BP BHEAD INT S

AN ACT Relating to habitat mitigation; adding new sections to chapter 90.48 RCW; and adding new sections to chapter 75.20 RCW.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. A new section is added to chapter 90.48 RCW to read as follows:

The legislature finds that compensatory mitigation is a valuable tool for offsetting the habitat impacts of necessary development, and recognizes that mitigating the impacts of development actions on wetlands and other aquatic habitats is a central premise of federal and state habitat protection programs.

The legislature further finds that many public and private habitat mitigation efforts offer an important and timely opportunity to improve the state's aquatic resources, including fish habitat, riparian corridors, and wetlands. These mitigation efforts may include the protection, restoration, creation, enhancement, or preservation of wetlands and aquatic habitats.

Because of these findings, permitting and regulatory actions related to habitat that occur under this chapter shall allow advanced compensatory mitigation for development actions that are consistent with the mitigation element of a development plan. Permitting and implementation of advanced compensatory mitigation actions for a development plan may occur prior to the permitting of the development plan or a portion thereof. The department must recognize that allowable mitigation boundaries are not narrowly limited to the project site. When equal or better habitat value may be attained elsewhere within the watershed or bay, the department must exercise its powers under this chapter in a manner that accounts for this habitat value, and must give equal consideration to mitigation efforts that address known habitat needs within the watershed or bay.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. A new section is added to chapter 90.48 RCW to read as follows:

Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the definitions in this section apply throughout sections 1 and 3 of this act.

(1) "Mitigation" means sequentially avoiding impacts, minimizing impacts, and compensating for remaining unavoidable impacts.

(2) "Compensatory mitigation" means the protection, restoration, creation, enhancement, or preservation of wetlands or other aquatic habitats for the purpose of offsetting the adverse environmental impacts of a project to wetlands or other aquatic habitats.

(3) "Advance compensatory mitigation" means providing compensatory mitigation prior to impacting wetlands or aquatic habitats.

(4) "Development plan" means a joint discussion between a project proponent and environmental regulatory agencies that leads a document or set of documents that describe a plan of development and the compensatory mitigation that accompanies it. A development plan may be, but is not required to be, a part of a larger planning process including a local comprehensive land use plan, the state multimodal transportation plan, a bay-wide plan, or a watershed plan.

(5) "Watershed" means the water resource inventory areas defined by the state.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. A new section is added to chapter 90.48 RCW to read as follows:

The legislature finds that mitigating for unavoidable impacts to wetlands, fish habitat, and other aquatic habitat is often more environmentally beneficial when it is planned prior to the project's environmental impacts. Permitting and regulatory actions related to advance compensation of habitat should recognize that it is a valuable tool for development plans that may include both small and large projects. Advanced compensatory mitigation for development plans provides several benefits including:

(1) Advanced compensatory mitigation could reduce permit processing times for development plans, and could be more cost-effective than individual development projects;

(2) Advanced compensatory mitigation is typically implemented prior to development impacts, and therefore minimizes temporary losses of natural resource functions and reduces uncertainty over the success of the mitigation project;

(3) Advanced habitat compensatory mitigation provides additional opportunities for volunteer groups or other organizations that wish to contribute towards the goal of increasing the ecological health of watersheds and bays;

(4) The integrity of natural resource systems may be maintained most beneficially by large or connected parcels of habitat; and

(5) Financial, planning, and scientific resources not available to many project-specific mitigation proposals may be brought together in a manner that increases the potential for improving overall watershed function.

Public entities, and entities that implement the state multimodal transportation plan contained in chapter 47.06 RCW, are particularly likely to successfully use advance compensatory mitigation to benefit the overall natural resource values of a watershed or bay, because of their increased accountability, permanent nature, and long-range planning abilities.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. A new section is added to chapter 75.20 RCW to read as follows:

Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the definitions in this section apply throughout section 5 of this act.

(1) "Mitigation" means sequentially avoiding impacts, minimizing impacts, and compensating for remaining unavoidable impacts.

(3) "Advance compensatory mitigation" means providing compensatory mitigation prior to impacting wetlands or aquatic habitats.

(5) "Watershed" means the water resource inventory areas defined by the state.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. A new section is added to chapter 75.20 RCW to read as follows:

In making decisions regarding the impacts of a proposed project on fish life, and in the determination of appropriate mitigation actions for hydraulic project approvals, the department must not limit the scope of mitigation options to areas within or on the project site, or to habitat types of the same type as contained on the project site. The department must give equal consideration to mitigation plans that improve or protect overall habitat for fish life within the watershed, estuary, or bay, and to consider mitigation and development plans that provide advance habitat compensation for future habitat impacts.