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WHIDBEY ENVIRONMENTAL ACTION NETWORK , Appellant , v. ISLAND COUNTY , et AL ., Respondents .
 Counties - Land Use Controls - Growth Management Act - Administrative Review - Growth Management Hearings Board - Local Compliance With Act - Clearly Erroneous Test. A growth management hearings board may not invalidate a local comprehensive plan provision or development regulation under the clearly erroneous standard of RCW 36.70A.320 (3) unless the board is left with the firm and definite conviction that a mistake has been committed.
 Counties - Land Use Controls - Growth Management Act - Hearings Board Decision - Judicial Review - Appellate Review - Board Record. In an appeal from a judgment entered by a superior court on judicial review of a growth management hearings board decision, the appellate court sits in the same position as the superior court and applies the review standards of RCW 34.05.570 (3) directly to the record created before the board.
 Administrative Law - Judicial Review - Appellate Review - Conclusions of Law. An agency's legal conclusions in an adjudicative proceeding are reviewed by an appellate court de novo.
adjudicative proceeding is arbitrary and capricious within the meaning of RCW 34.05.570 (3)(i) if it is willful, unreasoning, and made without regard to or consideration of the surrounding facts and circumstances. Where there is room for two opinions, an agency decision made after due consideration is not arbitrary and capricious even though a reviewing court may believe it to be erroneous.
 Administrative Law - Judicial Review - Appellate Review - Trial Court Exceeding Authority - Harmless Error. An appellate court will not overturn a judgment entered by a superior court on judicial review of an agency adjudication on the basis that the superior court, in ruling on a matter, exceeded the scope of review permitted by law if no party was prejudiced by the ruling.
 Administrative Law - Judicial Review - Record - Consideration of Whole Record - Failure - Harmless Error. An appellate court will not overturn a judgment entered by a superior court on judicial review of an agency adjudication on the basis that the superior court failed to review the entire administrative record before rendering its decision if no party was prejudiced by such failure.
 Counties - Land Use Controls - Growth Management Act - Rural Area Development - Planning - Methodology. The variety of rural densities and uses that a county must provide for in its comprehensive plan under RCW 36.70A.070 (5)(b) is determined by considering local conditions and the criteria set forth in the statute. The Growth Management Act (chapter 36.70A RCW) does not require a particular methodology for providing for a variety of rural densities and uses and, in particular, does not require a pattern of significant blocks of large lands.
 Administrative Law - Judicial Review - Disposition - Affirmance on Other Grounds - In General. A reviewing court may affirm a correct agency order on any proper theory supported by the record, even if the theory is different from the one relied on by the agency in rendering its decision.
 Counties - Land Use Controls - Growth Management Act - Rural Area Development - Planning - Downzoning - Alternative Regulations - Sufficiency. For purposes of growth management planning under the Growth Management Act (chapter 36.70A RCW), a county may utilize alternative regulations rather than downzoning to protect the rural character of rural areas.
Statutory Provisions - Best Available Science - Requirements. Under RCW 36.70A.172 (1), local governments are required to include the best available science in developing policies and development regulations to protect the functions and values of critical areas. Evidence of the best available science must be included in the record and be considered substantively by local governments in the development of critical areas policies and regulations.
 Building Regulations - Land Use Regulations - Growth Management - Policies and Regulations - Stream Buffers - Adequacy - Type 5 Stream - Best Available Science. Absent evidence of unique local conditions that would justify a downward departure from the buffer width requirements suggested by the weight of current scientific literature, a buffer width of 25 feet for type 5 streams is inadequate and should, in general, be greater than 25 feet.
 Counties - Land Use Controls - Growth Management Act - Administrative Review - Growth Management Hearings Board - Critical Areas - Best Available Science - Evidence in Support - Independent Conclusions. When ruling on the sufficiency of a county's policies and development regulations to protect the functions and values of critical areas, a growth management hearings board is free to choose from among the competing evidence in the record, including evidence of the best available science, and to draw its own conclusions from such evidence. It is not arbitrary and capricious for the board to arrive at its own conclusions from the evidence when such conclusions are at odds with those of the county.
interfere with the local agency's ability to consider the other growth management goals and to strike an appropriate balance between all of them. If a local government elects to adopt a critical area requirement that is outside the range that the best available science alone would support, the local government must provide findings explaining the reasons for its departure from the best available science and identify the other growth management goals it is implementing by making such a choice.
 Counties - Land Use Controls - Growth Management Act - Administrative Review - Growth Management Hearings Board - Critical Areas - Review - Standard of Review. A growth management hearings board's findings in support of its conclusion that a county's policies and development regulations are sufficient to protect the functions and values of a critical area will not be disturbed by a reviewing court if the findings are supported by substantial evidence in the record.
