The following are definitions for terms used in this chapter.

(1) "Abandoning an excavation site" means not working an excavation site for forty-eight hours or longer.

(2) "Aggregate" means a mixture of minerals separable by mechanical or physical means.

(3) "Aquatic beneficial plant" means all native and nonnative aquatic plants except those on the state noxious weed lists in WAC 16-750-005, 16-750-011, and 16-750-015.

(4) "Aquatic invasive species" means an invasive species of the animal kingdom with a life cycle that is at least partly dependent upon fresh, brackish, or marine waters. Examples include certain species of waterfowl, amphibians, fish, shellfish, and nutria.

(5) "Aquatic noxious weed" means an aquatic plant on the state noxious weed lists in WAC 16-750-005, 16-750-011, and 16-750-015.

(6) "Aquatic plant" means a native or nonnative emergent, submersed, partially submersed, free-floating, or floating-leaved plant species that is dependent upon fresh, brackish, or marine water ecosystems and includes all stages of development and parts.

(7) "Aquatic Plants and Fish pamphlet" means a document that details the rules for aquatic noxious weed and aquatic beneficial plant removal and control activities and that serves as the hydraulic project approval for certain plant removal and control activities in Washington state.

(8) "Artificial materials" means clean, inert materials used to construct diversion structures for mineral prospecting.

(9) "Associated human-made agricultural drainage facilities" means dikes, drains, pumps, drainage tiles, and drainage pipe made by humans that protect agricultural land.

(10) "Authorized agent" means someone who is authorized by the applicant to act on behalf of the applicant.

(11) "Bank" means any land surface landward of the ordinary high water line next to a body of water and constrains the water except during floods. The term "bank" also includes all land surfaces of islands within a body of water that are below the flood elevation of the surrounding body of water.

(12) "Bankfull width" means the width of the surface of the water at the point where water just begins to overflow into the active flood plain. In streams where there is no flood plain it is often the width of a stream or river at the dominant channel forming flow that reoccurs every one to two years.

(13) "Beach area" means the beds between the ordinary high water line and extreme low water.

(14) "Bed" means the land below (waterward of) the ordinary high water lines of state waters. This definition does not include irrigation ditches, canals, stormwater runoff devices, or other artificial watercourses except where they exist in a natural watercourse that has been artificially altered.

(15) "Bed materials" means naturally occurring materials such as gravel, cobble, rock, rubble, sand, mud, and aquatic plants that form the beds of state waters. Bed materials are also found in deposits or bars above the wetted perimeter of water bodies.

(16) "Board" means the pollution control hearings board created in chapter 43.21B RCW.

(17) "Bottom barrier or screen" means sheets of synthetic or natural fiber material used to cover and kill plants growing on the bottom of a watercourse.

(18) "Boulder" means a stream substrate particle larger than ten inches in diameter.

(19) "Bridge shadow" means the area under a bridge defined by the shadow cast by the sun. This area may not receive enough light and rain to support the plant growth needed for biotechnical bank stabilization.

(20) "Channel bed width" means the width of the bankfull channel, although bankfull may not be well defined in some channels. For those streams which are nonalluvial or do not have flood plains, the channel width must be determined using features that do not depend on a flood plain.

(21) "Chronic danger" means a condition declared by the county legislative authority in which any property, except for property located on a marine shoreline, has experienced at least two consecutive years of flooding or erosion that has damaged or has threatened to damage a major structure, water supply system, septic system, or access to any road or highway.

(22) "Chronic danger HPA" means a written hydraulic project approval issued in response to a chronic danger declaration made by a county legislative authority.

(23) "Classify" means to sort aggregate by hand or through a screen, grizzly, or similar device to remove the larger material and concentrate the remaining aggregate.

(24) "Commission" means the Washington state fish and wildlife commission.

(25) "Compensatory mitigation" means the restoration, creation, enhancement, or preservation of aquatic resources to compensate for adverse impacts that remain after all appropriate and practicable avoidance and minimization has been achieved.

(26) "Concentrator" means a device used to physically or mechanically separate the valuable mineral content from aggregate.

(27) "Control" of an aquatic plant means to prevent all seed production and to prevent the dispersal of all propagative parts capable of forming new plants.

(28) "County legislative authority" means a county commission, council, or other legislative body.

(29) "Crevicing" means removing aggregate from cracks and crevices using hand-held mineral prospecting tools ((or water pressure)).

(30) "Critical food fish or shellfish habitats" means those habitats that are essential to fish life. These habitats include habitats of special concern listed in WAC 220-660-100 and 220-660-320.

(31) "Department" means the department of fish and wildlife.

(32) "Design flood" means a stream discharge of a specific rate and probability best suited to ensure the project design creates and shapes habitat or protects property and structures to a given level of risk (e.g., the 100-year design flood).

(33) "Director" means the director of the department of fish and wildlife.

(34) "Ditch" means a wholly artificial watercourse or a natural watercourse (waters of the state) altered by humans.

(35) "Diver-operated dredging" means the use of portable suction or hydraulic dredges held by SCUBA divers to remove aquatic plants.

(36) "Dredging" means removal of bed material using other than hand-held tools. This does not include metals mining and milling operations as defined in chapter 78.56 RCW.

(37) "Dryland dredge" means a suction dredge with a nozzle capable of introducing water under pressure from the suction dredge pump to the tip of the nozzle.

(38) "Early infestation" of an aquatic noxious weed means a stage of development, life history, or area of coverage that makes one hundred percent control and eradication likely to occur.

(39) "Emergency" means an immediate threat to life, the public, property, or of environmental degradation.

(40) "Emergency HPA" means a verbal or written hydraulic project approval issued in response to a declaration of emergency.

(41) "Entrained" means the entrapment of fish into a watercourse diversion that has no screen, into high velocity water along the face of an improperly designed screen, or into the vegetation cut by a mechanical harvester.

(42) "Equipment" means any device powered by internal combustion; hydraulics; electricity, except less than one horsepower; or livestock used as draft animals, except saddle horses; and the lines, cables, arms, or extensions associated with the device.

(43) "Eradication" of an aquatic noxious weed means to eliminate it within an area of infestation.

(44) "Established ford" means a crossing place in a watercourse that was in existence and used annually before 1986 or permitted by the department in or after 1986, and has identifiable approaches on the banks.

(45) "Excavation line" means a line on the dry bed at or parallel to the water's edge. The department determines the distance from the water's edge for each project site. The excavation line may change with water level fluctuations.

(46) "Excavation site" means the pit, furrow, or hole from which aggregate is removed to process and recover minerals, or into which wastewater is discharged to settle out sediments.

(47) "Excavation zone" means the area between the excavation line and the bank or the center of the gravel bar.

(48) "Expedited HPA" means a written hydraulic project approval issued in those instances where when normal permit processing would result in a significant hardship for the applicant or unacceptable damage to the environment.

(49) "Farm and agricultural land" means those lands identified in RCW 84.34.020.

(50) "Filter blanket" means one or more layers of pervious materials (organic, mineral, or synthetic) designed and installed to provide drainage, yet prevent the movement of soil particles by flowing water.

(51) "Fish conservation bank" means a habitat creation, restoration, or enhancement project intended to provide a bank of credits to compensate for unavoidable impacts to habitat that supports fish life from future development projects. Fish conservation banks are managed to optimize desired habitat for ESA-listed and at-risk fish species.

(52) "Fish habitat" or "habitat that supports fish life" means habitat, which is used by fish life at any life stage at any time of the year including potential habitat likely to be used by fish life, which could reasonably be recovered by restoration or management and includes off-channel habitat.

(53) "Fish habitat enhancement project" means a hydraulic project that meets criteria in RCW 77.55.181 (1)(a).

(54) "Fish habitat improvement structures" or "stream channel improvements" means natural materials such as large wood, rock, or synthetic materials such as chain or rope placed in or next to bodies of water to improve existing conditions for fish life. Examples are engineered logjams, large woody material, and boulders.

(55) "Fish guard" means a device installed at or near a surface water diversion head gate, or on the intake of any device used for ((pumping))removing water from fish-bearing waters, to prevent entrainment, injury, or death of fish life. Fish guards physically keep fish from entering the diversion or ((pump)) intake and do not rely on avoidance behavior.

(56) "Fish life" means all fish species, including food fish, shellfish, game fish, unclassified fish and shellfish species, and all stages of development of those species.

(57) "Fish passage improvement structure" means artificial structures that are used to provide passage through, over, and/or around artificial barriers. They provide a graduated change in gradient with refuge areas allowing fish to pass barriers.

(58) "Fish screen" means "fish guard."

(59) "Flood gate" means a structure to control flooding through which water flows freely in one direction but is prevented from flowing in the other direction.

(60) "Food fish" means those species of the classes Osteichthyes, Agnatha, and Chondrichthyes that must not be fished for except as authorized by rule of the commission.

(61) "Forest practices hydraulic project" means a hydraulic project that requires a forest practices application or notification under chapter 76.09 RCW.

(62) "Frequent scour zone" means the area between the wetted perimeter and the toe of the slope. The frequent scour zone is comprised of aggregate, boulders, or bedrock. Organic soils are not present in the frequent scour zone.

(63) "Freshwater area" means those state waters and associated beds waterward of the ordinary high water line that are upstream of stream and river mouths. Freshwater areas also include all lakes, ponds, and tributary streams and surface-water-connected wetlands that provide or maintain habitat that supports life. This definition does not include irrigation ditches, canals, stormwater treatment, and conveyance systems, or other entirely artificial watercourses, except where they exist in a natural watercourse that has been altered by humans.

(64) "Functional grating" means the percent open area of the grating that is not covered or blocked by any objects such as structural components, framing wood, flotation tubs, or objects placed on the surface of the grating.

(65) "Ganged equipment" means two or more pieces of mineral prospecting equipment coupled together to increase efficiency. An example is adding a second sluice to a high-banker.

(66) "General provisions" means those provisions that are in every HPA.

(67) "Gold and Fish pamphlet" means a document that details the rules for conducting small-scale and other prospecting and mining activities and that serves as the hydraulic project approval for certain mineral prospecting and mining activities in Washington state.

(68) "Gravity siphon aquatic mining" means any prospecting or mining activity that uses water drawn into a hose, pipe, or tube via the effects of gravity or siphon to excavate, concentrate, or process aggregate.

(69) "Habitat function" means the natural attributes of a given habitat that support the fish life that rely upon that habitat.

(((69)))(70) "Habitat value" means an estimate of habitat quality, ecologically important functions and the relative value of the hydraulic project site within the watershed.

(((70)))(71) "Hand-held equipment" means equipment held by hand and powered by internal combustion, hydraulics, pneumatics, or electricity. Examples are chainsaws, drills, and grinders.

(((71)))(72) "Hand-held mineral prospecting tools" means((:

(a)))tools used for mineral prospecting that are held by hand and ((are not))do not have moving parts powered, in whole or in part, by internal combustion, electricity, hydraulics, or pneumatics. Examples ((are metal detectors))include, but are not necessarily limited to, shovels, picks, trowels, hammers, and pry bars((, hand-operated winches, and battery-operated pumps specific to prospecting; and

(b) Vac-pacs)).

