40.570.090 Categorical Exemptions

40.570.090    Categorical Exemptions

A.    Purpose of This Section and Adoption by Reference.

    This section contains rules for determining if a proposal is exempt from environmental review under this chapter. This section also applies optional criteria for exemptions, including establishment of local thresholds, designation of critical areas, and selection of nonexempt actions within those areas. The county adopts the following sections of the SEPA Rules by reference, as supplemented in this section:

    WAC

    197-11-305    Categorical exemptions

    197-11-800    Categorical exemptions

    197-11-880    Emergencies

    197-11-890    Petitioning DOE to change exemptions

    197-11-908    Critical areas

B.    Use of Exemptions.

1.    Each department within the county that receives an application for a license or, in the case of governmental proposals, the department initiating the proposal, shall determine whether the license and/or the proposal is exempt. The department’s determination that a proposal is exempt shall be final and not subject to administrative review. If a proposal is exempt, none of the procedural requirements of this chapter apply to the proposal. The county shall not require completion of an environmental checklist for an exempt proposal.

2.    In determining whether or not a proposal is exempt, the department shall make certain the proposal is properly defined and shall identify the governmental licenses required (WAC 197-11-060). If a proposal includes exempt and nonexempt actions, the department shall determine the lead agency, even if the license application that triggers the department’s consideration is exempt.

3.    If a proposal includes both exempt and nonexempt actions, the county may authorize exempt actions prior to compliance with the procedural requirements of this chapter, except that:

a.    The county shall not give authorization for:

(1)    Any nonexempt action;

(2)    Any action what would have an adverse environmental impact; or

(3)    Any action that would limit the choice of alternatives;

b.    A department may withhold approval of an exempt action that would lead to modification of the physical environment, when such modification would serve no purpose if nonexempt action(s) were not approved; and

c.    A department may withhold approval of exempt actions that would lead to substantial financial expenditures by a private applicant when the expenditures would serve no purpose if nonexempt action(s) were not approved.

C.    Exempt Levels for Minor New Construction.

    Clark County establishes the following exempt levels for the minor new construction activities under WAC 197-11-800(1)(b) based on local conditions:

1.    For residential structures in WAC 197-11-800(1)(b)(i), up to twenty (20) dwelling units shall be exempt within unincorporated urban areas designated by the comprehensive plan; within designated urban reserve and rural areas, four (4) or less dwelling units shall be exempt.

2.    For agricultural structures in WAC 197-11-800(1)(b)(ii), the exempt threshold shall be ten thousand (10,000) square feet.

3.    For office, school, commercial, recreational, service or storage buildings (but not including manufacturing buildings) in WAC 197-11-800(1)(b)(iii), up to twelve thousand (12,000) square feet of gross floor area and up to forty (40) associated parking spaces shall be exempt within unincorporated urban areas designated by the comprehensive plan; within designated urban reserve and rural areas, the exempt levels for these facilities shall be four thousand (4,000) square feet or less, and up to twenty (20) parking spaces.

4.    For parking lots in WAC 197-11-800(1)(b)(iv), up to forty (40) parking spaces shall be exempt within unincorporated urban areas designated by the comprehensive plan; within designated urban reserve and rural areas, the exempt level shall be twenty (20) parking spaces.

5.    For landfills and excavations in WAC 197-11-800(1)(b)(v), up to five hundred (500) cubic yards shall be exempt.

6.    Whenever the county establishes new exempt levels under this section, it shall send them to the Washington Department of Ecology, Headquarters Office, Olympia, Washington 98504, under WAC 197-11-800(1)(c).

D.    Critical Areas.

1.    Clark County designates the following as critical areas, in which the exemptions as specified in Section 40.570.090(E) do not apply:

a.    Shoreline Management Areas. Land and water areas under jurisdiction of the Shoreline Management Act are critical areas. These shorelines of the county are mapped in the Clark County Shoreline Master Program, which maps are incorporated in this chapter by reference.

b.    Floodplains. All areas within the one hundred (100) year floodplain boundary delineated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) under the Flood Insurance Study for Clark County are critical areas. These one hundred (100) year floodplains are designated on FEMA’s Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRM), which are incorporated in this chapter by reference.

c.    Wetlands subject to the provisions of Chapter 40.450 are critical areas.