 Building Regulations - Land Use Regulations - Growth Management - Policies and Regulations - Stream Buffers - Adequacy - Type 3 and Type 4 Streams - Best Available Science. By the weight of current scientific literature, a buffer width of 50 feet for type 3 streams and 75 feet for type 4 streams may be adequate. The best available science does not require a 100-foot minimum for all streams.
hensive plan and development regulations complied with growth management standards. The county also sought judicial review, challenging the board's decisions that agricultural exemptions for existing and ongoing agriculture and protection buffers for type 5 streams and category B wetlands were noncompliant with growth management standards.
Superior Court: The Superior Court for Island County, No. 99-2-00334-3, David A. Nichols, J., on June 13, 2002, entered a judgment in favor of the county, ruling that the comprehensive plan ensured a variety of densities in rural zones, that the county's buffers for type 5 streams were adequate, that larger buffers for type 3 and type 4 streams were unnecessary, that the county's buffers for category B wetlands satisfied growth management requirements, and that the county's agricultural exemption to its critical areas ordinance was not overbroad.
Court of Appeals: Holding that the record before the hearings board supported its conclusions that the comprehensive plan properly ensured a variety of rural densities, that the buffers for type 3 and type 4 streams were adequate, and that the buffers for category B wetlands satisfied growth management requirements, but that the record did not support findings necessary to establish the adequacy of the buffers for type 5 streams or the necessity of applying agricultural exemptions to nonagricultural rural lands, the court affirms the judgment in part and reverses it in part.
David A. Bricklin and Jennifer A. Dold (of Bricklin Newman Dold, L.L.P. ), for appellant .
Gregory M. Banks , Prosecuting Attorney, and Joshua Choate , Deputy, and Christine O. Gregoire , Attorney General, and Sharon S. Eckholm , Assistant, for respondents .
COX , C.J . - The Whidbey Environmental Action Network (WEAN) appeals the superior court's decision on review of proceedings before the Western Washington Growth Management Hearings Board (Board). The proceedings addressed whether Island County complied with the Growth Management Act (GMA), chapter 36.70A RCW, in enacting its comprehensive plan and development regulations.
Because WEAN fails to show prejudice, we reject its claim for relief based on the superior court arguably exceeding its authority under RCW 34.05.574 (1), and for the superior court's alleged failure to review the whole administrative record under RCW 34.05.570 . The Board and the superior court did not err when they concluded that the County's comprehensive plan ensured a variety of rural densities. The superior court erred when it reversed the Board's ruling that 25-foot buffers for type 5 streams were inadequate. The Board and the superior court did not err when they refused to require larger buffers for type 3 and 4 streams. The superior court did not err when it reversed the Board's ruling that 25-foot buffers on Category B wetlands were inadequate to provide protection for wildlife habitat. The superior court erred when it reversed the Board's determination that the County's agricultural exemption to its critical areas ordinance was overbroad.
We affirm in part and reverse in part.
WEAN, and another party no longer involved in this case, petitioned for review before the Board, challenging the County's 1998 comprehensive plan, the zoning code, and the fish and wildlife habitat conservation areas provisions. The Board took testimony and other evidence.
reconsider its 5-acre zoning throughout the remaining 40 percent of rural zone acreage and ordered the County to adopt an interim rural density ordinance that would limit any subdivision to 10-acre lots. The Board also concluded that the County's agricultural exemption for lands not designated for agricultural conservation did not comply with the GMA. The Board determined that the County's type 5 stream buffer was noncompliant. The Board concluded the County's type 3 and 4 stream buffers complied with the GMA. The Board stated that if the County was relying in part on the Category B wetlands and their 25-foot buffers to protect wildlife functions, it did not comply with the GMA. The FDO further directed the County to take remedial action by November 1999.
In response, the County amended various provisions of its laws. A series of compliance hearings before the Board followed.
The Board determined in its October 2000 Compliance Hearing Order that the County's choice to adopt alternative regulations to protect rural character, rather than down-zoning lands in the rural area to the 10-acre lot size previously directed by the Board, was not clearly erroneous. The Board decided that rural forest and rural agriculture zones did contribute to a variety of rural densities.