(((72)))(73) "Hand-held tools" means tools held by hand and are not powered by internal combustion, hydraulics, pneumatics, or electricity. Examples are shovels, rakes, hammers, pry bars, and cable winches. This definition does not apply to hand-held tools used for mineral prospecting. See "hand-held mineral prospecting tools."

(((73)))(74) "Hatchery" means any water impoundment or facility used for the captive spawning, hatching, or rearing of fish life.

(((74)))(75) "High-banker" means a stationary concentrator operated outside the wetted perimeter of the body of water from which the water is removed and that uses water supplied by hand or by pumping. A high-banker consists of a sluice box, hopper, and water supply. Aggregate is supplied to the high-banker by means other than suction dredging. This definition excludes rocker boxes. See Figure 1.

(((75)))(76) "High-banking" means using a high-banker to recover minerals.

(((76)))(77) "Hydraulic drop" means an abrupt drop in water surface elevation.

(((77)))(78) "Hydraulic project" means the construction or performance of work that will use, divert, obstruct, or change the natural flow or bed of any of the salt or freshwaters of the state.

(((78)))(79) "Hydraulic project approval" or "HPA" means:

(a) A written approval for a hydraulic project issued under this chapter and signed by the director of the department or the director's designee; or

(b) A verbal approval for an emergency hydraulic project issued under this chapter by the director of the department or the director's designee; or

(c) The following printed pamphlet approvals:

(i) A "Gold and Fish" pamphlet issued under this chapter by the department, which identifies and authorizes specific ((minor hydraulic project activities for))small scale mineral prospecting and placer mining activities; or

(ii) An "Aquatic Plants and Fish" pamphlet issued under this chapter by the department, which identifies and authorizes specific aquatic plant removal and control activities.

(((79)))(80) "Imminent danger" means a threat by weather, water flow, or other natural conditions that is likely to occur within sixty days of a request for a permit application.

(((80)))(81) "In-lieu fee (ILF) program" means a state or federal certified program authorizing a person pay a fee to a third party instead of conducting project-specific mitigation or buying credits from a mitigation or fish conservation bank.

(((81)))(82) "In-water blasting" means the use of explosives on, under, or in waters of the state, or in any location adjacent to the waters of the state, where blasting could impact fish life or habitat that supports fish life.

(((82)))(83) "Job site" means the area of ground including and immediately adjacent to the area where work is conducted under an HPA. For mineral prospecting and placer mining projects, the job site includes the excavation site.

(((83)))(84) "Joint aquatic resources permit application" or "JARPA" means a form provided by the department and other agencies that a person may submit to request a written HPA for a hydraulic project.

(((84)))(85) "Lake" means any natural standing fresh waters or artificially impounded natural fresh waters of the state, except impoundments of the Columbia and Snake rivers.

(((85)))(86) "Large woody material" means trees or tree parts larger than four inches in diameter and longer than six feet, or rootwads, wholly or partially waterward of the ordinary high water line.

(((86)))(87) "Macroalgae" means any of the nonvascular aquatic plant species (the red, green, or brown seaweeds) that can be seen without using a microscope. They may be attached to the substrate or other macroalgae by a holdfast, or found drifting individually or in mats.

(((87)))(88) "Maintenance" means repairing, remodeling, or making minor alterations to a facility or project to keep the facility or project in properly functioning and safe condition.

(((88)))(89) "Major modification" means any change to a hydraulic project approval that is not a minor modification.

(((89)))(90) "Marina" means a public or private facility providing boat moorage space, fuel, or commercial services. Commercial services include overnight or live-aboard boating accommodations.

(((90)))(91) "Marine terminal" means a public or private commercial wharf located in navigable waters of the state and used, or intended to be used, as a port or facility for storing, handling, transferring, or transporting goods to and from vessels.

(((91)))(92) "Mean annual flood" means the average of all the annual peak floods of record.

(((92)))(93) "Mean higher high water" or "MHHW" means the tidal elevation obtained by averaging each day's highest tide at a particular location over a period of nineteen years, as determined by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). It is measured from mean lower low water, which is a reference datum used to delineate waters of the state in saltwater areas.

(((93)))(94) "Mean lower low water" or "MLLW" means the 0.0 feet tidal elevation, as determined by NOAA. It is determined by averaging each day's lowest tide at a particular location over a period of nineteen years. MLLW is a reference datum used to delineate waters of the state in saltwater areas. NOAA provides detailed information on their "Tides, Currents, and Predictions" website.

(((94)))(95) "Mechanical harvesting and cutting" means partially removing or controlling aquatic plants by using aquatic mechanical harvesters, which cut and collect aquatic plants, and mechanical cutters, which only cut aquatic plants.

(((95)))(96) "Mineral prospect" or "mineral prospecting" means to excavate, process, or classify aggregate using hand-held mineral prospecting tools and mineral prospecting equipment.

(((96)))(97) "Mineral prospecting equipment" means any natural or manufactured device, implement, or animal (other than the human body) used in any aspect of prospecting for or recovering minerals.

(((97)))(98) "Mini high-banker" means a high-banker with a riffle area of three square feet or less. See Figure 2.

(((98)))(99) "Mini rocker box" means a rocker box with a riffle area of three square feet or less. See Figure 3.

(((99)))(100) "Mining" means the production activity that follows mineral prospecting.

(((100)))(101) "Minor modification" means a small change in work timing or plans and specifications of a hydraulic project.

(((101)))(102) "Mitigation" means sequentially avoiding impacts, minimizing impacts, and compensating for remaining unavoidable impacts to fish life or habitat that supports fish life.

(((102)))(103) "Mitigation bank" means a site where wetlands or other aquatic resources are restored, created, enhanced, or preserved. The bank exists expressly to provide compensatory mitigation before unavoidable impacts to wetlands or other aquatic resources occur.

(((103)))(104) "Mitigation sequence" means the successive steps that the department and the applicant must consider and implement to protect fish life when constructing or performing work. These steps must be considered and implemented in the order listed:

(a) Avoid the impact altogether by not taking a certain action or parts of an action.

(b) Minimize unavoidable impacts by limiting the degree or magnitude of the action and its implementation by using appropriate technology or by taking steps to reduce impacts.

(c) Rectify the impact by repairing, rehabilitating, or restoring the affected environment.

(d) Reduce or eliminate the impact over time.

(e) Compensate for remaining unmitigated impacts by replacing, enhancing, or providing substitute resources or environments.

(f) Monitor the impact and take appropriate corrective measures to reach the identified goal.

(((104)))(105) "Motorized or gravity siphon equipment" means any form of motorized equipment including, but not limited to, a motorized suction dredge or a gravity siphon suction dredge, for the purpose of extracting gold, silver, or other precious metals, but does not include metals mining and milling operations as defined in RCW 78.56.020.

(106) "Multiple site permit" means a hydraulic project approval issued to a person under RCW 77.55.021 for hydraulic projects occurring at more than one specific location and which includes site-specific requirements.

(((105)))(107) "Natural conditions" means environmental situations that occur or are found in nature. This does not include artificial or manufactured conditions.

(((106)))(108) "Nearshore" means shallow waters where sunlight reaching the bed is sufficient to support the growth of submerged aquatic vegetation.

(((107)))(109) "Nearshore zone" means the three critical "edge" habitats as follows: The edge between upland and aquatic environments, the edge between the shallow productive zone and deep water, and the edge between fresh and marine waters.

(((108)))(110) "No net loss" means:

(a) Sequentially for avoiding impacts, minimizing unavoidable impacts, and compensating for remaining adverse impacts to fish life.

(b) Sequentially avoiding impacts, minimizing unavoidable impacts, and compensating for net loss of habitat functions necessary to sustain fish life.

(c) Sequentially avoiding impacts, minimizing unavoidable impacts, and compensating for loss of area by habitat type.

(d) Mitigation required to achieve no net loss should benefit the fish life being impacted.

(((109)))(111) "Ordinary high water line" or "OHWL" means the mark on the shores of all water 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 ordinary years as to mark upon the soil or vegetation a character distinct from the abutting upland. Provided, that in any area where the ordinary high water line cannot be found, the ordinary high water line adjoining saltwater is the line of mean higher high water and the ordinary high water line adjoining freshwater is the elevation of the mean annual flood.

(((110)))(112) "Pan" means an open metal or plastic dish operated by hand to separate gold or other minerals from aggregate by washing the aggregate. See Figure 4.

(((111)))(113) "Panning" means the use of a pan to wash aggregate.

(((112)))(114) "Permanent ford" means a ford approved by the department that is in place for more than one operating season.

(((113)))(115) "Person" means an applicant, authorized agent, permittee, or contractor. The term person includes an individual, a public or private entity, or organization.

(((114)))(116) "Placer" means a glacial or alluvial deposit of gravel or sand containing eroded particles of minerals.

(((115)))(117) "Pool" means a portion of the stream with reduced current velocity, often with water deeper than the surrounding areas.

(((116)))(118) "Power sluice" means "high-banker."

(((117)))(119) "Power sluice/suction dredge combination" means a machine that can be used as a power sluice, or with minor modifications, as a suction dredge. See Figure 5.

(((118)))(120) "Process aggregate" or "processing aggregate" means the physical or mechanical separation of the valuable mineral content within aggregate.

(((119)))(121) "Protection of fish life" means avoiding, minimizing unavoidable impacts, and compensating for remaining impacts to fish life and the habitat that supports fish life through mitigation sequencing.

(((120)))(122) "Purple loosestrife" means Lythrum salicaria and Lythrum virgatum as classified in RCW 17.10.010(10) and defined in RCW 17.26.020 (5)(b).

(((121)))(123) "Qualified professional" means a scientist, engineer, or technologist specializing in a relevant applied science or technology including fisheries or wildlife biology, engineering, geomorphology, geology, hydrology, or hydrogeology. This person may be certified with an appropriate professional organization, and acting under that association's code of ethics and subject to disciplinary action by that association. A qualified professional can also be someone who, through demonstrated education, experience, accreditation, and knowledge relevant to the particular matter, may be reasonably relied on to provide advice within that person's area of expertise. This definition does not supersede other state laws that govern the qualifications of professionals that perform hydraulic projects.

(((122)))(124) "Redd" means a nest made in gravel, consisting of a depression dug by a fish for egg deposition, and associated gravel mounds. See Figure 6.

(((123)))(125) "Rehabilitation" means major work required to restore the integrity of a structurally deficient or functionally obsolete structure. This can include partial replacement of a structure.

(((124)))(126) "Replacement" means the complete removal of an existing structure and construction of a substitute structure in the same general location.

(((125)))(127) "Riffle" means:

(a) The bottom of a concentrator containing a series of interstices or grooves to catch and retain a mineral such as gold; or

(b) A short, relatively shallow and coarse-bedded length of stream over which the stream flows at higher velocity and higher turbulence than it normally does in comparison to a pool.

(((126)))(128) "River" means "watercourse."

(((127)))(129) "Riparian zones" means the land adjacent to streams, rivers, ponds, lakes, and those wetlands whose soils and vegetation are influenced by ponded or channelized water. They are the transition areas between aquatic and upland habitats often with elements of both ecosystems.

