S-927                 _______________________________________________

 

                                                   SENATE BILL NO. 5275

                        _______________________________________________

 

State of Washington                              50th Legislature                              1987 Regular Session

 

By Senator Talmadge

 

 

Read first time 1/22/87 and referred to Committee on Parks & Ecology.

 

 


AN ACT Relating to development in state parks and recreational lands; and amending RCW 43.51.060, 43.51.685, and 90.58.030.

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

 

        Sec. 1.  Section 43.51.060, chapter 8, Laws of 1965 as last amended by section 2, chapter 89, Laws of 1980 and RCW 43.51.060 are each amended to read as follows:

          The commission may:  (1) Make rules and regulations for the proper administration of its duties;

          (2) Accept any grants of funds made with or without a matching requirement by the United States, or any agency thereof, for purposes in keeping with the purposes of this chapter; accept gifts, bequests, devises and endowments for purposes in keeping with such purposes;

          (3) Require certification by the commission of all parks and recreation workers employed in state aided or state controlled programs;

          (4) Act jointly, when advisable, with the United States, any other state agencies, institutions, departments, boards, or commissions in order to carry out the objectives and responsibilities of this chapter;

          (5) Grant franchises and easements for any legitimate purpose on parks or parkways, for such terms and subject to such conditions and considerations as the commission shall specify;

          (6) Charge such fees for services, utilities, and use of facilities as the commission shall deem proper.  All fees received by the commission shall be deposited with the state treasurer in the state general fund;

          (7) Enter into agreements whereby individuals or companies may rent undeveloped parks or parkway land for grazing, or agricultural((, or mineral development)) purposes upon such terms and conditions as the commission shall deem proper, for a term not to exceed ten years;

          (8) Determine the qualifications of and employ a director of parks and recreation who shall receive a salary as fixed by the governor in accordance with the provisions of RCW 43.03.040, and upon his recommendation, a supervisor of recreation, and determine the qualifications and salary of and employ such other persons as may be needed to carry out the provisions hereof; and

          (9) Without being limited to the powers hereinbefore enumerated, the commission shall have such other powers as in the judgment of a majority of its members are deemed necessary to effectuate the purposes of this chapter:  PROVIDED, That the commission shall not have power to supervise directly any local park or recreation district, and no funds shall be made available for such purpose:  PROVIDED FURTHER, That the commission shall not have the power to authorize mineral extraction activities in any state park lands or recreational areas or to authorize facilities to be constructed in state park lands or recreational areas for the purpose of providing hydroelectric power without the express mandate from the legislature by law authorizing such activities.

 

        Sec. 2.  Section 8, chapter 120, Laws of 1967 as amended by section 6, chapter 55, Laws of 1969 ex. sess. and RCW 43.51.685 are each amended to read as follows:

          Jurisdiction over the accreted nontrust lands in which the state has an interest along the ocean is hereby transferred from the department of natural resources to the state parks and recreation commission.  No such accreted lands shall be sold, leased, or otherwise disposed of, except as herein provided.  The department of natural resources may lease the lands within the Washington State Seashore Conservation Area as well as the accreted lands along the ocean in state ownership for the exploration and production of oil and gas:  PROVIDED, That oil drilling rigs and equipment will not be placed on the seashore conservation area or state-owned accreted lands.  Sale of sand from accretions shall be made to supply the needs of cranberry growers for cranberry bogs in the vicinity and shall not be prohibited if found by the state parks and recreation commission to be reasonable, and not generally harmful or destructive to the character of the land:  PROVIDED FURTHER, That the state parks and recreation commission may grant mining leases for the removal of "black sands" (minerals) from any state-owned nontrust accreted lands and tidelands between the north jetty at the mouth of the Columbia River and a line due west from the North Head Lighthouse if such grant is expressly mandated by the legislature by law authorizing such leasing activities:  PROVIDED FURTHER, That the state parks and recreation commission may grant leases and permits for the removal of sands for construction purposes from any lands within the Washington State Seashore Conservation Area without legislative mandate:  PROVIDED FURTHER, That net income from such leases shall be deposited in the general fund.

