November 11, 2013

The Third Special Session—A SEPA Reform Bill Got Introduced Amongst All the Jet Engine Noise

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Governor Inslee called a third special session in Washington this past week to assist Boeing.  Measures include aircraft tax incentives, set to expire in 2024, getting a 16-year extension to 2040, money for aerospace training, and a streamlined permitting system to help get construction permits faster.

But an interesting bill, House Bill 2090, which adds more categorical exemptions to SEPA, also got introduced on Saturday.  This bill seeks to reduce redundant permitting by essentially stating that if you are doing a development in a jurisdiction that has valid ordinances adopted in accordance with a Comprehensive Plan under GMA and/or doing a development in a shoreline with a validly adopted Shoreline Master Program, you do not need to do SEPA as well.  I am going to chalk this bill into the one-to-watch category for 2014.

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