WSR 01-20-021

PROPOSED RULES

SHORELINES HEARINGS BOARD


[ Filed September 24, 2001, 1:08 p.m. ]

Original Notice.

Exempt from preproposal statement of inquiry under RCW 34.05.310(4).

Title of Rule: Amendments to WAC 461-08-355 Service of petitions for review with department and attorney general -- Intervention by the department and attorney general.

Purpose: The purpose of this amendment is to clarify who is the proper person or entity that should be served at local government.

Statutory Authority for Adoption: RCW 90.58.175.

Statute Being Implemented: Chapter 90.58 RCW.

Summary: This amendment specifies that service shall be made on the person identified by the local government in the permit decision to receive service, or on the department within local government that made the decision, or pursuant to RCW 4.28.080.

Reasons Supporting Proposal: The law currently does not designate who in local government should be served which has resulted in several challenges to appeals being filed. Clarity in the law provides certainty to all parties so that unnecessary litigation on procedural matters can be avoided.

Name of Agency Personnel Responsible for Drafting: Deborah L. Mull, Environmental Hearings Office, (360) 459-6327; Implementation and Enforcement: Robert V. Jensen, Environmental Hearings Office, (360) 459-6327.

Name of Proponent: Shorelines Hearings Board, governmental.

Rule is not necessitated by federal law, federal or state court decision.

Explanation of Rule, its Purpose, and Anticipated Effects: The amendments provide clarification of who in local government should be served when appealing a shoreline permit decision. The rule provides that service shall be made on the person identified by the local government in the permit decision to receive service, or on the department within local government that made the decision, or pursuant to RCW 4.28.080. The purpose of the rule is to clarify the law so that unnecessary litigation on procedural matters will not occur. It is expected that the proposed clarifications will provide certainty to appellants about whom they should serve. It is also expected that the proposed clarifications will avoid service on local government that is not contemplated to reach the appropriate personnel within that local government.

Proposal Changes the Following Existing Rules: The proposed amendments would change WAC 461-08-355 to clarify who within local government must be served an appeal of a shoreline decision.

No small business economic impact statement has been prepared under chapter 19.85 RCW. The preparation of a small economic impact statement is not required for adoption of rules described in RCW 34.05.310(4). The proposed amendment is a rule described in RCW 34.05.310(4). Specifically, the proposed amendment is an amendment of a rule that adopts, amends or repeals "a procedure, practice, or requirement relating to agency hearings."

RCW 34.05.328 does not apply to this rule adoption. The Shorelines Hearings Board is not an agency specifically listed in RCW 34.05.328.

Hearing Location: Environmental Hearings Office, 4224 6th Avenue S.E., Lacey, WA, on November 30, 2001, at 10:00 a.m.

Assistance for Persons with Disabilities: Contact Deborah L. Mull by November 16, 2001.

Submit Written Comments to: Deborah L. Mull, Environmental Hearings Office, P.O. Box 40903, Lacey, WA 98504-0903, fax (360) 438-7699, by December 21, 2001.

Date of Intended Adoption: January 14, 2002.

September 24, 2001

Deborah L. Mull

Administrative Appeals Judge


AMENDATORY SECTION(Amending WSR 99-23-038, filed 11/12/99)

WAC 461-08-355   Service of petitions for review with department and attorney general -- Intervention by the department and attorney general.   (1) For a petition pertaining to a local government's final decision on a permit, the petitioner shall serve a copy of the petition with the department, the attorney general and that local government within seven days of filing the petition with the board.

(2) Within fifteen days of the date of receipt of the petition for review described in subsection (1) of this section, the department or the attorney general may intervene in the case before the board to protect the public interest and to insure compliance with chapter 90.58 RCW. Nothing in WAC 461-08-345, setting a twenty-one day limit on when the department or the attorney general can directly file a petition for review, limits the right of the department or attorney general to intervene under this section in a board proceeding.

(3) Service on the local government shall be accomplished in one of the following ways:

(a) The petitioner shall serve local government as designated on the permit decision within seven days of filing the petition with the board, or

(b) The petitioner shall serve the department or office within the local government that issued the permit decision within seven days of filing the petition with the board, or

(c) The petitioner shall serve local government pursuant to RCW 4.28.080 within seven days of filing the petition with the board.

(4) (3) When the petitioner is not the permit applicant, the petitioner shall serve the permit applicant with a copy of the petition for review.

(5) For purposes of this rule, service shall be the date of mailing.

(6) The board may dismiss a petition for review where there has not been substantial compliance with the filing and service requirements of RCW 90.58.180 and this rule. Substantial compliance will include actual notice of a petition for review.

[Statutory Authority: RCW 90.58.175. 99-23-038, 461-08-355, filed 11/12/99, effective 12/13/99; 96-15-002, 461-08-355, filed 7/3/96, effective 8/3/96.]

Reviser's note: The typographical error in the above section occurred in the copy filed by the agency and appears in the Register pursuant to the requirements of RCW 34.08.040.

Washington State Code Reviser's Office