BILL REQ. #:  H-1848.1 

READ FIRST TIME 03/05/03.   

     AN ACT Relating to environmental impact statements for class I, II, and III forest practices on state trust lands; amending RCW 43.21C.037; and adding a new section to chapter 79.01 RCW.

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

Sec. 1   RCW 43.21C.037 and 1997 c 173 s 6 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) Decisions pertaining to ((applications for Class I, II, and III forest practices, as defined by rule of the forest practices board under RCW 76.09.050,)) the following are not subject to the requirements of RCW 43.21C.030(2)(c) as now or hereafter amended:
     (a) Applications for class I, II, and III forest practices, as defined by rule of the forest practices board under RCW 76.09.050; and
     (b) Individual sales of timber from state trust lands, including federally granted trust lands, forest board transfer lands, forest board purchase lands, and community college reserve trust lands, that are harvested under a class I, II, or III forest practices application, if a programmatic detailed environmental impact statement has been finalized for the ten-year sustained yield plan required under chapter 79.68 RCW.
     (2) When the applicable county, city, or town requires a license in connection with any proposal involving forest practices (a) on lands platted after January 1, 1960, as provided in chapter 58.17 RCW, (b) on lands that have or are being converted to another use, or (c) on lands which, pursuant to RCW 76.09.070 as now or hereafter amended, are not to be reforested because of the likelihood of future conversion to urban development, then the local government, rather than the department of natural resources, is responsible for any detailed statement required under RCW 43.21C.030(2)(c).
     (3) Those forest practices determined by rule of the forest practices board to have a potential for a substantial impact on the environment, and thus to be Class IV practices, require an evaluation by the department of natural resources as to whether or not a detailed statement must be prepared pursuant to this chapter. The evaluation shall be made within ten days from the date the department receives the application. A Class IV forest practice application must be approved or disapproved by the department within thirty calendar days from the date the department receives the application, unless the department determines that a detailed statement must be made, in which case the application must be approved or disapproved by the department within sixty days from the date the department receives the application, unless the commissioner of public lands, through the promulgation of a formal order, determines that the process cannot be completed within such period. This section shall not be construed to prevent any local or regional governmental entity from determining that a detailed statement must be prepared for an action regarding a Class IV forest practice taken by that governmental entity concerning the land on which forest practices will be conducted.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   A new section is added to chapter 79.01 RCW to read as follows:
     Individual sales of timber from state trust lands, including federally granted trust lands, forest board transfer lands, forest board purchase lands, and community college reserve trust lands, that are harvested under a class I, II, or III forest practices application, are not subject to the requirements of RCW 43.21C.030(2)(c) if a programmatic detailed environmental impact statement has been finalized for the ten-year sustained yield plan required under chapter 79.68 RCW.