(1)    Exemptions listed in Section 40.450.010(C) shall be exempt from SEPA.

(2)    Other exemptions as specified in Section 40.570.090(E) do not apply unless authorized by a Type I wetland permit under Section 40.450.040(G)(1)(a).

d.    The following critical areas regulation ordinances but only for personal wireless service facilities:

(1)    Chapter 40.440, Habitat Conservation;

(2)    Chapter 40.430, Geologic Hazard Areas;

(3)    Chapter 40.410, Critical Aquifer Recharge Areas (CARAs).

2.    The scope of environmental review of actions within these areas shall be limited to:

a.    Documenting whether the proposal is consistent with the requirements of the applicable critical areas ordinance; and

b.    Evaluating potentially significant impacts on the critical area resources not adequately addressed by the comprehensive plan and implementing ordinances, including any additional mitigation measures needed to protect the critical areas in order to achieve consistency with SEPA and other applicable environmental review laws.

3.    The county shall treat proposals located wholly or partially within a critical area no differently than other proposals under this chapter, making a threshold determination for all such proposals. The county shall not automatically require an EIS for a proposal merely because it is proposed for location in a critical area.

E.    Non-Applicable Exemptions to Critical Areas.

    Clark County selects the following categorical exemptions to be inapplicable within certain critical areas as specified below:

1.    The minor new construction exemptions under Section 40.570.090(C) do not apply within any critical area, except that agricultural structures in Section 40.570.090(C)(2) are exempt in shoreline and unstable slope areas, and on slopes of forty percent (40%) or greater.

2.    Other minor new construction exemptions under WAC 197-11-800(2) do not apply as follows:

a.    Bus shelters and other transit facilities in WAC 197-11-800(2)(a) are not exempt in any critical area;

b.    Commercial and public signs in WAC 197-11-800(2)(b) are not exempt in shoreline management areas;

c.    Minor road and street improvements in WAC 197-11-800(2)(c) are not exempt in any critical area;

d.    Grading, septic tank installation, and other activities in WAC 197-11-800(2)(d) are not exempt in any critical area;

e.    Building additions and modifications in WAC 197-11-800(2)(e) are not exempt in any critical area;

f.    Demolition of structures in WAC 197-11-800(2)(f) is not exempt in shoreline management areas;

g.    Underground storage tanks in WAC 197-11-800(2)(g) are not exempt in any critical area; and

h.    Street or road vacations in WAC 197-11-800(2)(h) are not exempt in shoreline management areas.

3.    The approval of short plats under WAC 197-11-800(6)(a) is not exempt in any critical area.

4.    Licenses for amusement and entertainment activities in WAC 197-11-800(13)(c) are not exempt in any critical area.

5.    Utility-related exemptions under WAC 197-11-800(23) do not apply as follows:

a.    Communication lines in WAC 197-11-800(23)(a) are not exempt in shoreline management areas;

b.    Eight (8) inch or less diameter water, sewer and stormwater facilities in WAC 197-11-800(23)(b) are not exempt in any critical area;

c.    Electric facilities in WAC 197-11-800(23)(c) are not exempt in shoreline management areas;

d.    Natural gas distribution facilities in WAC 197-11-800(23)(d) are not exempt in shoreline areas; and

e.    Right-of-way clearing in WAC 197-11-800(23)(f) is not exempt in shoreline areas.

6.    The natural resources management exemptions under WAC 197-11-800(24) do not apply as follows:

a.    Issuance of leases for school sites in WAC 197-11-800(24)(e) is not exempt in any critical area; and

b.    Development of recreational sites in WAC 197-11-800(24)(g) is not exempt in any critical area.

7.    Personal wireless service facilities in WAC 197-11-800(25) are not exempt in any critical area.

(Amended: Ord. 2006-05-27)