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SEPA TIPS AND TRICKS FOR PUBLIC WORKS

SEPA TIPS AND TRICKS FOR PUBLIC WORKS . SERVING THE CITIZENS, AVOIDING THE HASSLES . Lorna Smith, Snohomish County Public Works. SEPA DEFINITION OF “ACTIONS”. WAC 197-11-704: (1) “Actions” include, as further specified below:

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SEPA TIPS AND TRICKS FOR PUBLIC WORKS

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  1. SEPA TIPS AND TRICKSFOR PUBLIC WORKS SERVING THE CITIZENS, AVOIDING THE HASSLES Lorna Smith, Snohomish County Public Works

  2. SEPA DEFINITION OF “ACTIONS” • WAC 197-11-704: (1) “Actions” include, as further specified below: • (a) New and continuing activities (including projects and programs) entirely or partly financed, assisted, conducted, regulated, licensed, or approved by agencies • (b) New or revised agency rules, regulations, plans policies, or procedures; and • (c) Legislative proposals

  3. SNOHOMISH COUNTY PUBLIC WORKS ACTIVITIES AND PROJECTS POTENTIALLY SUBJECT TO SEPA • Public Works Department provides services in the following areas: • Develops plans for watershed/drainage management, traffic management and solid waste management • Constructs and maintain transportation network, drainage network, solid waste facilities • Develops policies and drafts legislation related to above

  4. PUBLIC WORKS AS AN “ACTION ORIENTED” ORGANIZATION Annually, Public Works Department makes thousands of decisions, conducts thousands of minor and major construction activities, prepares and adopts dozens of plans and programs and provides maintenance of thousands of public structures all of which meet the SEPA definition of “Actions” • Some are categorically exempt under WAC 197-11-800, but a huge number are not……… • What to do?????????

  5. Authority for Programmatic SEPA Review • WAC 197-11-060 (3) (c) (Optional) Agencies may wish to analyze “similar actions” in a single environmental document. • (i) Proposals are similar if, when viewed with other reasonably foreseeable actions, they have common aspects that provide a basis for evaluating their environmental consequences together, such as common timing, types of impacts, alternatives, or geography.

  6. WHY USE PROGRAMMATIC SEPA DOCUMENTS? To present a “true” picture of the impacts (cumulative) of small individual agency actions which might otherwise be exempt and off the radar screen To allow for appropriate mitigation, perhaps at watershed scale To provide the public and commenting agencies a more efficient manner in which to respond to small multiple actions To avoid segmenting what could be construed as one large program (WAC 197-11-060 (3) (b) To save on paperwork and time To allow for early review of projects prior to actual design

  7. WHEN PROGRAMMATIC OR PHASED SEPA REVIEW IS USED • For exempt-type maintenance activities that may involve “lands covered by water” or be construed as “more than minor” • For Watershed,Solid Waste, or Transportation Plans that may combine project and non-project actions • For minor drainage or transportation improvements that may have impacts throughout a watershed or traffic shed

  8. Exempt Repair, Remodeling, and Maintenance Activities Description Less than Crystal Clear • WAC 197-11-800 (3) Repair, remodeling, and, including utilities, involving no material expansions or changes in use beyond that previously existing except that, where undertaken wholly or in part on lands covered by water, only minor repair or replacement of structures may be exempt ( examples include repair or replacement of piling, ramps floats or mooring buoys, or minor repair, alteration, or maintenance of docks maintenance activities • The following activities shall be categorically exempt: The repair, remodeling, maintenance or minor alteration of existing private or public structures, facilities or equipment)……

  9. PUBLIC WORKS PROGRAM AREAS WITH PROGRAMMATIC SEPA DOCUMENTS • Annual Road Maintenance Activities • Annual Bridge Repair and Maintenance • Annual Paving Program • Watershed Restoration/Salmon Recovery Activities • Beaver Management/Wetland Habitat Preservation • Integrated Pest Management Program/West Nile Virus Response

  10. Public Works Programmatic SEPA Road Maintenance Document • Checklist and DNS prepared for Annual County-wide Standard Road Maintenance Practices - (shoulder pulling, filling potholes, ditch cleaning/vegetation removal) • Blanket grading permit from PDS/SNOCO • Mostly covered by 4-D rule Might be SEPA exempt, but for “Lands covered by water” exception Annual updated SEPA checklist is prepared and a new threshold determination is made

  11. County-wide Bridge Maintenance Program • Annual SEPA checklist/DNS prepared for Bridge sanding/painting/resurfacing and minor structural repairs • Includes over water work, sometimes in water • Utilizes adopted BMPS, very similar for each project • Bridges listed by location throughout County (May involve upwards of 20 bridges)

  12. Watershed Plans and Streamlined JARPA Projects • Watershed,WRIA and Fish-friendly Plans for Snohomish County incorporated into one over-arching program and SEPA checklist/DNS • “Consolidate existing fish enhancement programs and recommendations, provide programmatic SEPA review of the construction related activities, and facilitate the “funding, design, permitting, and construction for projects that (benefit fish and habitat)” • Meets the requirements for SEPA review in RCW 89.08.450 for “Stream-lined JARPA”

  13. Beaver/Wetland Preservation • SEPA review and 5yr HPA (SEPA reviewed and updated as need) • Allows for notching dams to protect against flooding of infrastructure and installation of “beaver deceiver” devices throughout the County • Wetlands are preserved; beaver habitat allowed to continue benefits for fish and wildlife

  14. CRITERIA FOR INCLUSION OF ACTIVITY IN PROGRAMMATIC DOCUMENTS • Programmatic SEPA document describes certain limitations on type/size/impact/location of covered activities • When these “thresholds” are exceeded, additional SEPA review may be necessary • Public or agency input during DNS comment period may result in revision to the list of covered activities

  15. Summary of Benefits of SEPA Programmatic Review • Paints true picture of impacts from small individual, but related activities • Saves time, money and paper • Avoids segmenting • Allows agencies and public to focus their comments on what is truly important • Can specify the standardization of approach to BMPs and other mitigation

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