Washington State
House of Representatives
Office of Program Research
BILL
ANALYSIS
Local Government Committee
ESSB 6061
Brief Description: Concerning exemptions for housing development under the state environmental policy act.
Sponsors: Senate Committee on Local Government, Land Use & Tribal Affairs (originally sponsored by Senators Lovelett and Salomon).
Brief Summary of Engrossed Substitute Bill
  • Requires jurisdictions planning under the Growth Management Act to take additional actions prior to exempting a proposed housing development from the State Environmental Policy Act.
  • Requires a city or county to establish the housing development categorical exemption by the date of the jurisdiction's next required implementation progress report, or five years after the jurisdiction's next comprehensive plan review.
Hearing Date: 2/16/24
Staff: Elizabeth Allison (786-7129).
Background:

Growth Management Act.
The Growth Management Act (GMA) is the comprehensive land use planning framework for counties and cities in Washington.  Originally enacted in 1990 and 1991, the GMA establishes land use designation and environmental protection requirements for all Washington counties and cities.  The GMA also establishes a significantly wider array of planning duties for 28 counties, and the cities within those counties, that are obligated to satisfy all planning requirements of the GMA.

 

Counties that fully plan under the GMA must designate urban growth areas (UGAs), within which urban growth must be encouraged and outside of which growth may occur only if it is not urban in nature.  Each city in a county must be included in a UGA.  Within their UGAs, planning jurisdictions must include sufficient areas and densities to accommodate projected urban growth for the succeeding 20-year period. 

 

State Environmental Policy Act.
The State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) establishes a review process for state and local governments to identify environmental impacts that may result from governmental decisions, such as the issuance of permits or the adoption of land use plans.  The SEPA environmental review process involves a project proponent, or the lead agency completing an environmental checklist to identify and evaluate probable environmental impacts.  Government decisions that the SEPA checklist process identifies as having significant adverse environmental impacts must then undergo a more comprehensive environmental analysis in the form of an environmental impact statement (EIS).  Under SEPA, certain nonproject actions are categorically exempt from threshold determinations and EISs in rule.  Examples of categorical exemptions include various kinds of minor new construction and minor land use decisions.

 

State Environmental Policy Act?Categorical Exemptions?Housing Development.
All project actions that propose to develop one or more residential housing units within the incorporated areas in a UGA, or middle housing within the unincorporated areas in a UGA, and that meet certain criteria, are categorically exempt from SEPA.

 

Before adopting the categorical exemption, jurisdictions must satisfy the following criteria:

  • The proposed development must be consistent with all development regulations implementing an applicable comprehensive plan under the GMA and adopted by the jurisdiction in which the development is proposed, with the exception of any development regulation that is inconsistent with applicable provisions of the GMA.
  • The city or county has prepared an environmental analysis that considers the proposed use, or density and intensity of use, in the area proposed for exemption and analyzes multimodal transportation impacts.

 

The environmental analysis must include documentation that the requirements for environmental analysis, protection, and mitigation for impacts to elements of the environment have been adequately addressed for the development exempted.  Before finalizing the environmental analysis, the local government must provide a minimum of 60 days' notice to affected tribes, relevant state agencies, other jurisdictions that may be impacted, and the public and address any probable adverse impacts.

 

The categorical exemption is effective 30 days after the above requirements for environmental analysis are completed by a local government.

 

Until September 30, 2025, all project actions that propose to develop one or more residential housing or middle housing units within a city west of the crest of the Cascade Mountains, with a population of 700,000 or more, are categorically exempt from SEPA.  After September 30, 2025, project actions that propose to develop one or more residential housing or middle housing units within the city may utilize the categorical exemption in the manner provided for cities and counties generally.
Summary of Bill:

Before adopting a categorical exemption from SEPA for housing development, in addition to existing requirements, a jurisdiction must determine that the proposed development is capable of being connected to an established sewer system at the time of construction.

 

The environmental analysis that must be prepared by a jurisdiction prior to adopting the categorical exemption must include documentation that the requirements for analysis and protection of cultural resources, and required mitigation for impacts to cultural resources, have been adequately addressed by the development to be exempted.

 

A jurisdiction must establish the categorical exemption by the jurisdiction's next required implementation progress report, or five years after the jurisdiction's next comprehensive plan review and revision if the jurisdiction is not required to do an implementation progress report.
Appropriation: None.
Fiscal Note: Available.
Effective Date: The bill takes effect 90 days after adjournment of the session in which the bill is passed.