In its November 2000 Compliance Hearing Order, the Board determined that the County remained noncompliant with the GMA regarding the application of the agricultural exemption to lands not designated commercial agriculture or rural agriculture. The Board found partial compliance by the County with the Category B wetland buffers, which were increased from 25 to 50 feet for the rural residential zone. But the Board found the County's 25-foot buffer noncompliant for the remaining zones. The Board reaffirmed its finding of invalidity as to type 5 stream buffers and ordered that the buffers be increased from 25 to 50 feet.
ing agriculture, the County's 25-foot buffer requirement for type 5 streams, and the County's requirement for 25-foot buffers for Category B wetlands.
WEAN sought review of the Board's determinations of compliance. These included the County's requirements for buffers on type 3 and 4 streams and the County's requirement for five-acre minimum lot sizes in the rural zone.
The superior court ruled in favor of the County on every issue, reversing the Board's findings of noncompliance and invalidity and affirming the findings of compliance.
«6» Dep't of Ecology v. Pub. Util. Dist. No. 1 , 121 Wn.2d 179 , 201, 849 P.2d 646 (1993).
«7» Buechel v. Dep't of Ecology , 125 Wn.2d 196 , 202, 884 P.2d 910 (1994).
«8» City of Redmond v. Cent. Puget Sound Growth Mgmt. Hearings Bd ., 136 Wn.2d 38 , 45, 959 P.2d 1091 (1998).
«9»RCW 34.05.570 (3)(d), (e), (i).
«10» Diehl v. Mason County , 94 Wn. App. 645 , 652, 972 P.2d 543 (1999).
«11» City of Redmond , 136 Wn.2d at 46 .
The burden of demonstrating the invalidity of agency action is on the party asserting the invalidity.«13»Thus, the County has the burden concerning type 5 stream buffers, wildlife habitat protection under Category B wetland buffers, and the agricultural exemption to the critical areas ordinance. WEAN has the burden concerning rural density preservation, and type 3 and 4 stream buffers.
[6, 7]We first address two procedural arguments by WEAN. First, WEAN contends that the superior court exceeded the proper scope of review under the Administrative Procedure Act, chapter 34.05 RCW, by finding compliance on matters solely within the Board's discretion.«14»Second, WEAN contends that the superior court failed to review the "whole record" in violation of RCW 34.05.570 before rendering its decision.«15»Both arguments suffer from the same problem: lack of a showing of prejudice.
As to the former claim, the superior court did state, "the County ordinances concerning the use of 25-foot buffers on Type 5 streams substantively included best available science." But the court also remanded the case to the Board for further proceedings.«16»We fail to see any prejudice to WEAN by the full scope of the court's action, particularly in view of our ultimate ruling on this point in this opinion.
«12» City of Redmond , 136 Wn.2d at 46 -47 (quoting Kendall v. Douglas, Grant, Lincoln & Okanogan Counties Pub. Hosp. Dist. No. 6 , 118 Wn.2d 1 , 14, 820 P.2d 497 (1991)).
«14»The court may "order an agency to take action required by law, order an agency to exercise discretion required by law, set aside agency action, enjoin or stay the agency action, remand the matter for further proceedings, or enter a declaratory judgment order." RCW 34.05.574 (1).
«15»Under RCW 34.05.570 the superior court can grant relief from an agency order only if "[t]he order is not supported by evidence that is substantial when viewed in light of the whole record before the court . . . ." (emphasis added).
«16» Manke Lumber Co. v. Diehl , 91 Wn. App. 793 , 810, 959 P.2d 1173 (1998), review denied , 137 Wn.2d 1018 (1999) (concluding that although the superior court in part usurped the Board's role of determining GMA compliance, the court nevertheless remanded the matter for further proceedings).
As to the latter claim, we review the entire record of the Board, even if the superior court did not.«17»Assuming without deciding that the whole record was not before the trial court at the time of its ruling, WEAN fails to show prejudice.
Because WEAN fails in this respect for both procedural claims, reversal on these bases is not warranted.
[8-11]WEAN argues, under RCW 34.05.570 (3)(d), that the Board erroneously interpreted or applied the law by requiring satisfaction of a "significant blocks" test. The GMA does not appear to sanction such a test. We nevertheless conclude that the Board's determination was proper on the basis of other grounds that we discuss below.
«17» Manke Lumber , 91 Wn. App. at 810 (concluding there was no prejudice by the superior court's ruling because the court of appeals reviews the Board's order directly).
(g) That are consistent with the protection of natural surface water flows and ground water and surface water recharge and discharge areas.
Island County's rural area is comprised of four zones: rural residential (RR), rural agriculture (RA), rural (R), and rural forest (RF). RF and RA zoning permits one dwelling per 10 acres.«22»R zoning permits one dwelling per five acres.«23»R zoning - permitting a pattern of five-acre lots throughout the zone - is at issue here.
WEAN maintains that the significant blocks test articulated by the Board was an error of law. We agree.
