BILL REQ. #:  H-4065.1 

Read first time 01/21/2004.   Referred to Committee on Fisheries, Ecology & Parks.

     AN ACT Relating to establishing permit processing timelines and reporting requirements for state agencies; and adding a new chapter to Title 43 RCW.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   The legislature finds that the timely issuance of project permit decisions by the department of ecology and the department of fish and wildlife serves the public interest. When these decisions, that are often responses to environmental permit applications, are issued according to specific and established time periods and without unnecessary or inappropriate delays, the public enjoys greater efficiency, consistency, and predictability in the permitting process.
     The legislature also finds that full access to relevant performance data produced annually by the department of ecology and the department of fish and wildlife for each type of permit application affords elected officials, project proponents, and the general public the opportunity to review and compare the permit application and processing performance of agencies. Furthermore, the legislature finds that the review and comparison of this data, and the requirement to provide convenient and direct internet access to germane and consistent reports, will likely foster improved methods for processing applications, and issuing project permit decisions in a timely manner.
     The legislature, therefore, intends to establish requirements for the department of ecology and the department of fish and wildlife to produce and provide access to annual permitting performance reports.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   (1) Development regulations adopted by the department of ecology and the department of fish and wildlife must establish and implement time periods for agency actions for each type of project permit application and provide timely and predictable procedures to determine whether a completed project permit application meets the requirements of those development regulations. The time periods for agency actions for each type of complete project permit application or project type should not exceed one hundred twenty days, unless the agency makes written findings that a specified amount of additional time is needed to process specific complete project permit applications or project types.
     The development regulations must, for each type of permit application, specify the contents of a completed project permit application necessary for the complete compliance with the time periods and procedures.
     (2)(a) The department of ecology and the department of fish and wildlife must, for each type of permit application, identify the total number of project permit applications for which decisions are issued according to the provisions of this section. For each type of project permit application identified, these agencies must establish and implement a deadline for issuing a notice of final decision as required by subsection (1) of this section and minimum requirements for applications to be deemed complete as required by subsection (1) of this section.
     (b) The department of ecology and the department of fish and wildlife must prepare annual performance reports that include, at a minimum, the following information for each type of project permit application identified in accordance with the requirements of (a) of this subsection:
     (i) Total number of complete applications received during the year;
     (ii) Number of complete applications received during the year for which a notice of final decision was issued before the deadline established under this subsection;
     (iii) Number of applications received during the year for which a notice of final decision was issued after the deadline established under this subsection;
     (iv) Number of applications received during the year for which an extension of time was mutually agreed upon by the applicant and the agency;
     (v) Variance of actual performance, excluding applications for which mutually agreed time extensions have occurred, to the deadline established under this subsection during the year; and
     (vi) The mean processing time and the number standard deviation from the mean.
     (c) State agencies subject to the requirements of this subsection must:
     (i) Provide notice of and access to the annual performance reports through the agency's web site; and
     (ii) Post electronic facsimiles of the annual performance reports through the agency's web site. Postings on an agency's web site indicating that the reports are available by contacting the appropriate agency, department, or official do not comply with the requirements of this subsection.
     If an agency subject to the requirements of this subsection does not maintain a web site, notice of the reports must be given by reasonable methods.
     (3) Nothing in this section prohibits an agency from extending a deadline for issuing a decision for a specific project permit application for any reasonable period of time mutually agreed upon by the applicant and the agency.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   Sections 1 and 2 of this act constitute a new chapter in Title 43 RCW.