SHB 1409 -
By Committee on Natural Resources, Ocean & Recreation
ADOPTED 04/10/2007
Strike everything after the enacting clause and insert the following:
"Sec. 1 RCW 76.09.240 and 2002 c 121 s 2 are each amended to read
as follows:
(1) ((By December 31, 2005, each county and each city shall adopt
ordinances or promulgate regulations setting standards for those Class
IV forest practices regulated by local government. The regulations
shall: (a) Establish minimum standards for Class IV forest practices;
(b) set forth necessary administrative provisions; and (c) establish
procedures for the collection and administration of forest practices
and recording fees as set forth in this chapter.)) On or before December 31, 2008:
(2) Class IV forest practices regulations shall be administered and
enforced by the counties and cities that promulgate them.
(3) The forest practices board shall continue to promulgate
regulations and the department shall continue to administer and enforce
the regulations promulgated by the board in each county and each city
for all forest practices as provided in this chapter until such time
as, in the opinion of the department, the county or city has
promulgated forest practices regulations that meet the requirements as
set forth in this section and that meet or exceed the standards set
forth by the board in regulations in effect at the time the local
regulations are adopted. Regulations promulgated by the county or city
thereafter shall be reviewed in the usual manner set forth for county
or city rules or ordinances. Amendments to local ordinances must meet
or exceed the forest practices rules at the time the local ordinances
are amended.
(a) Department review of the initial regulations promulgated by a
county or city shall take place upon written request by the county or
city. The department, in consultation with the department of ecology,
may approve or disapprove the regulations in whole or in part.
(b) Until January 1, 2006, the department shall provide technical
assistance to all counties or cities that have adopted forest practices
regulations acceptable to the department and that have assumed
regulatory authority over all Class IV forest practices within their
jurisdiction.
(c) Decisions by the department approving or disapproving the
initial regulations promulgated by a county or city may be appealed to
the forest practices appeals board, which has exclusive jurisdiction to
review the department's approval or disapproval of regulations
promulgated by counties and cities.
(4)
(a) Counties planning under RCW 36.70A.040, and the cities and
towns within those counties, where more than a total of twenty-five
Class IV forest practices applications, as defined in RCW 76.09.050(1)
Class IV (a) through (d), have been filed with the department between
January 1, 2003, and December 31, 2005, shall adopt and enforce
ordinances or regulations as provided in subsection (2) of this section
for the following:
(i) Forest practices classified as Class I, II, III, and IV that
are within urban growth areas designated under RCW 36.70A.110, except
for forest practices on ownerships of contiguous forest land equal to
or greater than twenty acres where the forest landowner provides, to
the department and the county, a written statement of intent, signed by
the forest landowner, not to convert to a use other than growing
commercial timber for ten years. This statement must be accompanied by
either:
(A) A written forest management plan acceptable to the department;
or
(B) Documentation that the land is enrolled as forest land of long-term commercial significance under the provisions of chapter 84.33 RCW;
and
(ii) Forest practices classified as Class IV, outside urban growth
areas designated under RCW 36.70A.110, involving either timber harvest
or road construction, or both on:
(A) Lands platted after January 1, 1960, as provided in chapter
58.17 RCW;
(B) Lands that have or are being converted to another use; or
(C) Lands which, under RCW 76.09.070, are not to be reforested
because of the likelihood of future conversion to urban development;
(b) Counties planning under RCW 36.70A.040, and the cities and
towns within those counties, not included in (a) of this subsection,
may adopt and enforce ordinances or regulations as provided in (a) of
this subsection; and
(c) Counties not planning under RCW 36.70A.040, and the cities and
towns within those counties, may adopt and enforce ordinances or
regulations as provided in subsection (2) of this section for forest
practices classified as Class IV involving either timber harvest or
road construction, or both on:
(i) Lands platted after January 1, 1960, as provided in chapter
58.17 RCW;
(ii) Lands that have or are being converted to another use; or
(iii) Lands which, under RCW 76.09.070, are not to be reforested
because of the likelihood of future conversion to urban development.