"The Act does not require a particular methodology for providing for a variety of densities."«24»And RCW 36.70A.050 allows for consideration of local conditions and the use of unspecified "innovative techniques" to achieve rural densities and uses. But nowhere in the GMA is there any articulation of a requirement that a pattern of significant blocks of large lands remain before relief will be granted. And as this case illustrates, there is a dispute within the Board whether such significant blocks exist.
In short, we accept as persuasive WEAN's argument that, quite simply, the test for the existence of a variety of rural densities and uses is whether the County's rural element has provided for such densities and uses. The "significant blocks" test is not consistent with this approach.
«24» Achen v. Clark County , WWGMHB No. 95-2-0067, Final Decision and Order (Sept. 20, 1995), at 17.
«25» See LaMon v. Butler , 112 Wn.2d 193 , 200-01, 770 P.2d 1027, cert. denied , 493 U.S. 814 (1989).
velopment ordinance, and storm water protection. WEAN does not challenge these alternatives but limits its challenge to the failure of the Board to order the County to downzone.
We conclude that the Board did not err when it determined that the County's approach was not clearly erroneous. WEAN fails in its burden to show otherwise.
WEAN also argues that the Board's decision was arbitrary and capricious because it considered an improper factor. This argument is not persuasive.
WEAN maintains that the Board was improperly influenced by the fact that another party challenging the County regulation, the Coalition, changed its position on the rural density issue and advocated for a finding of compliance. WEAN points to the Board's Compliance Hearing Order of October 2000.
«29» Skagit Surveyors & Eng'rs, LLC v. Friends of Skagit County , 135 Wn.2d 542 , 571, 958 P.2d 962 (1998).
The Board went on to address WEAN's concerns with the five-acre zoning, concluding that the County's "truly unique set of local circumstances" warranted a finding of compliance. This is not willful and unreasoning action. The Board's analysis gave due consideration to the facts and circumstances surrounding this issue. The finding of compliance was not arbitrary and capricious, and WEAN fails to show otherwise.
The County argues that substantial evidence did not support the Board's order, and that the Board failed to defer to the County's discretionary balancing of the best available science (BAS) with other factors. The County also argues that the Board erred when it ignored the testimony of the County's expert and determined that his expert opinion was not BAS. The County also argues that the range of BAS included 25-foot buffers for type 5 streams and the Board erred in determining otherwise. Finally, the County argues that the Board improperly used a preponderance of the evidence standard to evaluate the science in the record. We conclude that substantial evidence supported the Board's finding of noncompliance, and the County's other arguments are unpersuasive.
and does not support salmon or other fish.«33»Type 5 streams usually run dry during some part of the year. The County recommended a 25-foot buffer for this type of stream.
Responding to the Board's FDO determination of noncompliance, the County required a 50-foot buffer for any type 5 stream tributary to a salmon bearing stream and for any type 5 stream located in the rural zone.«34»But the Board determined that the County was still noncompliant and ordered it to require 50-foot buffers for all type 5 streams, without qualification.
The scientific evidence in the record constitutes substantial evidence to support the Board's determination of noncompliance.
«33»ICC 17.02.110(C) at Table 17.02.110(C).
«35» Honesty in Envtl. Analysis & Legislation (HEAL) v. Cent. Puget Sound Growth Mgmt. Hearings Bd ., 96 Wn. App. 522 , 532, 979 P.2d 864 (1999).
«36»Letter from WDFW to Island County Bd. of Comm'rs of 5/8/98 at 1.
«37»ALAN DESBONNET, ET AL., VEGETATED BUFFERS IN THE COASTAL ZONE: A SUMMARY REVIEW AND BIBLIOGRAPHY 20, 26-29 (1994).
There is a sufficient quantity of evidence to persuade a fair-minded person of the truth or correctness of the Board's order that the County failed to comply with the GMA concerning type 5 stream buffers.
«38»ALAN JOHNSON AND DIANE M. RYBA, A LITERATURE REVIEW OF RECOMMENDED BUFFER WIDTHS TO MAINTAIN VARIOUS FUNCTIONS OF STREAM RIPARIAN AREAS 13 (1992).
«40»Letter from Susan Meyer, DOE, to Michael Shelton, Island County Commissioner of 9/8/99; Letter from DOE to Michael Shelton of 2/9/00.
«41»A.J. Castelle, et al., Wetland and Stream Buffer Size Requirements - a Review , 23 J. ENVIRON. QUAL . 878, 881 (1994).
«42»Castelle, et al., supra , at 881.
«43»Partial Tr. of Hr'g on 7/27/98, at 5.
