Washington Administrative Code
Title 220 - Fish and Wildlife, Department of
ENVIRONMENTAL STANDARDS AND CONSERVATION
Chapter 220-660 - Hydraulic code rules
Section 220-660-400 - Marinas and terminals in saltwater areas
Universal Citation: WA Admin Code 220-660-400
Current through Register Vol. 24-18, September 15, 2024
This section applies to constructing, maintaining, and repairing marinas and terminals in saltwater areas.
(1) Description:
(a) A marina is a public or private facility
providing vessel moorage space, fuel, or commercial services. Commercial
services include overnight or live-aboard vessel accommodations (RCW
77.55.011(13)) .
(b) A terminal is a public or private
commercial wharf located in the navigable waters of the state and used, or
intended to be used, as a port or facility to store, handle, transfer, or
transport goods, passengers, and vehicles to and from vessels (RCW
77.55.011(14)) .
(2) Fish life concerns: Marinas and terminals can alter the physical processes that create or maintain habitat that supports fish life. Impacts may include altering the light regime, hydrology, substrate conditions, and water quality under and adjacent to structures. Marinas and terminals often have a larger impact area than residential docks and are often associated with heavy boat traffic and human use. Thus, the size and magnitude of the potential impacts to fish life may be greater than those from residential docks.
(3) Marina and marine terminal design - Generally:
(a) The department may
require a person to provide physical modeling, numerical modeling, or other
information that demonstrates adequate water exchange and circulation after
construction.
(b) The department
will require a seagrass/macroalgae habitat survey for a new construction unless
the department can determine the project will not impact seagrass and kelp beds
and in herring spawning beds other macroalgae used as spawning substrate. A
survey is not required for replacement of an existing structure within its
original footprint.
(c) Whenever
feasible, locate new marinas and terminals in areas that will minimize impacts
to fish life.
(i) Locate new marinas and
terminals in naturally deep areas to avoid or minimize the need for
dredging.
(ii) Locate new marinas
and terminals in areas deep enough to protect the bed from propeller wash
impacts.
(iii) Locate new marinas
and terminals in areas with existing low or impaired biological value such as
heavily industrialized areas.
(d) Whenever feasible, design marinas and
terminals to allow light penetration to intertidal and shallow subtidal water
areas.
(i) Design marinas and terminals so
that most over-water coverage is in the deepest water feasible.
(ii) Minimize the amount of pier area that
directly contacts the shoreline.
(iii) Minimize the width of over-water and
in-water structures.
(iv) Design
and construct piers and other above-water structures as high as feasible to
increase light transmission.
(v)
Whenever feasible, use light-reflecting materials on the underside of
over-water structures that are not grated.
(4) Marina design:
(a) The department prohibits constructing
marinas on or over the following saltwater habitats of special concern: Pacific
herring spawning beds and lingcod and rockfish settlement and nursery
areas.
(b) The location and
construction of new marinas must follow the mitigation sequence to protect surf
smelt and Pacific sand lance spawning beds, seagrass and kelp beds and
intertidal wetland vascular plants.
(c) The department may require a marina
design to include grating to minimize impacts to juvenile salmonid migration
corridors and native aquatic vegetation.
(i)
If grating is required, locate flotation under the solid decked area
only.
(ii) Orient grating so the
lengthwise opening maximizes the amount of light penetration. Any objects that
are not part of the structure on, above, or below the grating should not block
light penetration.
(iii) Grating
material must have at least a sixty percent open area.
(d) Whenever feasible, place slips for
smaller boats in shallower water and place slips for larger boats in deeper
water.
(e) Locate new boathouses,
houseboats, and covered moorages waterward of the phototrophic zone.
(f) Any replacement roof for covered moorage
or a boat-house in landward of the phototrophic zone must use translucent
materials or skylights in the roof.
(g) If artificial nighttime lighting is used
in the design, use low-intensity lights that are located and shielded to
prevent light from attracting fish or disrupting fish migration behavior,
unless there are safety constraints.
(h) The following provisions apply to marina
construction landward of the existing OHWL:
(i) A single entrance may be required;
and
(ii) The entire inner shoreline
must comply with bank protection provisions in WAC
220-660-370.
(i) The following provisions apply to marina
construction waterward of the OHWL:
(i) If a
person must protect the bank area inside the marina they must comply with bank
protection provisions in WAC
220-660-370. Between the
elevation of the toe of the bulkhead and MLLW, the beach slope must not exceed
one and one-half feet horizontal to one foot vertical.