(((128)))(130) "Rocker box" means a nonmotorized concentrator consisting of a hopper attached to a cradle and a sluice box operated with a rocking motion. See Figure 7.

(((129)))(131) "Rotovation" means the use of aquatic rotovators, machines that have underwater rototiller-like blades, to uproot aquatic plants as a means of control.

(((130)))(132) "Roughened channel" means to construct a channel of a graded mix of sediment with enough roughness and hydraulic diversity to achieve fish passage. Roughened channels are designed to resist erosion and are often built at a steeper gradient than the prevailing channel.

(((131)))(133) "Saltwater area" means those state waters and associated beds waterward of the ordinary high water line in Puget Sound, the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the open coast. Saltwater areas include estuaries and other surface-water-connected wetlands that provide or maintain habitat that support fish life. This definition does not include irrigation ditches, canals, stormwater treatment and conveyance systems, or other entirely artificial watercourses, except where they exist in a natural watercourse that has been altered by humans.

(((132)))(134) "Scientific measurement devices" means devices that measure and/or record environmental data, such as staff gauges, tide gauges, water recording devices, water quality testing and improvement devices, and similar instruments.

(((133)))(135) "Seagrass" means native Zostera species, Ruppia maritima, and Phyllospadix species.

(((134)))(136) "Shellfish" means those species of marine and freshwater invertebrates that have been classified and that must not be taken except as authorized by rule of the commission. The term shellfish includes all stages of development and the bodily parts of shellfish species.

(((135)))(137) "Sluice" means a trough equipped with riffles across its bottom used to recover gold and other minerals with the use of flowing water. See Figure 8.

(((136)))(138) "Spartina" means Spartina alterniflora, Spartina anglica, Spartina x townsendii, and Spartina patens as classified in RCW 17.10.010(10) and defined in RCW 17.26.020 (5)(a).

(((137)))(139) "Special provisions" means those requirements that are part of a HPA, are site- or project-specific, and supplement or amend the technical provisions.

(((138)))(140) "Spiral wheel" means a hand-operated or battery-powered rotating pan used to recover gold and minerals with the use of water. See Figure 9.

(((139)))(141) "Stable slope" means a slope without measurable evidence of slumping, sloughing, or other movement. Stable slopes will not show evidence of landslides, uprooted or tilted trees, exposed soils, water-saturated soils, and mud, or the recent erosion of soils and sediment. Woody vegetation is typically present on stable slopes.

(((140)))(142) "Suction dredge" means any motorized or nonmotorized device that removes aggregate from the bed, banks, or uplands by means of vacuum created by water flowing through a tube or hose. Bulb snifters are not considered suction dredges. See Figure 10.

(((141)))(143) "Suction dredging" means using a suction dredge to recover gold and other minerals.

(((142)))(144) "Tailings" means the waste material that remains after processing aggregate to remove valuable mineral content.

(((143)))(145) "Temporary ford" means a ford that is in place for no more than one operating season or less.

(((144)))(146) "Tide gate" means a one-way check valve that prevents the backflow of tidal water.

(((145)))(147) "Toe of the bank" means the distinct break in slope between the stream bank or shoreline and the stream bottom or marine beach or bed, excluding areas of sloughing. For steep banks that extend into the water, the toe may be submerged waterward of the ordinary high water line. For artificial structures, such as jetties or bulkheads, the toe refers to the base of the structure where it meets the stream bed or marine beach or bed.

(((146)))(148) "Toe of the slope" means the base or bottom of a slope at the point where the ground surface abruptly changes to a significantly flatter grade.

(((147)))(149) "Unimpeded fish passage" means the free movement of all fish species at any mobile life stage around or through a human-made or natural structure.

(((148)))(150) "Unstable slope" means a slope with visible or measurable evidence of slumping, sloughing, or other movement. Evidence of unstable slopes includes landslides, uprooted or tilted trees, exposed soils, water-saturated soils, and mud, or the recent erosion of soils and sediment. Woody vegetation is typically not present on unstable slopes.

(((149) "Vac-pac" means a motorized, portable vacuum that you use for prospecting. See Figure 11.

(150)))(151) "Water crossing structures" means structures that span over, through, or under a watercourse. Examples are bridges, culverts, conduits, and fords.

(((151)))(152) "Water right" means a certificate of water right, a vested water right or a claim to a valid vested water right, or a water permit, under Title 90 RCW.

(((152)))(153) "Water body" means "waters of the state."

(((153)))(154) "Watercourse," "river" or "stream" means any portion of a stream or river channel, bed, bank, or bottom waterward of the ordinary high water line of waters of the state. Watercourse also means areas in which fish may spawn, reside, or pass, and tributary waters with defined bed or banks that influence the quality of habitat downstream. Watercourse also means waters that flow intermittently or that fluctuate in level during the year, and the term applies to the entire bed of such waters whether or not the water is at peak level. A watercourse includes all surface-water-connected wetlands that provide or maintain habitat that supports fish life. This definition does not include irrigation ditches, canals, stormwater treatment and conveyance systems, or other entirely artificial watercourses, except where they exist in a natural watercourse that has been altered by humans.

(((154)))(155) "Waters of the state" or "state waters" means all salt and freshwaters waterward of the ordinary high water line and within the territorial boundary of the state.

(((155)))(156) "Weed rolling" means the use of a mechanical roller designed to control aquatic plant growth.

(((156)))(157) "Wetland(s)" is as defined in RCW 90.58.030.

(((157)))(158) "Wetted perimeter" means the areas of a watercourse covered with water. The wetted perimeter varies with flow, discharge, and tides.

(((158)))(159) "Woody vegetation" means perennial trees and shrubs having stiff stems and bark. Woody vegetation does not include grasses, forbs, or annual plants.

(((159)))(160) "Written notice" or "written notification" means a communication through U.S. mail or email.

(1) Description:

(a) There are six categories of HPAs: Standard, emergency, imminent danger, chronic danger, expedited, and pamphlet. These categories are discussed in more detail throughout this section. Most HPAs issued by the department are standard HPAs. Guidance for applying for an HPA is provided on the department's website.

(b) HPAs do not exempt a person from obtaining other necessary permits and following the rules and regulations of local, federal, and other Washington state agencies.

(2) Fish life concerns: Construction and other work activities in or near water bodies can kill or injure fish life directly and can damage or destroy habitat that supports fish life. Damaged or destroyed habitat can continue to cause lost fish life production for as long as the habitat remains altered. HPAs help ensure construction and other work is done in a manner that protects fish life.

(3) Standard HPA:

(a) The department issues a standard HPA when a hydraulic project does not qualify for an emergency, imminent danger, chronic danger, expedited or pamphlet HPA. An individual standard HPA is limited to a single project site. Some special types of standard HPAs may cover multiple project sites.

(b) Special types of standard HPAs:

(i) Fish habitat enhancement project (FHEP) HPA.

(A) Projects must satisfy the requirements in RCW 77.55.181(1) to be processed as a fish habitat enhancement project.

(B) Projects that are compensatory mitigation for a development or other impacting project are not eligible. This includes proposals for mitigation banks or in-lieu fee mitigation proposals. The sole purpose of the project must be for fish habitat enhancement.

(C) The department may reject an FHEP proposed under RCW 77.55.181 if the local government raises concerns during the comment period that impacts from the project cannot be mitigated by conditioning the HPA. The department will reject an FHEP if the department determines that the size and the scale of the project raises public health or safety concerns. If the department rejects a project for streamlined processing, the department must provide written notice to the applicant and local government within forty-five days of receiving the application.

(D) An applicant whose fish habitat enhancement project is rejected may submit a new complete written application with project modifications or additional information required for streamlined processing. An applicant may request that the department consider the project under standard HPA processing procedures by submitting a new complete written application for standard processing.

(ii) Multisite HPA.

(A) A standard HPA may authorize work at multiple project sites if:

(I) All project sites are within the same water resource inventory area (WRIA) or tidal reference area;

(II) The primary hydraulic project is the same at each site so there is little variability in HPA provisions across all sites; and

(III) Work will be conducted at no more than five project sites to ensure department staff has sufficient time to conduct site reviews.

(B) The department may make an exception for projects the department has scoped prior to application submittal or when no prepermit issuance site visits are needed.

(iii) General HPA.

(A) The department may issue general HPAs to government agencies, organizations, or companies to perform the same work in multiple water bodies across a large geographic area.

(B) To qualify for a general HPA, projects must protect fish life:

(I) Technical provisions in the HPA must fully mitigate impacts to fish life;

(II) The projects must be relatively simple so that the HPA provisions are the same across all sites, and can therefore be permitted without site-specific provisions; and

(III) The projects must have little or no variability over time in site conditions or work performed.

(C) The general HPA will include a requirement that notice be given to the department when activities utilizing heavy equipment begin. The department may waive this requirement if the permittee and department meet annually to review scheduled activities for the upcoming year.

(D) The department and the applicant may negotiate the scope and scale of the project types covered. The department and the applicant must agree on the fish protection provisions required before the application is submitted.

(E) The department may reject applications for a general HPA if:

(I) The proposed project does not meet the eligibility requirements described in subsection (3)(b)(iii)(B) of this section; or

(II) The department and the applicant cannot agree on the fish protection provisions.

(F) The department must provide written notice of rejection of a general HPA application to the applicant. The applicant may submit a new complete written application with project modifications or additional information required for department consideration under standard HPA processing procedures.

(iv) "Model" HPA.

(A) The department will establish a "model" HPA application and permitting process for qualifying hydraulic projects. To qualify, an individual project must comply with the technical provisions established in the application. Hydraulic projects that qualify for the model process must:

(I) Fully mitigate impacts to fish life in the technical provisions of the HPA;

(II) Be a low complexity project that minimizes misinterpretation of the HPA provisions allowing the HPA to be permitted without site-specific provisions; and

(III) Meet all of the eligibility requirements described in the model application.

(B) If needed to confirm project eligibility, the department may conduct a site visit before approving or rejecting a model application.

(C) The department may reject applications for model HPAs if:

(I) The plans and specifications for the project are insufficient to show that fish life will be protected; or

(II) The applicant or authorized agent does not fill out the application completely or correctly.

(D) The department must provide written notice of rejection of an application to the applicant. The applicant may submit a new complete written application with project modifications or additional information required for department consideration under standard HPA processing procedures under this section, or may submit a new model application if the department rejected the application because the person did not fill out the original application correctly.

(4) Emergency HPA:

(a) Declaring an emergency.

(i) Authority to declare an emergency, or continue an existing declaration of emergency, is conveyed to the governor, the department, or to a county legislative authority by statute. An emergency declaration may be made when there is an immediate threat to life, the public, property, or of environmental degradation;

(ii) The county legislative authority must notify the department, in writing, if it declares an emergency;

(iii) Emergency declarations made by the department must be documented in writing;

(iv) When an emergency is declared, the department must immediately grant verbal approval upon request for work to protect life or property threatened by waters of the state because of the emergency, including repairing or replacing a stream crossing, removing obstructions, or protecting stream banks. The department may also grant written approval if the applicant agrees.

