1441-S AMH KREM ANDE 1 [1]

SHB 1441 - H AMD 000217 FAILED 03-17-93

By Representatives Kremen and Linville

On page 21, after line 26, insert the following:

"NEW SECTION. Sec. 502. A new section is added to chapter 75.20 RCW to read as follows:

The permitting department may impose the following conditions on persons applying under RCW 75.20.100 or 75.20.103:

(1) The permittee shall establish an excavation line. "Excavation line" means a line on the dry bed, parallel to the water's edge that unless otherwise stated, changes with water level fluctuations.

(2) The permittee may not remove bed material from the water side of the excavation line.

(3) The permittee shall begin excavating at the excavation line and proceed toward the bank, perpendicular to the alignment of the watercourse.

(4) The permittee shall keep the maximum distance of excavation toward the bank from the excavation line approximately equal throughout the excavation zone. "Excavation zone" means the area between the excavation line and the bank.

(5) The permittee shall identify the excavation zone with boundary markers.

(6) The permittee shall maintain a minimum one-half percent gradient upward from the excavation line in the excavation zone.

(7) The permittee shall ensure that the excavation zone is free of pits or potholes.

(8) The permittee shall not stockpile or spoil excavated materials within the ordinary high water line except from June 15 to October 15.

(9) The permittee may not allow any equipment within the wetted perimeter of the watercourse without specific permission.

(10) The permittee shall dispose of debris in the excavation zone so it does not reenter the watercourse.

(11) The permittee may not perform gravel washing or crushing operations below the ordinary high water line.

(12) The permittee shall be allowed to remove only that amount of rock, sand, gravel, or silt which is naturally replenished on an annual basis, except in instances where a lapse in material removal has occurred. If such lapse has occurred, then an amount of material equivalent to the amount estimated to have accumulated since the last material removal operation, including debris and vegetation, may be removed.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 503. A new section is added to chapter 79.90 RCW to read as follows:

(1) Use or modification, or both, of any river system must involve basic hydraulic principles, as well as harmonize as much as possible with existing aquatic ecosystems, and human needs.

(2) The department, commissioner, and board shall:

(a) Give priority consideration to the preservation of the streamway environment with special attention given to preservation of those areas considered aesthetically or environmentally unique;

(b) Encourage bank and island stabilization programs which rely mainly on natural vegetative systems as holding elements;

(d) Recognize natural plant and animal communities and other features that provide an ecological balance to a streamway in evaluating competing human uses and require protection from significant human impact; and

(e) Recognize that hydraulic conditions may require the installation of riprap or other similar measure to further protect natural systems of stabilization.

(3) No person may remove normal stream depositions of logs, uprooted tree snags, and stumps which abut on shorelands and do not intrude on the navigational channel or reduce flow, or adversely redirect a river course, and are not harmful to life and property without the department's permission but the department must consider the need to protect the resultant dependent aquatic systems.

(4) No person may fill indentations such as mudholes, eddies, pools, and aeration drops without permission of the department.

(5) The department may permit river channel relocations only when an overriding public benefit can be shown. Filling, grading, lagooning, or dredging which would result in substantial detriment to navigable waters by reason of erosion, sedimentation, or impairment of fish and aquatic life are not authorized.

(6) No person may remove sand and gravel below the wetted perimeter of navigable rivers unless authorized by a hydraulics permit issued by either the department of fisheries or department of wildlife under RCW 75.20.100 and 75.20.103. These removals may be authorized for maintenance and improvement of navigational channels or for creating backwater channels for fish rearing or improvement of the flow capacity of the channels.

(7) The department may allow sand and gravel removals above the wetted perimeter of a navigable river which are not harmful to public health and safety when any or all of the following situations exist:

(a) The removal is designed to create or improve a feature such as a pond, wetland, or other habitat valuable for fish and wildlife;

(b) The removal provides recreational benefits;

(c) The removal will aid in reducing a detrimental accumulation of aggregates in downstream lakes, reservoirs, and river beds;

(d) The removal will aid in reducing damage to private or public land and property abutting a navigable river; or

(e) The removal will contribute to increased flood protection for private or public land.

(8) The department may not allow sand and gravel removals above the wetted perimeter of a navigable river when:

(a) The location of such material is below a dam and has inadequate supplementary feeding of gravel or sand;

(b) Removal will cause unstable hydraulic conditions detrimental to fish, wildlife, public health, and safety; or

(9) No person may perform bank dumping or junk revetment on aquatic lands.

(10) The department shall condition sand and gravel removal leases to allow removal of only that amount which is naturally replenished on an annual basis, except in instances where a lapse in material removal has occurred. If such a lapse has occurred, then an amount of material equivalent to the amount estimated to have accumulated since the last material removal operation, including debris and vegetation, may be removed.

Sec. 504. RCW 79.90.150 and 1991 c 337 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:

When gravel, rock, sand, silt or other material from any aquatic lands is removed by any public agency or under public contract for channel or harbor improvement, or flood control, use of such material may be authorized by the department of natural resources for a public purpose on land owned or leased by the state or any municipality, county, or public corporation: PROVIDED, That when no public land site is available for deposit of such material, its deposit on private land with the landowner's permission is authorized and may be designated by the department of natural resources to be for a public purpose. Prior to removal and use, the state agency, municipality, county, or public corporation contemplating or arranging such use shall first obtain written permission from the department of natural resources. No payment of royalty shall be required for such gravel, rock, sand, silt, or other material used for such public purpose, but a charge will be made if such material is subsequently sold or used for some other purpose: PROVIDED, That the department may authorize such public agency or private landowner to dispose of such material without charge when necessary to implement disposal of material; PROVIDED FURTHER, That no charge may be required for removal or use of such material if the removal of the material is determined by the municipality, county, or public corporation with jurisdiction to provide a flood control benefit. No charge shall be required for any use of the material obtained under the provisions of this chapter when used solely on an authorized site. No charge shall be required for any use of the material obtained under the provisions of this chapter if the material is used for public purposes by local governments. Public purposes include, but are not limited to, construction and maintenance of roads, dikes, and ((~~levies~~)) levees. Nothing in this section shall repeal or modify the provisions of RCW 75.20.100 or eliminate the necessity of obtaining a permit for such removal from other state or federal agencies as otherwise required by law."