(ii) For a single entrance or breach marina,
the breakwater structure may not exceed one and one-half feet horizontal to one
foot vertical slope inside and outside the marina.
(j) The following provisions apply when a
marina includes breaches that form shore breakwaters (jetties) and detached
breakwaters:
(i) The toe of the shore
breakwaters (jetties) may extend seaward to 0.0 feet MLLW, but may not extend
seaward more than two hundred fifty feet from OHWL;
(ii) The shore breakwaters must have a slope
of at least one and one-half feet horizontal to one foot vertical
throughout;
(iii) The breaches
between the shore breakwaters and the detached breakwaters must be at least
twenty feet wide measured at the toe of the slope;
(iv) Removable, floating breakwaters or wave
boards should be used whenever feasible; and
(v) Avoid the use of continuous sheet piles
whenever feasible.
(5) Terminal Design: The location and construction of new terminals must follow the mitigation sequence to protect saltwater habitats of special concern.
(6) Piling design:
(a) Use the smallest diameter and number of
pilings needed to construct a safe structure.
(b) The use of creosote or pentachlorophenol
piling is prohibited. New and replacement piling can be steel, concrete,
recycled plastic, or untreated or department-approved treated wood.
(c) Treated wood piling must incorporate
design features to minimize abrasion of the piling from contact with vessels,
floats, or other objects.
(d)
Whenever feasible, all pilings must be fitted with devices to prevent perching
by fish-eating birds.
(7) Marina and marine terminal construction:
(a) Operate and anchor
vessels and barges so that they do not adversely impact seagrass and kelp beds
and in herring spawning areas other macroalgae beds used as herring spawning
substrate.
(b) The pier and dock(s)
centerline must be reestablished during construction using the same methodology
used to establish the centerline during the seagrass/macroalgae habitat
survey.
(c) When installing steel
piling, a vibratory hammer is preferred.
(d) If impact pile driving is used, set the
drop height to the minimum needed to drive the piling.
(e) Use appropriate sound attenuation to
minimize harm to fish from impact pile-driving noise.
(f) Whenever feasible, limit impact pile
driving to daylight hours to avoid attracting fish to light at night.
(g) When removing piling:
(i) Use a vibratory system to dislodge piling
whenever feasible;
(ii) After
removal, place the piling on a construction barge or other dry storage site.
The piling must not be shaken, hosed off, left hanging to dry or any other
action intended to clean or remove adhering material from the piling;
(iii) If a treated wood piling breaks during
extraction, remove the stump from the water column by fully extracting the
stump or cutting it three feet below the substrate; and
(iv) Fill holes left by piling extraction
with clean sediment that matches the native material.
(h) When removing creosote piling:
(i) Containment booms and absorbent booms (or
other oil absorbent fabric) must be placed around the perimeter of the work
area to capture wood debris, oil, and other materials released into marine
waters as a result of construction activities to remove creosote pilings. All
accumulated debris must be collected and disposed upland at an approved
disposal site; and
(ii) Creosote
logs and timbers must be fully suspended during removal so no portion of the
log drags through the water or onto the beach.
(i) Securely anchor floats and mooring
buoys.
(j) Dispose of replaced
piers, ramps, floats, docks, lines, chains, cables, or mooring anchors in an
upland disposal site.
(k) Place
floats and buoys removed seasonally in an upland area. Do not store on the
beach.
(8) Marina and marine terminal maintenance:
(a)
Upon request, the department must issue a renewable, five-year HPA for regular
maintenance activities of a marina or marine terminal.
(b) In this section, regular maintenance
activities may include the following work:
(i) Maintain or repair a boat ramp, launch,
or float within its existing footprint;
(ii) Maintain or repair an existing
over-water structure within its existing footprint;
(iii) Maintain or repair boat lifts or
railway launches;
(iv) Maintain or
repair pilings, including replacing bumper pilings;
(v) Dredge less than fifty cubic yards of
material;
(vi) Maintain or repair
shoreline armoring or bank protection;
(vii) Maintain or repair wetland, riparian
zone, or estuarine habitat; and
(viii) Maintain or repair an existing
outfall.
(c) A five-year
permit must include a provision that a person give the department a
fourteen-day notice before regular maintenance activities start.
Disclaimer: These regulations may not be the most recent version. Washington may have more current or accurate information. We make no warranties or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained on this site or the information linked to on the state site. Please check official sources.
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