(b) If the department issues a verbal HPA, the department must follow up with a written HPA documenting the exact provisions of the verbal HPA within thirty days of issuing the verbal HPA.

(c) Compliance with the provisions of chapter 43.21C RCW (State Environmental Policy Act) is not required for emergency HPAs.

(d) The department may require a person to submit an as-built drawing within thirty days after the hydraulic project authorized in the emergency HPA is completed.

(e) Within ninety days after a hydraulic project authorized in an emergency HPA is completed, any remaining impacts must be mitigated or a mitigation plan must be submitted to the department for approval.

(5) Imminent danger HPA:

(a) Authority to declare imminent danger is conveyed to the department or county legislative authority by statute. The county legislative authority must notify the department in writing if it determines that an imminent danger exists.

(b) Imminent danger declarations made by the department must be documented in writing.

(c) When imminent danger exists, the department must issue an expedited HPA upon request for work to remove obstructions, repair existing structures, restore banks, and to protect fish life or property.

(d) When imminent danger exists, and before starting work, a person must submit a complete written application to the department to obtain an imminent danger HPA. Compliance with the provisions of chapter 43.21C RCW (State Environmental Policy Act) is not required for imminent danger HPAs.

(e) Imminent danger HPAs must be issued by the department within fifteen calendar days after receiving a complete written application. Work under an imminent danger HPA must be completed within sixty calendar days of the date the HPA is issued.

(f) Within ninety days after a hydraulic project authorized in an imminent danger HPA is completed, any remaining impacts must be mitigated or a mitigation plan must be submitted to the department for approval.

(6) Chronic danger HPA:

(a) The department must issue a chronic danger HPA upon request for work required to abate the chronic danger. This work may include removing obstructions, repairing existing structures, restoring banks, restoring road or highway access, protecting fish life, or protecting property.

(b) Authority to declare when a chronic danger exists is conveyed to a county legislative authority by statute. A chronic danger is a condition in which any property, except for property located on a marine shoreline, has experienced at least two consecutive years of flooding or erosion that has damaged or has threatened to damage a major structure, water supply system, septic system, or access to any road or highway.

(c) The county legislative authority must notify the department in writing when it determines a chronic danger exists.

(d) When chronic danger is declared, and before starting work, a person must submit a complete written application to the department to obtain a chronic danger HPA. Unless the project also satisfies the requirements for fish habitat enhancement projects identified in RCW 77.55.181 (1)(a)(ii), compliance with the provisions of chapter 43.21C RCW (State Environmental Policy Act) is required. Projects that meet the requirements in RCW 77.55.181 (1)(a)(ii), will be processed under RCW 77.55.181(3), and the provisions of chapter 43.21C RCW will not be required.

(7) Expedited HPA:

(a) The department may issue an expedited HPA when normal processing would result in significant hardship for the applicant or unacceptable environmental damage would occur.

(b) Before starting work, a person must submit a complete written application to the department to obtain an HPA.

(c) Compliance with the provisions of chapter 43.21C RCW (State Environmental Policy Act) is not required for expedited HPAs. The department must issue expedited HPAs within fifteen calendar days after receipt of a complete written application. Work under an expedited HPA must be completed within sixty calendar days of the date the HPA is issued.

(d) Within ninety days after a hydraulic project authorized in an expedited HPA is completed, any remaining impacts must be mitigated or a mitigation plan must be submitted to the department for approval.

(8) Pamphlet HPA:

(a) There are two pamphlet HPAs, Gold and Fish and Aquatic Plants and Fish, that cover the most common types of small scale mineral prospecting and removing or controlling aquatic plants, respectively. A person must follow the provisions in the pamphlet. If a person cannot follow the provisions, or disagrees with any provision, the permittee must apply for a standard HPA before starting the hydraulic project.

(b) A person must review a pamphlet HPA before conducting the authorized hydraulic project.

(c) When a pamphlet HPA is used, the permittee must have the pamphlet HPA on the job site when conducting work and the pamphlet must be immediately available for inspection by the department upon request.

(d) All persons conducting the project must follow all provisions of the pamphlet HPA.

(e) The department may grant exceptions to a pamphlet HPA only if a person applies for a standard individual HPA for the project.

(f) Pamphlet HPAs do not exempt a person from obtaining other appropriate permits and following the rules and regulations of local, federal, and other Washington state agencies.

(9) How to get an HPA:

(a) How to get a pamphlet HPA: A person can download and save or print a pamphlet HPA from the department's website. A person may also request a pamphlet HPA from the department either verbally or in writing.

(b) How to get an emergency HPA: Upon an emergency declaration, and before starting emergency work, a person must obtain a verbal or written HPA from the department. A complete written application is not required. However, a person must provide adequate information describing the proposed action. Compliance with the provisions of chapter 43.21C RCW (State Environmental Policy Act), is not required for emergency HPAs. A person may request a verbal or written emergency HPA from the biologist who issues HPAs for the geographic area where the emergency is located Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. If the biologist cannot be contacted or it is after business hours, a person must contact the emergency hotline at 360-902-2537 to request an emergency HPA.

(c) How to get a standard, expedited, or chronic danger HPA:

(i) A person must submit a complete written application to the department to obtain an HPA unless the project qualifies for one of the following:

(A) A pamphlet HPA, subsection (3) of this section; or

(B) An emergency HPA, subsection (5) of this section.

(ii) When applying for an HPA, a person must submit one of the following application forms to the department:

(A) The electronic online application developed by the department;

(B) The current version of the JARPA;

(C) The current version of the JARPA including the most recent version of the application for streamlined processing of fish habitat enhancement projects when applying for streamlined processing under RCW 77.55.181. These may be submitted to the department as attachments to the online application form;

(D) The most recent version of the model HPA application or other department-approved alternative applications available from the department's public website; or

(E) The current version of the JARPA if applying for approval of a watershed restoration project under RCW 77.55.171. This may be submitted to the department as an attachment to the online application form.

(iii) A complete application package for an HPA must contain:

(A) A completed application form signed and dated by the applicant, landowner(s) or landowner representative(s) of any project site or off-site mitigation location, and the authorized agent, if any. Completing and submitting the application forms through the department's online permitting system is the same as providing signature and date, if all documents required during the online application process are submitted to the department. The property owner, if different than the applicant, or easement holder must consent to the department staff entering the property where the project is located to inspect the project site or any work;

(B) Plans for the overall project;

(C) Complete plans and specifications for all aspects of the proposed construction or work waterward of the mean higher high water line in salt water, or waterward of the ordinary high water line in fresh water;

(D) A description of the measures that will be implemented for the protection of fish life, including any reports assessing impacts from the hydraulic project to fish life and their habitat, and plans to mitigate those impacts to ensure the project results in no net loss;

(E) For a standard or chronic danger HPA application, a copy of the written notice from the lead agency demonstrating compliance with any applicable requirements of the State Environmental Policy Act under chapter 43.21C RCW, unless otherwise provided for in chapter 77.55 RCW; or the project qualifies for a specific categorical exemption under chapter 197-11 WAC;

(F) Written approval by one of the entities specified in RCW 77.55.181 if the applicant is proposing a fish enhancement project;

(G) For an expedited HPA application, an explanation of why normal processing would result in significant hardship for the applicant or unacceptable environmental damage.

(iv) HPA application submission:

(A) A person must submit the complete application package by:

(I) Using the department's online permitting system;

(II) Sending the package via mail to:

Department of Fish and Wildlife

P.O. Box 43234

Olympia, WA 98504-3234;

(III) Sending the package via email to: HPAapplications@dfw.wa.gov;

(IV) Sending the package via fax to: 360-902-2946;

(V) Uploading the package to a file transfer protocol site acceptable to the department; or

(VI) Hand delivering the package to the department at 1111 Washington Street S.E., Olympia, WA 98504, Habitat Program, Fifth Floor. The department will not accept applications submitted elsewhere or by other than the applicant or authorized agent.

(B) Dimensions of printed documents submitted with the application package may not be larger than eleven inches by seventeen inches. Pages of documents submitted may not be bound except by paper clips or other temporary fastening.

(C) A person must submit applications and supporting documents with a combined total of thirty or more pages as digital files rather than printed documents. All digital files must be in formats compatible with Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, or Microsoft Access programs, or in PDF, TIFF, JPEG, or GIF formats.

(D) Applications submitted to the habitat program during normal business hours (8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Pacific Standard Time) are deemed received on the date the habitat program receives the application. The department may declare applications received by the habitat program after normal business hours as received on the next business day.

(10) Incomplete applications:

(a) Within ten days of receipt of the application, the department must determine whether an application meets the requirements of this section. If the department determines the application does not meet the requirements, the department will provide written or emailed notification of an incomplete application to the applicant or authorized agent. This written or emailed notification must include a description of information needed to make the application complete. The department may return the incomplete application to the applicant or authorized agent or hold the application on file until it receives the missing information. The department will not begin to process the application until it receives all information needed to complete the application.

(b) The applicant or authorized agent must submit additional information in response to a written notification of incomplete application through the department's online permitting system or to the department's habitat program, Olympia headquarters office. The department will not accept additional information submitted elsewhere or by other than the applicant or authorized agent.

(c) The department may close any application that has been incomplete for more than twelve months. The department must provide the applicant or authorized agent with written notification at least one week before closing the application and must provide the option for the applicant or authorized agent to postpone the closure for up to one year. The department must provide the applicant with written notification at the time it closes the application. After an application is closed, the applicant or authorized agent must submit a new complete application to receive further consideration of the project.

(11) Application review period:

(a) Once the department determines an application is complete, the department will provide to tribes and local, state, and federal permitting or authorizing agencies a seven-calendar-day review and comment period. The department will not issue the HPA before the end of the review period to allow all interested tribes and agencies to provide comments to the department. The department may consider all written comments received when issuing or provisioning the HPA. The review period is concurrent with the department's overall review period. Emergency, imminent danger, expedited, and modified HPAs are exempt from the review period requirement.

(b) Except for emergency, imminent danger, and expedited HPAs, the department will grant or deny approval within forty-five calendar days of the receipt of a complete written application. The department will grant approval of imminent danger and expedited HPAs within fifteen days of the receipt of a complete written application. The department will grant approval of emergency HPAs immediately upon request if an emergency declaration has been made.

(c) If the department declares an imminent danger, applicant hardship, or immediate threat regarding an application for expedited or emergency HPA, the department must place written documentation of that declaration and justification for it in the application record within three days of issuing the written HPA.

(12) Suspending the review period:

(a) An applicant or authorized agent may request a delay in processing a standard HPA. The applicant or authorized agent must submit a written request for the delay through the department's online permitting system or to the habitat program's Olympia headquarters office. The department may not accept delay requests submitted elsewhere or by a person other than the applicant or authorized agent.