(2) Before a county, city, or town may regulate forest practices
under subsection (1) of this section, it shall ensure that its critical
areas and development regulations are in compliance with RCW 36.70A.130
and, if applicable, RCW 36.70A.215. The county, city, or town shall
notify the department and the department of ecology in writing sixty
days prior to adoption of the development regulations required in this
section. The transfer of jurisdiction shall not occur until the
county, city, or town has notified the department, the department of
revenue, and the department of ecology in writing of the effective date
of the regulations. Ordinances and regulations adopted under
subsection (1) of this section and this subsection must be consistent
with or supplement development regulations that protect critical areas
pursuant to RCW 36.70A.060, and shall at a minimum include:
(a) Provisions that require appropriate approvals for all phases of
the conversion of forest lands, including land clearing and grading;
and
(b) Procedures for the collection and administration of permit and
recording fees.
(3) Activities regulated by counties, cities, or towns as provided
in subsections (1) and (2) of this section shall be administered and
enforced by those counties, cities, or towns. The department shall not
regulate these activities under this chapter.
(4) The board shall continue to adopt rules and the department
shall continue to administer and enforce those rules in each county,
city, or town for all forest practices as provided in this chapter
until such a time as the county, city, or town has updated its
development regulations as required by RCW 36.70A.130 and, if
applicable, RCW 36.70A.215, and has adopted ordinances or regulations
under subsections (1) and (2) of this section. However, counties,
cities, and towns that have adopted ordinances or regulations regarding
forest practices prior to the effective date of this section are not
required to readopt their ordinances or regulations in order to satisfy
the requirements of this section.
(5) Upon request, the department shall provide technical assistance
to all counties, cities, and towns while they are in the process of
adopting the regulations required by this section, and after the
regulations become effective.
(6) For those forest practices over which the board and the
department maintain regulatory authority no county, city, municipality,
or other local or regional governmental entity shall adopt or enforce
any law, ordinance, or regulation pertaining to forest practices,
except that to the extent otherwise permitted by law, such entities may
exercise any:
(a) Land use planning or zoning authority: PROVIDED, That exercise
of such authority may regulate forest practices only: (i) Where the
application submitted under RCW 76.09.060 as now or hereafter amended
indicates that the lands have been or will be converted to a use other
than commercial forest product production; or (ii) on lands which have
been platted after January 1, 1960, as provided in chapter 58.17 RCW:
PROVIDED, That no permit system solely for forest practices shall be
allowed; that any additional or more stringent regulations shall not be
inconsistent with the forest practices regulations enacted under this
chapter; and such local regulations shall not unreasonably prevent
timber harvesting;
(b) Taxing powers;
(c) Regulatory authority with respect to public health; and
(d) Authority granted by chapter 90.58 RCW, the "Shoreline
Management Act of 1971".
(7) To improve the administration of the forest excise tax created
in chapter 84.33 RCW, a county, city, or town that regulates forest
practices under this section shall report permit information to the
department of revenue for all approved forest practices permits. The
permit information shall be reported to the department of revenue no
later than sixty days after the date the permit was approved and shall
be in a form and manner agreed to by the county, city, or town and the
department of revenue. Permit information includes the landowner's
legal name, address, telephone number, and parcel number.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2 A new section is added to chapter 36.70A RCW
to read as follows:
(1) Each county, city, and town assuming regulation of forest
practices as provided in RCW 76.09.240 (1) and (2) shall adopt
development regulations that:
(a) Protect public resources, as defined in RCW 76.09.020, from
material damage or the potential for material damage;
(b) Require appropriate approvals for all phases of the conversion
of forest lands, including clearing and grading;
(c) Are guided by the planning goals in RCW 36.70A.020 and by the
purposes and policies of the forest practices act as set forth in RCW
76.09.010; and
(d) Are consistent with or supplement development regulations that
protect critical areas pursuant to RCW 36.70A.060.
(2) If necessary, each county, city, or town that assumes
regulation of forest practices under RCW 76.09.240 shall amend its
comprehensive plan to ensure consistency between its comprehensive plan
and development regulations.
(3) Before a county, city, or town may regulate forest practices
under RCW 76.09.240 (1) and (2), it shall update its development
regulations as required by RCW 36.70A.130 and, if applicable, RCW
36.70A.215. Forest practices regulations adopted under RCW 76.09.240
(1) and (2) may be adopted as part of the legislative action taken
under RCW 36.70A.130 or 36.70A.215."
SHB 1409 -
By Committee on Natural Resources, Ocean & Recreation
ADOPTED 04/10/2007
On page 1, line 2 of the title, after "governments;" strike the remainder of the title and insert "amending RCW 76.09.240; and adding a new section to chapter 36.70A RCW."
EFFECT: Specifies that local conversion related forest practices regulations must be consistent with or supplement local critical areas ordinances.