Washington Administrative Code
Title 173 - Ecology, Department of (See also Titles 197, 317, 372, and 508)
Chapter 173-802 - SEPA procedures
Section 173-802-140 - Responsibilities of individuals and work units within the department
Universal Citation: WA Admin Code 173-802-140
Current through Register Vol. 24-06, March 15, 2024
(1) The environmental review section of the department shall be responsible for the following:
(a) Coordinating agency activities
to comply with SEPA, encouraging consistency in SEPA compliance among all
regions and programs.
(b) Providing
information and guidance on SEPA and the SEPA rules to department staff,
agencies, groups, and citizens.
(c)
Receiving all SEPA documents sent to the department for review and comment,
distributing documents and coordinating review with appropriate regions and
programs, preparing the department's response, ensuring a timely response, and
requesting extensions to the comment period of an EIS, when needed.
(d) Preparing and publishing the SEPA
register weekly as required under WAC
197-11-508.
(e) Maintaining the department's files for
EISs, DNSs, scoping notices, and notices of action sent to the department under
SEPA and the SEPA rules.
(f)
Maintaining files for the city/county SEPA procedures designating
environmentally sensitive areas and flexible thresholds and making the
information available to department staff and the public.
(g) Writing and/or coordinating EIS
preparation, including scoping and the scoping notice, making sure to work with
appropriate regions and programs.
(h) Preparing for, coordinating, and
presenting annual SEPA workshops and publishing an annual SEPA
handbook.
(i) Publishing and
distributing the SEPA rules and amending the SEPA rules, as
necessary.
(j) Responding to
petitions for changes in exemptions from SEPA.
(k) Responding to petitions to resolve lead
agency disputes.
(l) Fulfilling the
department's other general responsibilities under SEPA and the SEPA
rules.
(2) Regional offices and programs of the department shall be responsible for the following:
(a) Determining whether their decision on a
permit or other approval, program, policy, plan, or regulation is an "action"
under SEPA and, if so, whether it is exempt from SEPA's requirements (the first
department official contacted may make these determinations).
(b) Determining whether WDOE or another
agency is SEPA lead agency, contacting the environmental review section if
there is a question about which agency is the lead agency.
(c) Making the threshold determination (made
by the responsible official, see WAC
173-802-050 ).
(i) Issuing a determination of
nonsignificance, if appropriate (issued by responsible official) and ensuring
compliance with the public notice requirements of WAC
173-802-100; or
(ii) Contacting the environmental review
section if a determination of significance is appropriate.
(d) Reviewing SEPA documents and submitting
comments to the environmental review section in a timely fashion, recognizing
that SEPA and the SEPA rules impose strict time limits on commenting.
(e) Working with the environmental review
section on preparation of EISs.
(f)
Ensuring that permit decisions are consistent with the final EIS and
DNS.
Statutory Authority: RCW 43.21C.120 and 43.21C.135. 84-13-037 (Order DE 84-21), § 173-802-140, filed 6/15/84. Formerly chapter 173-801 WAC.
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