(b) If the department suspends the review period, the department must immediately notify the applicant in writing of the reasons for the delay. The department may suspend the review period (with or without the applicant's concurrence) if:

(i) The site is physically inaccessible for inspection or not in a condition to be evaluated (i.e., snow cover, frozen);

(ii) The applicant or authorized agent remains unavailable or unable to arrange for a field evaluation of the proposed project within ten working days of the department's receipt of the application;

(iii) The applicant or authorized agent submits a written request for a delay;

(iv) The department is issuing an HPA for a stormwater discharge and is complying with the requirements of RCW 77.55.161 (3)(b); or

(v) The department is reviewing the application as part of a multiagency permit streamlining effort, and all participating permitting and authorizing agencies and the permit applicant agree to an extended timeline longer than forty-five calendar days.

(c) The department may close any application if the application has been delayed for processing more than twelve months for any of the reasons identified in subsection (12)(a) or (b) of this section. The department must provide the applicant or authorized agent with written notification at least one week before closing the application and must provide the option for the applicant or authorized agent to postpone the closure for up to one year. The department must provide the applicant with written notification at the time it closes the application. After an application is closed, the applicant or authorized agent must submit a new complete application to receive further consideration of the project.

(13) Issuing or denying a hydraulic project approval:

(a) Protection of fish life is the only grounds upon which the department may deny or provision an HPA, as provided in RCW 77.55.021. The department may not unreasonably withhold or condition approval of an HPA. The HPA provisions must reasonably relate to the project and must ensure that the project provides proper protection for fish life. The department may not impose provisions that attempt to optimize conditions for fish life that are out of proportion to the impact of the proposed project.

(b) The department may not deny an emergency, imminent danger, chronic danger, or an expedited HPA, as provided in RCW 77.55.021. However, these projects must comply with the provisions in this chapter that are included in an HPA. The department will deny any other type of HPA or request to change an existing HPA when the project will not protect fish life, unless enough mitigation can be assured by provisioning the HPA or modifying the proposal. If the department denies approval, the department must provide the applicant with a written statement of the specific reasons why and how the proposed project would adversely affect fish life, as provided in RCW 77.55.021.

(c) The department may place specific time limitations on project activities in an HPA to protect fish life.

(d) The department may require a person to notify the department before hydraulic project construction or other hydraulic project work starts, upon project completion, or at other times that the department deems necessary while the HPA is in effect. The department may also require a person to provide periodic written reports to assess HPA compliance.

(e) The HPA must contain provisions that allow for minor modifications to the work timing, plans, and specifications of the project without requiring the reissuance of the HPA, as long as the modifications do not adversely affect fish life or the habitat that supports fish life. The permittee should contact the habitat program's Olympia headquarters office through email or the department's online permit application system to request a minor modification.

(f) A person may propose or conduct a hydraulic project under an environmental excellence program agreement authorized under chapter 43.21K RCW. These projects must be applied for and permitted under the requirements of chapter 43.21K RCW.

(14) Hydraulic project approval expiration time periods:

(a) Except for emergency, imminent danger, expedited, and pamphlet HPAs, the department may grant standard HPAs that are valid for up to five years. The permittee must demonstrate substantial progress on construction of the portion of the project authorized in the HPA within two years of the date of issuance.

(b) Imminent danger and expedited HPAs are valid for up to sixty days, and emergency HPAs are valid for the expected duration of the emergency hydraulic project.

(c) Pamphlet HPAs remain in effect indefinitely until modified or rescinded by the department.

(d) The following types of agricultural hydraulic project HPAs remain in effect without the need for periodic renewal; however, a person must notify the department before starting work each year:

(i) Seasonal work that diverts water for irrigation or stock watering; and

(ii) Stream bank stabilization projects to protect farm and agricultural land if the applicant can show that the problem causing the erosion occurs annually or more frequently. Evidence of erosion may include history of permit application, approval, or photographs. Periodic floodwaters alone do not constitute a problem that requires an HPA.

(15) Requesting a time extension, renewal, modification, or transfer of a hydraulic project approval:

(a) The permittee may request a time extension, renewal, modification, or transfer of an active HPA. Before the HPA expires, the permittee or authorized agent must submit a written request through the department's online permitting system or to the habitat program's Olympia headquarters office. The department may not accept requests for delay, renewal, modification, or transfer of an HPA submitted elsewhere or by a person other than the permittee or authorized agent. Written requests must include the name of the applicant, the name of the authorized agent if one is acting for the applicant, the permit number or application identification number of the HPA, the date issued, the permitting biologist, the requested changes to the HPA if requesting a time extension, renewal, or modification, the reason for the requested change, the date of the request, and the requestor's signature. Requests for transfer of an HPA to a new permittee or authorized agent must additionally include a signed, written statement that the new permittee or authorized agent agrees to the conditions of the HPA, that they agree to allow the department access to the project location to inspect the project site, mitigation site, or any work related to the project, and that they will not conduct any project activities until the department has issued approval.

(b) Requests for time extensions, renewals, or modifications of HPAs are deemed received on the date received by the department. The department may declare applications submitted to habitat program after normal business hours as received on the next business day.

(c) Within forty-five days of the requested change, the department must approve or deny the request for a time extension, renewal, modification, or transfer of an approved HPA.

(d) Unless the new permittee or authorized agent requests a time extension, renewal, or modification of an approved HPA, the department may change only the name and contact information of the permittee or authorized agent and must not alter any provisions of the HPA except the project or location start dates when granting a transfer.

(e) A permittee may request a modification or renewal of an emergency HPA until the emergency declaration expires or is rescinded. Requests for changes to emergency HPAs may be verbal, but must contain all of the information in (a) of this subsection.

(f) The department must not modify or renew an HPA beyond the applicable five-year or sixty-day periods. A person must submit a new complete application for a project needing further authorization beyond these time periods.

(g) The department will issue a letter documenting an approved minor modification(s) and a written HPA documenting an approved major modification(s) or transfer.

(16) Modifications of a hydraulic project approval initiated by the department:

(a) After consulting with the permittee, the department may modify an HPA because of changed conditions. The modification becomes effective immediately upon issuance of a new HPA.

(b) For hydraulic projects that divert water for agricultural irrigation or stock watering, or when the hydraulic project or other work is associated with stream bank stabilization to protect farm and agricultural land as defined in RCW 84.34.020, the department must show that changed conditions warrant the modification in order to protect fish life.

(17) Revoking an HPA.

(a) The department may revoke an HPA under the following conditions:

(i) At the written request of the permittee or authorized agent;

(ii) As the result of an informal or formal appeal decision;

(iii) As the result of a court ruling finding that the department issued the HPA in error;

(iv) Following change of a determination of nonsignificance or mitigated determination of nonsignificance to a determination of significance by a lead agency under chapter 43.21C RCW that applies to the hydraulic project approved by the HPA;

(v) The applicant did not correctly identify compliance with the requirements of chapter 43.21C RCW in the HPA application and the department was unaware of the error until after the HPA was issued;

(vi) Changed physical or biological conditions at the site of the hydraulic project have occurred before project initiation such that fish life cannot be protected if the project proceeds under the requirements of the existing HPA;

(vii) The permittee has not demonstrated substantial progress on construction of the hydraulic project within two years of the date of issuance as required in RCW 77.55.021 (9)(a). Substantial progress means initiation of work at any of the project locations identified in the HPA;

(viii) Duplicate HPAs have been issued for the same hydraulic project.

(b) The department must provide the permittee or authorized agent with written notification before revoking the HPA.

(c) The department must notify the permittee or authorized agent in writing immediately upon revoking the HPA.

(18) Requesting a preapplication determination:

(a) A person may request information or a technical assistance site visit from the department prior to submitting an HPA application or at any other time. The department will provide the requested information either verbally or in writing.

(b) If a person is unsure about whether proposed construction or other work landward of (above) the ordinary high water line requires an HPA, they may request a preapplication determination from the department under RCW 77.55.400. The department must evaluate the proposed project and determine if it is a hydraulic project and, if so, whether an HPA from the department is required to ensure proper protection of fish life.

(c) The preapplication determination request must be submitted through the department's online permitting system and must contain:

(i) A description of the proposed project, which must include the location of the ordinary high water line;

(ii) A map showing the location of the project site, which must include the location of the ordinary high water line; and

(iii) Preliminary plans and specifications of the proposed project, if available, which include the location of the ordinary high water line.

(d) The department must provide tribes and local governments a seven calendar day review and comment period. The department must consider all applicable written comments that it receives before it issues a determination as described in this subsection.

(e) The department must issue a written determination, including its rationale for the decision, within twenty-one calendar days of receiving the request.

(f) Chapter 43.21C RCW (state environmental policy) does not apply to preapplication determinations issued under this subsection.

(g) The department's preapplication determination decision may be appealed as provided in WAC 220-660-460 (Informal appeal of administrative action) or WAC 220-660-470 (Formal appeal of administrative action).

(19) Notice of intent to disapprove HPA applications:

(a) The department may disapprove HPA applications submitted by a project proponent who has failed to comply with a stop work order or notice to comply issued under WAC 220-660-480, or who has failed to pay civil penalties issued under WAC 220-660-480. The term "project proponent" has the same definition as in RCW 77.55.410.

(b) The department may disapprove HPA applications submitted by such project proponents for up to one year after the date on which the department issues a notice of intent to disapprove HPA applications, or until such project proponent pays all outstanding civil penalties and complies with all notices to comply and stop work orders issued under WAC 220-660-480, whichever is longer (disapproval period).

(c) The department must provide written notice of its intent to disapprove HPA applications to the project proponent and to any authorized agent or landowner identified in the application, in person or via United States mail, to the mailing address(es) listed on the project proponent's HPA application.

(d) The disapproval period begins on the date the department's notice of intent to disapprove HPA applications becomes final. The notice of intent to disapprove HPA applications becomes final thirty calendar days after the department issues it, or upon exhaustion of all applicable administrative and/or judicial remedies.

(e) Any project proponent issued a notice of intent to disapprove HPA applications may, within thirty days of the date of the notice, initiate a formal appeal of the notice as provided in WAC 220-660-470 (Formal appeal of administrative actions).

(f) The department will provide notice and waiver of fines, civil penalties, and administrative sanctions consistent with RCW 34.05.110 and WAC 220-660-480(12).

(1) Description: Mineral prospecting projects excavate, process, or classify aggregate using hand-held mineral prospecting tools and mineral prospecting equipment. When prospectors locate valuable minerals through prospecting, they may attempt to recover larger quantities of the minerals using a variety of equipment, including suction dredges, high bankers, and heavy equipment. The rules in this section apply to ((using))the use of pans; nonmotorized sluice boxes; nonmotorized concentrators; minirocker boxes; and hand-held mineral prospecting tools ((and a variety of small mineral prospecting equipment)). This section does not apply to metals mining and milling operations as defined in chapter 78.56 RCW. Motorized mineral prospecting methods including, but not limited to, suction dredging ((is)), are not authorized in this section. See WAC 220-660-305 for ((suction dredging)) rules for motorized and gravity siphon methods.

(2) Fish life concerns: Mineral prospecting and mining activities can harm fish life and habitat that supports fish life.

(a) Direct impacts from mineral prospecting and mining activities can include:

(i) Mortality from the physical effects of disturbing eggs or fry incubating within the bed; and

(ii) Lower environmental productivity resulting from habitat modifications such as altered stream beds or lowered water quality.

