BILL REQ. #:  H-5142.1 

READ FIRST TIME 02/04/08.   

     AN ACT Relating to requiring the department of fish and wildlife to identify acceptable stabilization projects for landowners; adding a new section to chapter 77.55 RCW.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   A new section is added to chapter 77.55 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) The department shall provide technical assistance, including the provision of conceptual designs and general engineering criteria, in the assessment and selection of appropriate bank protection techniques from the integrated streambank protection guidelines developed by the department.
     (2) The department shall identify appropriate bank protection technologies from the integrated streambank protection guidelines among which riparian landowners may choose from in order to protect their property from flood damage. Each model bank stabilization method must provide for adequate protection of fish life while providing for the protection of riparian property from flood water.
     (3) Each bank protection technique identified by the department must include general engineering and design criteria as to its proper use. This criteria may include information as to the project's dimensions in relation to appropriate design flows, up to but not exceeding a one hundred year flood level, how far before and after a river bend the project must extend, the proper bank toe treatment, and other criteria identified by the department as necessary for the application of a particular model method.
     (4) Of the bank protection techniques identified by the department under this section, at least one must utilize only rock products, one must utilize only woody debris or other organic material, and one must utilize a combination of rock and woody material.
     (5) In addition to the engineering details about the bank protection techniques, the department must also provide comparative information relating to the estimated materials and engineering cost to the landowner for each technique.
     (6) Nothing in this section precludes a landowner from engineering a bank stabilization project not identified by the department under this section as long as the project is completed in a manner consistent with the requirements of this chapter.
     (7) The integrated streambank protection guidelines are intended to be an evolving document based on best available science and must be updated on a regular basis, no less than once every five years, to provide a source of best available science to aid landowners in the selection and design of bank protection projects.