AN ACT Relating to aquaculture; adding new sections to chapter 90.58 RCW; and creating new sections.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds that:

(1) Some forms of aquaculture have potential for long-term benefit if carefully regulated, appropriately sited, and properly managed based on guidelines and criteria that recognize potential impacts as well as advantages;

(2) Aquacultural practices and activities are diverse and generate substantially different impacts depending on the type of aquaculture employed. Some aquacultural uses are relatively passive and benign, with little or no potential for adverse environmental or aesthetic impact or for interference with existing water or land uses. Other aquacultural uses that require structural, chemical, nutrient, or other additions to the aquatic environment have a much greater potential for adverse environmental or aesthetic impact or for interference with existing water and land uses. Recognition of this diversity of aquacultural uses and impacts requires that preference be given to those forms of aquaculture that involve the least potential for adverse impact, while carefully regulating those forms which entail greater potential harm;

(3) Aquaculture is in an incipient stage in Washington and the assessment of its potential environmental impacts is hampered by insufficient information. Site monitoring of aquaculture facilities, field studies, and further research are important and are necessary to evaluate and minimize the environmental effects of aquaculture;

(4) While some forms of aquaculture may represent a net economic benefit to the state at little or no environmental cost, other forms may cause environmental costs and may displace existing industries and uses without providing a net benefit to the state and its people.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. Certain forms of aquaculture may be considered preferred uses of the shorelines and aquatic environment only if they:

(1) Are consistent with the maintenance of water quality, the control of pollution, and the prevention of adverse environmental effects;

(2) Do not displace or adversely interfere with existing uses nor present potential for such interference with potential uses of the aquatic environment, the shorelines, or adjacent uplands, including fishing or related uses of either sport or commercial value;

(3) Do not substantially interfere with navigation and navigational access of upland property owners;

(4) Do not interfere with wildlife habitats; and

(5) Do not impair the aesthetic quality of the shoreline and aquatic environment.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. (1) The department shall adopt rules that establish a preference scale of aquacultural practices, taking into account the following:

(a) Aesthetic impact;

(b) Impact on navigation, including commercial navigation and navigational access of upland property owners;

(c) Potential use of antibiotics, pesticides, or other additives with potential of harm to the environment, including wildlife and human populations;

(d) Impact on water quality as measured by such factors as estimated production of fecal waste, and production of waste from feeding, fertilization, and harvesting operations;

(e) Potential for interference with benthic organisms;

(f) Potential for interference with marine mammals or other wildlife;

(g) Potential for interference with commercial and sport fishing and other recreational uses of shoreline and aquatic environment;

(h) Potential for interference with public use of shorelines;

(i) Methods of harvesting and processing of aquaculture products; and

(j) Any other factors that may involve adverse environmental or other impacts.

(2) Aquaculture practices that have little or no potential for adverse impact, according to local jurisdictions' analyses of the factors in subsection (1) of this section may be considered preferred uses of the aquatic environment under the shoreline management act. Little or no potential for adverse impact means no probable significant impact. Other aquacultural practices such as salmon net pens shall be considered secondary, conditional uses by the local jurisdictions in reviewing aquaculture applications under the shoreline management act and their local shoreline master programs. Such uses may be approved only if subject to specific enforceable conditions that eliminate or substantially mitigate potential adverse impacts. The conditions of approval shall be amenable to monitoring and enforcement by the local governing agency without unreasonable expenditure of time or resources. The costs of enforcing the conditions of approval shall be borne by the permittee.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. The department shall adopt rules that establish requirements for baseline and operational monitoring of environmental conditions of aquaculture sites. The department shall establish minimum water quality standards that shall be applied to the monitored data to ensure maintenance of these minimum standards.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. A site characterization study shall be required by local jurisdictions before application for each substantial development permit for an aquaculture facility. The survey shall be done after consultation with appropriate local and state officials.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. Applicants for experimental aquaculture projects by private, for profit entities shall be subject to the same criteria and guidelines that apply to nonexperimental aquaculture projects.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. The department shall adopt rules requiring consideration of the combined or cumulative impacts of the water-based component and the adjacent land-based component of an aquaculture proposal. All applications for a substantial development permit for an aquaculture project shall include comprehensive information on the handling and processing of aquacultural products and on any other land-based activities related to the aquaculture operation. Local government review of a substantial development permit application shall include consideration of this information.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 8. By July 1, 1990, the department shall prepare a programmatic environmental impact statement that addresses the cumulative impact of salmon net pen farming in Puget Sound. A moratorium shall be imposed on all future substantial development permits for salmon net pens pending the completion of a programmatic environmental impact statement. However, no such programmatic environmental impact statement may substitute for site-specific review under the state environmental policy act of applications for active aquaculture activities such as salmon pens.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 9. By July 1, 1990, local governing bodies shall draft amendments to their local shoreline management plans to incorporate the policies and provisions of this act. Such amendments may be more, but not less, protective of the aquatic environment than this act.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 10. Sections 2 through 7 of this act are each added to chapter 90.58 RCW.