(b) Indirect impacts can include changes in food resources and human disturbances.

(c) The department minimizes impacts of mineral prospecting by restricting the type of mining equipment allowed, limiting excavation zones within streams, and setting allowable timing windows.

(3) General requirements:

(a) A copy of the current Gold and Fish pamphlet is available from the department, and it contains the rules that a person must follow when using the pamphlet as the HPA for the mineral prospecting project.

(b) Alternatively, a person may request exceptions to the Gold and Fish pamphlet by applying for a standard written HPA as described in WAC 220-660-050. The department must deny an HPA when, in the judgment of the department, the project will result in direct or indirect harm to fish life, unless enough mitigation can be assured by provisioning the HPA or modifying the proposal. The department may apply saltwater provisions to written HPAs for tidally influenced areas upstream of river mouths and the mainstem Columbia River downstream of Bonneville Dam.

(c) Nothing in chapter 220-660 WAC relieves a person of the duty to obtain landowner permission and any other required permits before conducting any mineral prospecting activity.

(4) Mineral prospecting in freshwater without timing restrictions:

(a) A person may mineral prospect year-round in all fresh waters of the state, except lakes. A person must follow the rules listed below, but does not need to have the Gold and Fish pamphlet on the job site when working in fresh waters of the state.

(b) When mineral prospecting without timing restrictions, a person may use only hand-held mineral prospecting tools and the following nonmotorized mineral prospecting equipment:

(i) Pans((;

(ii) Spiral wheels)); and

(((iii)))(ii) Sluices, nonmotorized concentrators, mini rocker boxes, and nonmotorized mini high-bankers, with riffle areas totaling three square feet or less, including ganged equipment.

(c) A person may not use vehicle-mounted winches. A person may use one nonmotorized hand-operated winch to move boulders or large woody material that is not embedded or located within the wetted perimeter. A person may use additional cables, chains, or ropes to stabilize boulders, or large woody material that is not embedded.

(d) A person may work within the wetted perimeter only from one-half hour before official sunrise to one-half hour after official sunset.

(e) A person may not disturb fish life or redds within the bed. If a person observes or encounters fish life or redds within the bed, or actively spawning fish when collecting or processing aggregate, a person must relocate their operation. A person must avoid areas containing live freshwater mussels. If a person encounters live mussels during excavation, a person must relocate the operation.

(f) Aggregate excavation, collection, and removal:

(i) A person may excavate only by hand or with hand-held mineral prospecting tools.

(ii) A person may not excavate, collect, or remove aggregate from within the wetted perimeter. See Figures 1 and 2.

(iii) A person may work in only one excavation site at a time. However, a person may use a second excavation site as a settling pond. Multiple persons may work within a single excavation site.

(iv) When collecting or excavating aggregate, a person may not stand within, or allow aggregate to enter, the wetted perimeter.

(v) A person must fill all excavation sites and level all tailing piles before moving to another excavation site or abandoning an excavation site. If a person moves boulders, a person must return them, as well as possible, to their original location.

(vi) A person may not undermine, move, or disturb large woody material embedded in the slopes or located wholly or partially within the wetted perimeter. A person may move large woody material and boulders located entirely within the frequent scour zone, but a person must keep them within the frequent scour zone. A person may not cut large woody material. See Figure 2.

(vii) A person may not undermine, cut, or disturb live, rooted woody vegetation of any kind.

(viii) A person may not excavate, collect, or remove aggregate from the toe of the slope. A person also may not excavate, collect, or remove aggregate from an unstable slope or any slope that delivers, or might deliver sediment to the wetted perimeter or frequent scour zone. See Figures 3 and 4.

(g) Processing aggregate:

(i) A person may stand within the wetted perimeter when processing aggregate with pans((, spiral wheels,)) and sluices.

(ii) A person may not stand on or process directly on redds, or disturb incubating fish life. A person may not allow tailings or visible sediment plumes (visibly muddy water) to enter redds or areas where fish life are located within the bed.

(iii) A person may not level or disturb tailing piles that remain within the wetted perimeter after processing aggregate.

(iv) If a person collected or excavated aggregate outside of the frequent scour zone, a person must classify it at the collection or excavation site before processing.

(v) When using a sluice, a person may process only classified aggregate within the wetted perimeter.

(vi) The maximum width of a sluice, measured at its widest point, including attachments, must not exceed twenty-five percent of the width of the wetted perimeter at the point of placement.

(vii) A person may process with a sluice only in areas within the wetted perimeter that are composed mainly of boulders and bedrock. A person must separate sluice locations by at least fifty feet. A person may not place structures within the wetted perimeter to check or divert the water flow.

(viii) A person may operate nonmotorized mini high-bankers or other concentrators only outside the wetted perimeter. Water may be supplied to the mini high-banker or concentrator only from natural stream flow or from hand-held buckets or containers and may not be supplied through a gravity siphon. A person may not allow visible sediment or muddy water to enter the wetted perimeter. A second excavation site may be used as a settling pond.

(ix) ((As provided in RCW 77.57.010 and 77.57.070, any device a person uses for pumping water from fish-bearing waters must be equipped with a fish guard to prevent fish from entering the pump intake. A person must screen the pump intake with material that has openings no larger than five sixty-fourths inch for square openings, measured side to side, or three thirty-seconds inch diameter for round openings, and the screen must have at least one square inch of functional screen area for every gallon per minute (gpm) of water drawn through it. For example, a one hundred gpm-rated pump would require a screen with a surface area of at least one hundred square inches.

(x))) A person may not excavate, collect, remove, or process aggregate within four hundred feet of any fishway, dam, or hatchery water intake.

(((xi)))(x) A person may not disturb existing fish habitat improvement structures or stream channel improvements.

(((xii) All equipment fueling and servicing must be done so that petroleum products do not enter the wetted perimeter or frequent scour zone. If a petroleum sheen or spill is observed, a person must immediately stop work, remove the equipment from the body of water, and contact the Washington military department emergency management division. A person may not return the equipment to the water until the problem is corrected. A person must store fuel and lubricants outside the frequent scour zone, and in the shade when possible.

(xiii)))(xi) If at any time, as a result of project activities, a person observes a fish kill or fish life in distress, a person must immediately cease operations and notify the department and the Washington military department emergency management division of the problem. A person may not resume work until the department gives approval. The department will require additional measures to mitigate the prospecting impacts.

(5) Mineral prospecting in fresh waters with timing restrictions:

(a) A person may mineral prospect in fresh waters of the state only during the times ((and with the mineral prospecting equipment limitations)) identified in subsection (7) of this section. A person must have the Gold and Fish pamphlet on the job site and comply with the provisions listed below.

(b) When mineral prospecting with timing restrictions, a person may use only nonmotorized hand-held mineral prospecting tools and the following mineral prospecting equipment:

(i) Pans; and

(ii) ((Spiral wheels;

(iii))) Sluices, nonmotorized concentrators, rocker boxes, and nonmotorized high-bankers, with riffle areas totaling ten square feet or less, including ganged equipment((;

(v) High-bankers and power sluices that have riffle areas totaling ten square feet or less, including ganged equipment, and pump intake hoses with inside diameters of four inches or less)). Water may be supplied to the high-banker or concentrator only from natural stream flow or from hand-held buckets or containers and may not be supplied through a gravity siphon;

(iii) No other types of mineral prospecting tools or equipment are authorized under this subsection.

(c) The widest point of a sluice, including attachments, must not exceed twenty-five percent of the width of the wetted perimeter at the point of placement.

(d) ((The suction intake nozzle and hose of power sluice/suction dredge combinations may not be attached to the equipment or stored on the job site.

(e))) A person may not use vehicle-mounted winches. A person may use ((one motorized winch and)) one nonmotorized hand-operated winch to move boulders and large woody material that is not embedded, and additional cables, chains, or ropes to stabilize them.

(((f)))(e) Equipment separation:

(i) A person may use hand-held mineral prospecting tools; pans((; spiral wheels)); or sluices, mini rocker boxes, or nonmotorized mini high-bankers with riffle areas totaling three square feet or less, including ganged equipment, as close to other mineral prospecting equipment as desired.

(ii) When operating any sluice or rocker box with a riffle area larger than three square feet (including ganged equipment), ((power sluice/suction dredge combination,))or nonmotorized high-banker, ((or power sluice within the wetted perimeter,)) a person's equipment must be at least two hundred feet from all others also operating ((this type of equipment or a suction dredge))mineral prospecting equipment. This separation is measured as a radius from the center of the equipment the person is operating. A person may locate this equipment closer than two hundred feet if only one piece of equipment is ((actually operating))being used within that two hundred foot radius.

(iii) When operating any sluice or rocker box with a riffle area larger than three square feet (including ganged equipment), ((power sluice/suction dredge combination, high-banker, or power sluice))or nonmotorized high-banker outside of the wetted perimeter that discharges tailings or wastewater to the wetted perimeter, a person's equipment must be at least two hundred feet from all others also operating ((this type of equipment or a suction dredge))mineral prospecting equipment. This separation is measured as a radius from the center of the equipment the person is operating. A person may locate this equipment closer than two hundred feet if only one piece of equipment is ((actually operating))being used within that two hundred-foot radius.

(((g) As provided in RCW 77.57.010 and 77.57.070, any device a person uses for pumping water from fish-bearing waters must be equipped with a fish guard to prevent fish from entering the pump intake. A person must screen the pump intake with material that has openings no larger than five sixty-fourths inch for square openings, measured side to side, or three thirty-seconds inch diameter for round openings, and the screen must have at least one square inch of functional screen area for every gallon per minute (gpm) of water drawn through it. For example, a one hundred gpm-rated pump would require a screen with a surface area of at least one hundred square inches.

(i)))(f) A person may work within the wetted perimeter or frequent scour zone only from one-half hour before official sunrise to one-half hour after official sunset. If a person's mineral prospecting equipment exceeds one-half the width of the wetted perimeter of the stream, a person must remove the equipment from the wetted perimeter or move it so that at least fifty percent of the wetted perimeter is free of equipment from one-half hour after official sunset to one-half hour before official sunrise.

(((j)))(g) A person may not excavate, collect, remove, or process aggregate within four hundred feet of any fishway, dam, or hatchery water intake.

(((k)))(h) A person must not disturb existing fish habitat improvement structures or stream channel improvements.

(((l)))(i) A person may not undermine, move, or disturb large woody material embedded in the slopes or located wholly or partially within the wetted perimeter. A person may move large woody material and boulders located entirely within the frequent scour zone, but a person must keep them within the frequent scour zone. A person may not cut large woody material.

(((m)))(j) A person may not undermine, cut, or disturb live, rooted woody vegetation of any kind.

(((n)))(k) A person may work in only one excavation site at a time. However, a person may use a second excavation site as a settling pond. Multiple individuals may work within a single excavation site.

(((o)))(l) A person must fill all excavation sites and level all tailing piles before moving to another excavation site or abandoning an excavation site.

(((p)))(m) A person may not excavate, collect, or remove aggregate from the toe of the slope. A person also may not excavate, collect, or remove aggregate from an unstable slope or any slope that delivers, or might deliver, sediment to the wetted perimeter or frequent scour zone. See Figures 5 and 6.