 

        Sec. 3.  Section 3, chapter 286, Laws of 1971 ex. sess. as last amended by section 1, chapter 292, Laws of 1986 and RCW 90.58.030 are each amended to read as follows:

          As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires, the following definitions and concepts apply:

          (1) Administration:

          (a) "Department" means the department of ecology;

          (b) "Director" means the director of the department of ecology;

          (c) "Local government" means any county, incorporated city, or town which contains within its boundaries any lands or waters subject to this chapter;

          (d) "Person" means an individual, partnership, corporation, association, organization, cooperative, public or municipal corporation, or agency of the state or local governmental unit however designated;

          (e) "Hearing board" means the shoreline hearings board established by this chapter.

          (2) Geographical:

          (a) "Extreme low tide" means the lowest line on the land reached by a receding tide;

          (b) "Ordinary high water mark" on all lakes, streams, and tidal water is that mark that will be found by examining the bed and banks and ascertaining where the presence and action of waters are so common and usual, and so long continued in all ordinary years, as to mark upon the soil a character distinct from that of the abutting upland, in respect to vegetation as that condition exists on June 1, 1971, as it may naturally change thereafter, or as it may change thereafter in accordance with permits issued by a local government or the department:  PROVIDED, That in any area where the ordinary high water mark cannot be found, the ordinary high water mark adjoining salt water shall be the line of mean higher high tide and the ordinary high water mark adjoining fresh water shall be the line of mean high water;

          (c) "Shorelines of the state" are the total of all "shorelines" and "shorelines of state-wide significance" within the state;

          (d) "Shorelines" means all of the water areas of the state, including reservoirs, and their associated wetlands, together with the lands underlying them; except (i) shorelines of state-wide significance; (ii) shorelines on segments of streams upstream of a point where the mean annual flow is twenty cubic feet per second or less and the wetlands associated with such upstream segments; and (iii) shorelines on lakes less than twenty acres in size and wetlands associated with such small lakes;

          (e) "Shorelines of state-wide significance" means the following shorelines of the state:

          (i) The area between the ordinary high water mark and the western boundary of the state from Cape Disappointment on the south to Cape Flattery on the north, including harbors, bays, estuaries, and inlets;

          (ii) Those areas of Puget Sound and adjacent salt waters and the Strait of Juan de Fuca between the ordinary high water mark and the line of extreme low tide as follows:

          (A) Nisqually Delta‑-from DeWolf Bight to Tatsolo Point,

          (B) Birch Bay‑-from Point Whitehorn to Birch Point,

          (C) Hood Canal‑-from Tala Point to Foulweather Bluff,

          (D) Skagit Bay and adjacent area‑-from Brown Point to Yokeko Point, and

          (E) Padilla Bay‑-from March Point to William Point;

          (iii) Those areas of Puget Sound and the Strait of Juan de Fuca and adjacent salt waters north to the Canadian line and lying seaward from the line of extreme low tide;

          (iv) Those lakes, whether natural, artificial, or a combination thereof, with a surface acreage of one thousand acres or more measured at the ordinary high water mark;

          (v) Those natural rivers or segments thereof as follows:

          (A) Any west of the crest of the Cascade range downstream of a point where the mean annual flow is measured at one thousand cubic feet per second or more,

          (B) Any east of the crest of the Cascade range downstream of a point where the annual flow is measured at two hundred cubic feet per second or more, or those portions of rivers east of the crest of the Cascade range downstream from the first three hundred square miles of drainage area, whichever is longer;

          (vi) Those lakes, natural rivers, or segments thereof found within state parks;

          (vii) Those wetlands associated with (i), (ii), (iv), and (v) of this subsection (2)(e);

          (f) "Wetlands" or "wetland areas" means those lands extending landward for two hundred feet in all directions as measured on a horizontal plane from the ordinary high water mark; floodways and contiguous floodplain areas landward two hundred feet from such floodways; and all marshes, bogs, swamps, and river deltas associated with the streams, lakes, and tidal waters which are subject to the provisions of this chapter; the same to be designated as to location by the department of ecology:  PROVIDED, That any county or city may determine that portion of a one-hundred-year-flood plain to be included in its master program as long as such portion includes, as a minimum, the floodway and the adjacent land extending landward two hundred feet therefrom;

          (g) "Floodway" means those portions of the area of a river valley lying streamward from the outer limits of a watercourse upon which flood waters are carried during periods of flooding that occur with reasonable regularity, although not necessarily annually, said floodway being identified, under normal condition, by changes in surface soil conditions or changes in types or quality of vegetative ground cover condition.  The floodway shall not include those lands that can reasonably be expected to be protected from flood waters by flood control devices maintained by or maintained under license from the federal government, the state, or a political subdivision of the state.

