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Published: December 15, 2019
Pages: 59
Introduction
The state Legislature gave the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) the responsibility to preserve, protect, and perpetuate all fish and shellfish resources of the state. To help achieve this mandate, the Legislature passed a state law in 1943 called “Protection of Fish Life.” Now titled “Construction Projects in State Waters” and codified as chapter 77.55 Revised Code of Washington (RCW), the entire text of the statute can be found at: http://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=77.55 .
Under the authority of Chapter 77.55 RCW, WDFW issues a construction permit called a Hydraulic Project Approval (HPA). The sole purpose of the HPA is to protect fish life from construction and other work that uses, diverts, obstructs, or changes the natural flow or bed of state waters. HPAs are site-specific, meaning that provisions are tailored to the site conditions and species that might be affected by each particular project. The HPA contains provisions that a permittee must follow in order to mitigate impacts to fish life caused by the project.
WDFW promulgates rules to implement chapter 77.55 RCW under chapter 220-660 Washington Administrative Code (WAC) - Hydraulic Code Rules. This WAC chapter establishes regulations for administration of the HPA program. The Hydraulic Code Rules set forth definitions, administrative procedures for obtaining an HPA, steps for HPA appeals and civil compliance, and criteria generally used by WDFW to review and condition hydraulic projects to protect fish life.
This report presents Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) analyses and determinations pursuant to chapter 34.05 RCW - Administrative Procedure Act (APA) - , and chapter 19.85 RCW - Regulatory Fairness Act (RFA), for proposed amendments to Hydraulic Code Rules in chapter 220-660 WAC. This document is organized as follows:
- SECTION 1: Introduction
- SECTION 2: Describe the proposed rule and its history
- SECTION 3: Significant Legislative Rule Analysis Required
- SECTION 4: Goals and Objectives of the Statute that the Rule Implements
- SECTION 5: How the Rule Meets the Objectives of the Statute
- SECTION 6: Involving stakeholders in rule development
- SECTION 7: Cost-Benefit Analysis
- SECTION 8: Small Business Economic Impact Statement
- SECTION 9: Least Burdensome Alternative
- SECTION 10: Remaining APA Determinations
- SECTION 11: Sources of Information Used
Documents relating to this rule making activity are available on WDFW’s HPA rule making web page at https://wdfw.wa.gov/licenses/environmental/hpa/rulemaking