(((q)))(n) A person may partially divert a body of water into mineral prospecting equipment. However, at no time may the diversion structure be greater than fifty percent of the width of the wetted perimeter, including the width of the equipment. A person may not divert the body of water outside of the wetted perimeter.

(((r)))(o) A person may use materials only from within the wetted perimeter, or artificial materials from outside the wetted perimeter, to construct the diversion structure by hand. Before abandoning the site, a person must remove artificial materials used to construct a diversion structure and restore the site to its approximate original condition.

(((s)))(p) A person may process aggregate collected from the frequent scour zone:

(i) At any location if a person uses pans; ((spiral wheels;)) mini rocker boxes; nonmotorized mini high-bankers; or sluices or other nonmotorized concentrators with riffle areas three square feet or less, including ganged equipment.

(ii) Only in the frequent scour zone or upland areas landward of the frequent scour zone if a person uses ((power sluice/suction dredge combinations,))nonmotorized high-bankers((, or power sluices)) with riffle areas totaling ten square feet or less, including ganged equipment; or sluices or rocker boxes that have riffle areas larger than three, but less than ten square feet, including ganged equipment. A person may not discharge tailings to the wetted perimeter when using this equipment. However, a person may discharge wastewater to the wetted perimeter if its entry point into the wetted perimeter is at least two hundred feet from any other wastewater discharge entry point.

(((t)))(q) A person may process aggregate collected from upland areas landward of the frequent scour zone:

(i) At any location if a person uses pans; ((spiral wheels;)) or sluices, nonmotorized concentrators, mini rocker boxes, and nonmotorized mini high-bankers with riffle areas totaling three square feet or less, including ganged equipment. A person must classify the aggregate at the excavation site before processing with this equipment within the wetted perimeter or frequent scour zone.

(ii) Only at an upland location landward of the frequent scour zone if a person uses ((power sluice/suction dredge combinations;))nonmotorized high-bankers((; power sluices;)) or rocker boxes. A person may not allow tailings or wastewater to enter the wetted perimeter or frequent scour zone.

(iii) Within the wetted perimeter or frequent scour zone if a person uses a sluice with a riffle area greater than three square feet. A person must classify the aggregate at the excavation site prior to processing with a sluice with a riffle area exceeding three square feet.

(((u) A person may use pressurized water only for crevicing or for redistributing dredge tailings within the wetted perimeter. No other use of pressurized water is permitted.

(w)))(r) A person must avoid areas containing live freshwater mussels. If a person encounters live mussels during excavation, a person must relocate the operation.

(((x)))(s) A person may not disturb redds. If a person observes or encounters redds or actively spawning fish when collecting or processing aggregate, a person must relocate the operation.

(((y)))(t) If at any time, as a result of project activities, a person observes a fish kill or fish life in distress, a person must immediately stop operations and notify the department and the Washington military department emergency management division of the problem. A person may not resume work until the department gives approval. The department will require additional measures to mitigate the prospecting impacts.

(6) Mineral prospecting on ocean beaches:

(a) A person may mineral prospect year-round on ocean beaches of the state. A person must follow the rules listed below, and must have the Gold and Fish pamphlet on the job site when working on ocean beaches of the state, except as noted in this subsection.

(b) A person may mineral prospect only between the line of ordinary high tide and the line of extreme low tide on beaches within the Seashore Conservation Area set under RCW 79A.05.605 and managed by Washington state parks and recreation commission.

(c) No written or pamphlet HPA is required to mineral prospect south of the Copalis River, if a person operates landward of the upper limit of ghost shrimp burrowing in the beach; waterward of the ordinary high tide line; and a person does not use fresh water from fish-bearing streams during operations. See Figure 7.

(d) A person may use only nonmotorized hand-held mineral prospecting tools and the following nonmotorized mineral prospecting equipment:

(i) Pans; and

(ii) ((Spiral wheels;

(iii))) Sluices, nonmotorized concentrators, rocker boxes, and nonmotorized high-bankers with riffle areas totaling ten square feet or less, including ganged equipment((;

(e) The suction dredge intake nozzle and hose of power sluice/suction dredge combinations may not be attached to the equipment or stored on the job site)).

(((f)))(e) When operated in fish-bearing freshwater streams, the widest point of a sluice, including attachments, must not exceed twenty-five percent of the width of the wetted perimeter at the point of placement.

(g) A person may not use vehicle-mounted winches. A person may use ((one motorized winch and)) one nonmotorized hand-operated winch to move boulders and large woody material that is not embedded, and additional cables, chains, or ropes to stabilize them.

(h) ((Under RCW 77.57.010 and 77.57.070, any device a person uses for pumping water from fish-bearing waters must be equipped with a fish guard to prevent fish from entering the pump intake. A person must screen the pump intake with material that has openings no larger than five sixty-fourths inch for square openings, measured side to side, or three thirty-seconds inch diameter for round openings, and the screen must have at least one square inch of functional screen area for every gallon per minute (gpm) of water drawn through it. For example, a one hundred gpm-rated pump would require a screen with a surface area of at least one hundred square inches.

(j))) A person may work only from one-half hour before official sunrise to one-half hour after official sunset. If a person uses mineral prospecting equipment in a fish-bearing freshwater stream and the equipment exceeds one-half the width of the wetted perimeter of the stream, a person must remove the equipment from the wetted perimeter or move it so that at least fifty percent of the wetted perimeter is free of equipment from one-half hour after official sunset to one-half hour before official sunrise.

(((k)))(i) A person may not undermine, cut, disturb, or move embedded large woody material or woody debris jams.

(((l)))(j) A person may work in only one excavation site at a time. However, a person may use a second excavation site as a settling pond. Multiple persons may work within a single excavation site.

(((m)))(k) A person must backfill all trenches, depressions, or holes created in the beach during project activities before moving to another excavation site (except during use as a settling pond) or leaving an excavation site.

(((n)))(l) A person may partially divert a body of water into mineral prospecting equipment. However, at no time may the diversion structure be greater than fifty percent of the width of the wetted perimeter of a fish-bearing freshwater stream, including the width of the equipment. A person may not divert the body of water outside of the wetted perimeter.

(((o)))(m) A person may use materials only from within the wetted perimeter, or artificial materials from outside the wetted perimeter, to construct the diversion structure by hand. Before abandoning the site, a person must remove artificial materials used to construct a diversion structure and restore the site to its approximate original condition.

(((p) A person may use pressurized water only for redistributing dredge tailings within the wetted perimeter. No other use of pressurized water is permitted.

(q)))(n) A person may not disturb live razor clams or other shellfish within the bed. If a person observes or encounters live razor clams or other shellfish during excavation, the person must relocate the operation.

(((r)))(o) If at any time, as a result of project activities, a person observes a fish kill or fish life in distress, a person must immediately stop operations and notify the department, and the Washington military department emergency management division of the problem. A person may not resume work until the department gives approval. The department will require additional measures to mitigate the prospecting impacts.

(7) Authorized work times by specific state waters for mineral prospecting and placer mining projects:

(a) A person may conduct mineral prospecting and placer mining under subsections (5) and (6) of this section only in the state waters and during the times specified in the following table of authorized work times.

(b) The general work time for a county applies to all state waters within that county unless otherwise indicated in the table.

(c) The work time for state waters identified in the table of authorized work times applies to all its tributaries, unless otherwise indicated. Some state waters occur in multiple counties. Check the table for the county in which mineral prospecting or placer mining is to be conducted to determine the work time for that water body.

(d) Where a tributary is identified as a boundary, that boundary is the line perpendicular to the receiving stream that is projected from the most upstream point of the tributary mouth to the opposite bank of the receiving stream. See Figure 8.

(e) Mineral prospecting and placer mining within water bodies identified in the table of authorized work times as "submit application" are not authorized under the Gold and Fish pamphlet. A person must obtain a standard written HPA to work in these water bodies.

(1) Description:((Suction dredging))Mineral prospecting involving motorized or gravity siphon equipment are projects that excavate, process, ((and))or classify aggregate using small motorized ((or nonmotorized equipment that removes aggregate from the bed, banks, or uplands by means of vacuum created by water flowing through a tube or hose))equipment or pumps. Such methods include, but are not limited to, suction dredges, dryland dredges, power sluice/suction dredge combinations, motorized high-bankers or power sluices, trommels, and spiral wheels. These projects also include methods using gravity siphons that supply water for excavating, processing, or classifying aggregate by means of vacuum created by water flowing through a tube or hose, such as gravity dredges or nonmotorized high-bankers. Bulb snifters are not considered ((suction dredges))motorized or gravity siphon equipment. The rules in this section apply to using motorized ((and nonmotorized suction dredges))or gravity siphon equipment. See WAC 220-660-300 for mineral prospecting with other types of equipment ((other than suction dredges)).

(2) Fish life concerns:((Suction dredging))Mineral prospecting involving motorized or gravity siphon equipment can harm fish life and habitat that supports fish life.

(a) Direct impacts ((from suction dredging)) can include:

(i) Mortality from the physical effects of disturbing eggs or fry incubating within the bed;

(ii) Mortality from passing vulnerable fish through ((suction dredges))equipment; and

(iii) Lower environmental productivity resulting from habitat modifications such as altered stream beds or lowered water quality.

(b) Indirect impacts can include changes in food resources and human disturbances.

(c) The department minimizes impacts ((of suction dredging)) by restricting the type of mining equipment allowed, limiting excavation zones within streams, and setting allowable timing windows.

(d) Aquatic invasive species can be transported on or in ((suction dredges))motorized and gravity siphon equipment and spread between water bodies. This can harm all life stages of fish life and permanently harm, destroy, or alter ecosystems.

(3) General requirements:

(a) Before conducting any ((suction dredging activity))mineral prospecting involving motorized or gravity siphon equipment, a person must obtain the approval of the department through the issuance of a standard, single-site written HPA or standard, multisite written HPA as described in WAC 220-660-050. The department must deny an HPA when, in the judgment of the department, the project will result in direct or indirect harm to fish life, unless enough mitigation can be assured by provisioning the HPA or modifying the proposal. The department may apply saltwater provisions to written HPAs for tidally influenced areas upstream of river mouths and the mainstem Columbia River downstream of Bonneville Dam.

(b) ((When seeking a single site or multisite standard HPA, a person must identify the upstream and downstream extent of each suction dredging location within a stream. The location of each site can be no greater than the length contained within a registered mining claim, if the project occurs on a claim, or one thousand three hundred linear feet of stream, if the project does not occur on a claim.))The department will determine the authorized work time for mineral prospecting activities involving motorized or gravity siphon equipment that discharge water to surface or ground water per WAC 220-660-110.

(c) Nothing in this chapter ((220-660 WAC)) relieves a person of the duty to obtain landowner permission and any other required permits before conducting any mineral prospecting activity.

(4) Aquatic invasive species prevention:

(a) All ((suction dredge))motorized or gravity siphon equipment that has been used in waters outside of Washington state must be inspected for the presence of aquatic invasive species by an authorized department employee or agent before being used in waters of the state.