          (3) Procedural terms:

          (a) "Guidelines" means those standards adopted to implement the policy of this chapter for regulation of use of the shorelines of the state prior to adoption of master programs.  Such standards shall also provide criteria to local governments and the department in developing master programs;

          (b) "Master program" shall mean the comprehensive use plan for a described area, and the use regulations together with maps, diagrams, charts, or other descriptive material and text, a statement of desired goals, and standards developed in accordance with the policies enunciated in RCW 90.58.020;

          (c) "State master program" is the cumulative total of all master programs approved or adopted by the department of ecology;

          (d) "Development" means a use consisting of the construction or exterior alteration of structures; dredging; drilling; dumping; filling; removal of any sand, gravel, or minerals; bulkheading; driving of piling; placing of obstructions; or any project of a permanent or temporary nature which interferes with the normal public use of the surface of the waters overlying lands subject to this chapter at any state of water level;

          (e) "Substantial development" shall mean any development of which the total cost or fair market value exceeds two thousand five hundred dollars, or any development which materially interferes with the normal public use of the water or shorelines of the state; except that the following shall not be considered substantial developments for the purpose of this chapter:

          (i) Normal maintenance or repair of existing structures or developments, including damage by accident, fire, or elements;

          (ii) Construction of the normal protective bulkhead common to single family residences;

          (iii) Emergency construction necessary to protect property from damage by the elements;

          (iv) Construction and practices normal or necessary for farming, irrigation, and ranching activities, including agricultural service roads and utilities on wetlands, and the construction and maintenance of irrigation structures including but not limited to head gates, pumping facilities, and irrigation channels:  PROVIDED, That a feedlot of any size, all processing plants, other activities of a commercial nature, alteration of the contour of the wetlands by leveling or filling other than that which results from normal cultivation, shall not be considered normal or necessary farming or ranching activities.  A feedlot shall be an enclosure or facility used or capable of being used for feeding livestock hay, grain, silage, or other livestock feed, but shall not include land for growing crops or vegetation for livestock feeding and/or grazing, nor shall it include normal livestock wintering operations;

          (v) Construction or modification of navigational aids such as channel markers and anchor buoys;

          (vi) Construction on wetlands by an owner, lessee, or contract purchaser of a single family residence for his own use or for the use of his family, which residence does not exceed a height of thirty-five feet above average grade level and which meets all requirements of the state agency or local government having jurisdiction thereof, other than requirements imposed pursuant to this chapter;

          (vii) Construction of a dock, designed for pleasure craft only, for the private noncommercial use of the owner, lessee, or contract purchaser of a single family residence, the cost of which does not exceed two thousand five hundred dollars;

          (viii) Operation, maintenance, or construction of canals, waterways, drains, reservoirs, or other facilities that now exist or are hereafter created or developed as a part of an irrigation system for the primary purpose of making use of system waters, including return flow and artificially stored ground water for the irrigation of lands;

          (ix) The marking of property lines or corners on state owned lands, when such marking does not significantly interfere with normal public use of the surface of the water;

          (x) Operation and maintenance of any system of dikes, ditches, drains, or other facilities existing on September 8, 1975, which were created, developed, or utilized primarily as a part of an agricultural drainage or diking system;

          (xi) Any action commenced prior to December 31, 1982, pertaining to (A) the restoration of interim transportation services as may be necessary as a consequence of the destruction of the Hood Canal bridge, including, but not limited to, improvements to highways, development of park and ride facilities, and development of ferry terminal facilities until a new or reconstructed Hood Canal bridge is open to traffic; and (B) the reconstruction of a permanent bridge at the site of the original Hood Canal bridge.