HOUSE BILL REPORT
HB 1544
As Reported by House Committee On:
Environment & Energy
Title: An act relating to shoreline master program review schedules.
Brief Description: Concerning shoreline master program review schedules.
Sponsors: Representatives Alvarado, Tharinger, Pollet and Duerr.
Brief History:
Committee Activity:
Environment & Energy: 1/30/23, 2/2/23 [DP].
Brief Summary of Bill
  • Increases the review and revision cycle for Shoreline Master Programs from eight to 10 years.
  • Extends by one year the date by which the next round of Shoreline Master Program reviews and revisions are due.
HOUSE COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENT & ENERGY
Majority Report: Do pass.Signed by 15 members:Representatives Doglio, Chair; Mena, Vice Chair; Dye, Ranking Minority Member; Ybarra, Assistant Ranking Minority Member; Abbarno, Barnard, Berry, Couture, Duerr, Fey, Goehner, Lekanoff, Ramel, Slatter and Street.
Staff: Robert Hatfield (786-7117).
Background:

The Shoreline Management Act requires all counties, as well as most towns and cities, to develop and implement Shoreline Master Programs.  These programs are designed to help regulate and protect the shorelines of the state.  The Department of Ecology has adopted Shoreline Master Program Guidelines to provide standards for adopting and implementing shoreline programs. 
 
Counties and cities must review and revise their master programs every eight years.  The next round of revisions and reviews are due in the following years for the following groups of counties and the cities within them:

  • June 30, 2028, for King, Kitsap, Pierce, and Snohomish counties;
  • June 30, 2029, for Clallam, Clark, Island, Jefferson, Lewis, Mason, San Juan, Skagit, Thurston, and Whatcom counties;
  • June 30, 2030, for Benton, Chelan, Cowlitz, Douglas, Franklin, Kittitas, Skamania, Spokane, Walla Walla, and Yakima counties; and
  • June 30, 2031, for Adams, Asotin, Columbia, Ferry, Garfield, Grant, Grays Harbor, Klickitat, Lincoln, Okanogan, Pacific, Pend Oreille, Stevens, Wahkiakum, and Whitman counties.
Summary of Bill:

Shoreline Master Programs must be reviewed and revised every 10 years, rather than every eight years.  In addition, the next year by which Shoreline Master Programs must be reviewed and revised is moved back by one year, so that the next round of reviews and revisions are due in the following years for the following groups of counties and the cities within them:

  • June 30, 2029, for King, Kitsap, Pierce, and Snohomish counties;
  • June 30, 2030, for Clallam, Clark, Island, Jefferson, Lewis, Mason, San Juan, Skagit, Thurston, and Whatcom counties;
  • June 30, 2031, for Benton, Chelan, Cowlitz, Douglas, Franklin, Kittitas, Skamania, Spokane, Walla Walla, and Yakima counties; and
  • June 30, 2032, for Adams, Asotin, Columbia, Ferry, Garfield, Grant, Grays Harbor, Klickitat, Lincoln, Okanogan, Pacific, Pend Oreille, Stevens, Wahkiakum, and Whitman counties. 
Appropriation: None.
Fiscal Note: Available.
Effective Date: The bill contains multiple effective dates. Please see the bill.
Staff Summary of Public Testimony:

(In support) This bill concept came out of the recent Growth Management Act (GMA) roadmap stakeholder process; modifying the timing of updates to shoreline master programs under the Shoreline Management Act was one of the recommendations.  Updates to comprehensive plans under the GMA recently moved to a 10-year cycle, and this bill complements so that the two sets of plans are due on a staggered schedule every five years.

 

There are approximately 3,026 miles of shorelines along Puget Sound, and many thousands of miles more of shorelines across the entire state.  This bill passed the House of Representatives last year, it just ran out of time in the Senate.

 

(Opposed) The Department of Ecology has said they do not need to address ocean emissions.  There is not a single shoreline master program that addresses ocean emissions.  Nobody is tracking ocean emissions.
Persons Testifying: (In support) Representative Emily Alvarado, prime sponsor; and Tim Gates, Department of Ecology.
(Opposed) John Worthington.
Persons Signed In To Testify But Not Testifying: None.