Changes proposed
for SEPA notification requirements
CPR has received proposed changes from Rep. Skinner's office
to the RCW for notification on land use projects. Rep Skinner
made a commitment to CPR in a recent conversation to provide this
information and look at recommending changes in legislation. Of
course, the objective is to ensure more adequate notification
to all interested/affected parties. Please let
CPR know if you have any suggestions or concerns in the language
and we will prepare a response.
Recent Correspondence from Rep. Mary Skinner's Office:
Craig,
Thank you for all the work you do on behalf of the concerned
citizens.
From Staff:
"SEPA currently requires certain government actions to
be publicized by through newspapers and filings with the Department
Ecology. The act also obligates the governmental agency to notify
the public of qualifying actions through one of two other mechanisms:
Notifying, by mail, property owners sharing a common boundary
line (with the project area); or
Posting a notice upon the property upon which the project is
to be constructed.
The attached draft,
in brief, creates additional SEPA notification requirements.
The draft requires the applicable governmental agency to :
Notify, by mail, the occupants of physical addresses located
on the property (a provision directed toward persons that may
rent or lease affected property);
Publish the notice [of the proposed project] in a widely accessible
electronic forum; and
Notify organizations or persons who have requested to be recipients
of news releases distributed by the governmental agency.
The title of draft is "An act relating to publicizing
governmental actions under the state environmental policy act."
Response from CPR:
We are very happy that Representative Skinner is looking at this
issue. Unfortunately, we see little in this initial proposal that
would compel government agencies to be more proactive in informing
the public of intended land use changes.
The proposal would direct that SEPA announcements appear in the
local newspaper on the same day for two consecutive weeks and
also that direct mail notifications go not only to property owners
but also occupants. In the case of the Douglas Auto Wrecking Facility
Relocation fiasco, the proposal would have benefited Jim and Kris
Russi, but not me or the Valicoffs or EPIC. A project such as
a junkyard effects people for tens of miles, not just adjacent
property owners and occupants.
Government agencies must be required to post SEPA Review notifications
on the property in a large and readily visible format for a minimum
of thirty days. I believe that is the standard for the National
Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit program
and is the very least we should expect from local government.
Moreover, this requirement should also attend to proposed land
use actions, not just SEPA Reviews. In my humble view, the unfortunate
current instance would have been avoided had the county been required
to post a thirty-day proposed land use notification in large,
clear signage on the property. That is why Yakima County did
not do so. Commissioners and staff wanted to slip the action
past local citizens as quietly as possible and they succeeded.
It is, sadly, another example of why citizens in this once great
country no longer trust government.
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