SB 6481 -
By Committee on Agriculture & Natural Resources
ADOPTED 02/28/2010
Strike everything after the enacting clause and insert the following:
"Sec. 1 RCW 76.09.240 and 2007 c 236 s 1 and 2007 c 106 s 6 are
each reenacted and amended to read as follows:
(1) ((On or before December 31, 2008:))
(a) Counties planning under RCW 36.70A.040 with a population
greater than one hundred thousand, 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 July 22, 2007, 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) All counties and cities adopting or enforcing regulations or
ordinances under this section shall include in the regulation or
ordinance a requirement that a verification accompany every permit
issued for forest land by that county or city associated with the
conversion to a use other than commercial timber operation, as that
term is defined in RCW 76.09.020, that verifies that the land in
question is not or has not been subject to a notice of conversion to
nonforestry uses under RCW 76.09.060 during the six-year period prior
to the submission of a permit application.
(8) 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."
Correct the title.
EFFECT: Retains the reference to counties planning under the growth management act.