(b) All ((suction dredge))motorized or gravity siphon equipment used in any water of the state must be decontaminated according to department specification prior to use in a different water of the state.

(5) ((Suction dredging in fresh waters:))Mineral prospecting involving motorized or gravity siphon equipment:

(a) A person may ((suction dredge))operate motorized or gravity siphon equipment in ((fresh)) waters of the state only ((during the times and)) with the mineral prospecting equipment limitations identified in ((subsection (7) of)) this section and during the times identified in the written HPA.

(b) When ((suction dredging))mining using motorized or gravity siphon equipment, a person may use only hand-held mineral prospecting tools and the following mineral prospecting equipment:

(i) Pans;

(v) Motorized or nonmotorized suction dredges that have suction intake nozzles with inside diameters that should be five inches or less, but must be no greater than five and one-quarter inches to account for manufacturing tolerances and possible deformation of the nozzle. The inside diameter of the dredge hose attached to the nozzle may be no greater than one inch larger than the nozzle size. See Figure 1((.));

(((ii)))(vi) Power sluice/suction dredge combinations, when configured and operated as suction dredges, that have suction intake nozzles with inside diameters that should be five inches or less, but must be no greater than five and one-quarter inches to account for manufacturing tolerances and possible deformation of the nozzle. The inside diameter of the dredge hose attached to the suction intake nozzle may be no greater than one inch larger than the nozzle size. See Figure 1((.

(d) Except when operating a dryland dredge, a person may not excavate aggregate outside of the wetted perimeter.));

(e) When operating a dryland dredge:

(i) A person may not excavate, collect, or remove aggregate from the toe of the slope. A person also may not excavate, collect, or remove aggregate from an unstable slope or any slope that delivers, or might deliver, sediment to the wetted perimeter or frequent scour zone. See Figures 2 and 3.

(ii) A person must process aggregate collected from upland areas landward of the frequent scour zone only at an upland location landward of the frequent scour zone. A person may not allow tailings or wastewater to enter the wetted perimeter or frequent scour zone.

(f) A person may not use vehicle-mounted winches. A person may use one motorized winch and one nonmotorized hand-operated winch to move boulders and large woody material that is not embedded, and additional cables, chains, or ropes to stabilize them.

(g) Equipment separation:

(ii) When operating ((a suction dredge or power sluice/suction dredge combination configured and operated as a suction dredge))motorized or gravity siphon equipment other than that identified in (g)(i) of this subsection, a person's equipment must be at least two hundred feet from all others also operating ((this type of equipment or any sluice or rocker box with a riffle area larger than three square feet (including ganged equipment), high-banker, or power sluice))any type of motorized or gravity siphon equipment. This separation is measured as a radius from the center of the equipment the person is operating. A person may locate this equipment closer than two hundred feet if only one piece of equipment is ((actually)) operating within that two hundred foot radius.

(h) ((As provided in RCW 77.57.010 and 77.57.070,))Any device a person uses for ((pumping))removing water from fish-bearing waters must be equipped with a fish guard to prevent fish from entering the ((pump)) intake. A person must screen the ((pump)) intake with material that has openings no larger than five sixty-fourths inch for square openings, measured side to side, or three thirty-seconds inch diameter for round openings, and the screen must have at least one square inch of functional screen area for every gallon per minute (gpm) of water drawn through it. For example, a one hundred gpm-rated pump would require a screen with a surface area of at least one hundred square inches.

(i) All equipment fueling and servicing must be done so that petroleum products do not enter the wetted perimeter or frequent scour zone. If a petroleum sheen or spill is observed, a person must immediately stop work, remove the equipment from the body of water, and contact the Washington military department emergency management division. A person may not return the equipment to the water until the problem is corrected. A person must store fuel and lubricants outside the frequent scour zone, and in the shade when possible.

(j) A person may work within the wetted perimeter or frequent scour zone only from one-half hour before official sunrise to one-half hour after official sunset. If a person's mineral prospecting equipment exceeds one-half the width of the wetted perimeter of the stream, a person must remove the equipment from the wetted perimeter or move it so that at least fifty percent of the wetted perimeter is free of equipment from one-half hour after official sunset to one-half hour before official sunrise.

(k) A person may not excavate, collect, remove, or process aggregate within four hundred feet of any fishway, dam, or hatchery water intake.

(l) A person must not disturb existing fish habitat improvement structures or stream channel improvements.

(m) A person may not undermine, move, or disturb large woody material embedded in the slopes or located wholly or partially within the wetted perimeter. A person may move large woody material and boulders located entirely within the frequent scour zone, but a person must keep them within the frequent scour zone. A person may not cut large woody material.

(n) A person may not undermine, cut, or disturb live, rooted woody vegetation of any kind.

(o) A person may work in only one excavation site at a time. However, you may use a second excavation site as a settling pond. Multiple individuals may work within a single excavation site.

(p) A person must fill all excavation sites and level all tailing piles before moving to another excavation site or abandoning an excavation site.

(((p)))(q) A person may not excavate, collect, or remove aggregate from the toe of the slope. A person also may not excavate, collect, or remove aggregate from an unstable slope or any slope that delivers, or has the potential to deliver, sediment to the wetted perimeter or frequent scour zone.

(((q)))(r) A person may partially divert a body of water into mineral prospecting equipment using natural or artificial materials provided the diversion is constructed by hand. However, at no time may the diversion structure be greater than fifty percent of the width of the wetted perimeter, including the width of the equipment. A person may not divert the body of water outside of the wetted perimeter. Before abandoning the site, a person must remove artificial materials used in the construction of a diversion structure and restore the site to its approximate original condition.

(ii) Only at an upland location landward of the frequent scour zone if a person uses power sluice/suction dredge combinations, high-bankers, or power sluices. A person may not discharge tailings or wastewater into the wetted perimeter or frequent scour zone.

(((r)))(u) A person may use pressurized water only for redistributing dredge tailings within the wetted perimeter, for crevicing using a dryland dredge, or for introducing water under low pressure to an excavation site from the nozzle of a dryland dredge. No other use of pressurized water is permitted.

(((s)))(v) A person may conduct crevicing in the wetted perimeter, in the frequent scour zone, or landward of the frequent scour zone. The hose connecting fittings of pressurized water tools used for crevicing may not have an inside diameter larger than 3/4-inch. If a person crevices landward of the frequent scour zone, a person may not discharge sediment or wastewater to the wetted perimeter or the frequent scour zone.

(w) A person must avoid areas containing live freshwater mussels. If a person encounters live mussels during excavation, a person must relocate the operation.

(((t)))(x) A person may not disturb redds. If a person observes or encounters redds or actively spawning fish when collecting or processing aggregate, a person must relocate the operation.

(((u)))(y) If at any time, as a result of project activities, a person observes a fish kill or fish life in distress, a person must immediately stop operations and notify the department and the Washington military department emergency management division of the problem. A person may not resume work until the department gives approval. The department will require additional measures to mitigate the prospecting impacts.

(6) ((Suction dredging))Mineral prospecting involving motorized or gravity siphon equipment on ocean beaches: A person may ((suction dredge))operate motorized or gravity siphon equipment year-round on ocean beaches of the state. A person must follow the rules listed below:

(a) A person may ((suction dredge))operate only between the line of ordinary high tide and the line of extreme low tide on beaches within the seashore conservation area set under RCW 79A.05.605 and managed by Washington state parks and recreation commission.

(b) When ((suction dredging))operating motorized or gravity siphon equipment, a person may use only hand-held mineral prospecting tools and the ((following mineral prospecting equipment:

(ii) Power sluice/suction dredge combinations, when configured and operated as suction dredges, that have suction intake nozzles with inside diameters that should be five inches or less, but must be no greater than five and one-quarter inches to account for manufacturing tolerances and possible deformation of the nozzle. The inside diameter of the dredge hose attached to the suction intake nozzle may be no greater than one inch larger than the nozzle size))equipment authorized in subsection (5)(b) of this section.

(c) Motorized types of mineral prospecting equipment listed in the previous provision may be used ONLY in waters in Grays Harbor, and Pacific counties that are NOT designated under the Endangered Species Act as critical habitat for salmon, steelhead, or bull trout. A map identifying waters where motorized methods are allowed is available from Washington department of ecology.

(d) A person may not use vehicle-mounted winches. A person may use one ((motorized winch and one))nonmotorized hand-operated winch to move boulders and large woody material that is not embedded, and additional cables, chains, or ropes to stabilize them.

(((d) Under RCW 77.57.010 and 77.57.070,))(e) Any device a person uses for ((pumping))removing water from fish-bearing waters must be equipped with a fish guard to prevent fish from entering the ((pump)) intake. A person must screen the ((pump)) intake with material that has openings no larger than five sixty-fourths inch for square openings, measured side to side, or three thirty-seconds inch diameter for round openings, and the screen must have at least one square inch of functional screen area for every gallon per minute (gpm) of water drawn through it. For example, a one hundred gpm-rated pump would require a screen with a surface area of at least one hundred square inches.

(((e)))(f) All equipment fueling and servicing must be done so that petroleum products do not enter the wetted perimeter. If a petroleum sheen or spill is observed, a person must immediately stop work, remove the equipment from the body of water and beach, and contact the Washington military department emergency management division. A person may not return the equipment to the water or beach until the problem is corrected. A person must store fuel and lubricants away from the water inside a vehicle or landward of the beach, and in the shade when possible.

(((f)))(g) A person may work only from one-half hour before official sunrise to one-half hour after official sunset. ((If a person uses mineral prospecting equipment in a fish-bearing freshwater stream and the equipment exceeds one-half the width of the wetted perimeter of the stream, a person must remove the equipment from the wetted perimeter or move it so that at least fifty percent of the wetted perimeter is free of equipment from one-half hour after official sunset to one-half hour before official sunrise.

(g)))(h) A person may not undermine, cut, disturb, or move embedded large woody material or woody debris jams.

(((h)))(i) A person must backfill all trenches, depressions, or holes created in the beach during project activities before moving to another excavation site (except during use as a settling pond) or leaving an excavation site.

(((i) A person may partially divert a body of water into suction dredges. However, at no time may the diversion structure be greater than fifty percent of the width of the wetted perimeter of a fish-bearing stream, including the width of the equipment. A person may not divert the body of water outside of the wetted perimeter.

(k)))(j) A person may use pressurized water only for redistributing dredge tailings within the wetted perimeter((, for crevicing using a dryland dredge, or for introducing water under low pressure to an excavation site from the nozzle of a dryland dredge)). No other use of pressurized water is permitted.

(((l)))(k) A person may not disturb live razor clams or other shellfish within the bed. If a person observes or encounters live razor clams or other shellfish during excavation, the person must relocate the operation.

(((m)))(l) If at any time, as a result of project activities, a person observes a fish kill or fish life in distress, a person must immediately stop operations and notify the department, and the Washington military department emergency management division of the problem. A person may not resume work until the department gives approval. The department will require additional measures to mitigate the prospecting impacts.

(((7) Authorized work times and suction dredge restrictions by specific state waters for suction dredging projects: