acknowledging the impact of the "human influence on climate change," the Port
intends to use available, credible and peer reviewed-reviewed studies and scientific data 
as the basis for establishing guiding principles in line with the Port's core mission. 













- 3 -