BILL REQ. #: S-0396.1
| State of Washington | 60th Legislature | 2007 Regular Session |
Read first time 01/10/2007. Referred to Committee on Water, Energy & Telecommunications.
AN ACT Relating to phasing out building permit moratoriums for cities with unprocessed water right permit applications; and amending RCW 19.27.097.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec. 1 RCW 19.27.097 and 1995 c 399 s 9 are each amended to read
as follows:
(1) Each applicant for a building permit of a building
necessitating potable water shall provide evidence of an adequate water
supply for the intended use of the building. Evidence may be in the
form of a water right permit from the department of ecology, a letter
from an approved water purveyor stating the ability to provide water,
or another form sufficient to verify the existence of an adequate water
supply. In addition to other authorities, the county or city may
impose conditions on building permits requiring connection to an
existing public water system where the existing system is willing and
able to provide safe and reliable potable water to the applicant with
reasonable economy and efficiency. An application for a water right
shall not be sufficient proof of an adequate water supply.
(2) Within counties not required or not choosing to plan pursuant
to RCW 36.70A.040, the county and the state may mutually determine
those areas in the county in which the requirements of subsection (1)
of this section shall not apply. The departments of health and ecology
shall coordinate on the implementation of this section. Should the
county and the state fail to mutually determine those areas to be
designated pursuant to this subsection, the county may petition the
department of community, trade, and economic development to mediate or,
if necessary, make the determination.
(3) Buildings that do not need potable water facilities are exempt
from the provisions of this section. The department of ecology, after
consultation with local governments, may adopt rules to implement this
section, which may recognize differences between high-growth and low-growth counties.
(4) For the purposes of this section and beginning on the effective
date of this section:
(a) A moratorium on the issuance of building permits within any
city that has had a water right application pending with the department
of ecology for more than five years is deemed void and the moratorium
must be lifted; and
(b) No state, county, or city agency or authority may thereafter
place a moratorium on the issuance of building permits within any city
that has had a water right application pending with the department of
ecology for more than five years.
(5) For the purposes of this section and beginning one year after
the effective date of this section:
(a) A moratorium on the issuance of building permits within any
city that has had a water right application pending with the department
of ecology for more than three years is deemed void and the moratorium
must be lifted; and
(b) No state, county, or city agency or authority may thereafter
place a moratorium on the issuance of building permits within any city
that has had a water right application pending with the department of
ecology for more than three years.
(6) For the purposes of this section and beginning two years after
the effective date of this section:
(a) A moratorium on the issuance of building permits within any
city that has had a water right application pending with the department
of ecology for more than one year is deemed void and the moratorium
must be lifted; and
(b) No state, county, or city agency or authority may thereafter
place a moratorium on the issuance of building permits within any city
that has had a water right application pending with the department of
ecology for more than one year.