«44» HEAL , 96 Wn. App. at 532 .
The County is correct when it asserts that, under the GMA, it is required to balance the various goals of GMA set forth in RCW 36.70A.020 . It is also true that when balancing those goals in the process of adopting a plan or development regulation under GMA, a local jurisdiction must consider BAS regarding protection of critical areas. This does not mean that the local government is required to adopt regulations that are consistent with BAS because such a rule would interfere with the local agency's ability to consider the other goals of GMA and adopt an appropriate balance between all the GMA goals. However, if a local government elects to adopt a critical area requirement that is outside the range that BAS alone would support, the local agency must provide findings explaining the reasons for its departure from BAS and identifying the other goals of GMA which it is implementing by making such a choice. The County references an "extensive inventory of the County's wildlife and habitat" conducted by Castelle. But this inventory was limited to "the shoreline environment of Island County"«45»and has questionable application to interior stream buffer issues.
The County did not make any findings about the applicability of unique local conditions or otherwise explain why it chose to adopt a buffer for type 5 streams that was outside the range of BAS. In the absence of such an explanation, the Board was correct when it found the County's type 5 stream buffer noncompliant.
The Board's finding of noncompliance was supported by substantial evidence, and the County fails to show otherwise.
The County contends that Andrew Castelle's recommendation for 25-foot buffers was BAS and that the Board willfully disregarded Castelle's expertise in this area, rendering the finding of noncompliance arbitrary and capricious. The Board was free to choose from among competing evidence, and doing so was not arbitrary or capricious.
«45»Partial Tr. of Hr'g on 7/27/98, at 32.
The Board was not willfully disregarding Castelle's expert opinion, as argued by the County. Rather, the Board was disagreeing with the County as to the content of BAS presented to the Board. This was not arbitrary and capricious.
The County also argues that because the range of evidence of BAS includes 25-foot buffers for type 5 streams, we should affirm the superior court's decision. We again disagree.
«46»Partial Tr. of Hr'g on 7/27/98, at 33 ("I didn't, I didn't consider specific wildlife species other than fish because I didn't think that the riparian buffer section was the appropriate place to do that."); Mem. from Andy Castelle to Alison Moss of 9/13/99 ("The fourth function is wildlife habitat, but the stream section of the CAO was written to address stream and fisheries protection, not wildlife.").
«47»Partial Tr. of Hr'g on 7/27/98, at 33.
those designated areas.«48»This means all functions and values.
The County relies heavily on specialized studies that fail to consider the multiple functions of a stream buffer rather than just one isolated function. The study cited in Johnson and Ryba as supporting three-meter buffers dealt only with sediment removal. Johnson and Ryba observed, "[t]he widest range in recommended widths was for buffers to filter suspended sediments. This is largely due to one reference (Wilson 1967) that reports separate buffer widths for filtering sediment particles of different sizes. These include sand (3 m), silt (15 m), and clay (122 m)."«49»The Board did not err in finding noncompliance.
Finally, the County contends that the Board erroneously used a preponderance of the evidence standard that allowed WEAN to escape its burden of proving noncompliance. We disagree.
The County cites to a single section in the Board's decision where the Board states, "[t]he majority of these studies showed that a minimum of 15 meters was needed for in-stream water quality." But observing that the majority of the scientific information supports greater than 25-foot buffers is not, of itself, reliance on a preponderance of the evidence standard. The Board went on to specify the reasons for its decision, including the fact that not even Castelle's own studies supported 25-foot buffers for in-stream water quality, let alone other buffer functions. The Board also observed that other regulations provided by the County, including the possibility of increased buffer sizes based on individual cases, and the County's "holistic" approach, failed to provide assurances of "minimal effective protection."
We conclude that the Board's determination was correct, and the County has failed in its burden to show otherwise.
«49»JOHNSON & RYBA , supra , at 6.
WEAN argues that the Board failed to articulate the basis for its decision concerning type 3 and 4 buffers, in violation of RCW 34.05.461 (3) and (4). WEAN also argues that the evidence was insufficient to support the Board's ruling that buffers for type 3 and 4 streams were adequate. We conclude that sufficient evidence supported the Board's finding of compliance.
[17, 18]The County claims that WEAN failed to preserve below the issue of inadequate findings by the Board on type 3 and 4 stream buffers. WEAN concedes that it did not do so but requests that this court consider this issue. We decline to do so. The remedy WEAN seeks is remand to the Board for the entry of a decision consistent with RCW 34.05.461 (3) and (4). But the standard of review employed by this court does not compel remand. We review the record for "evidence that is substantial when viewed in light of the whole record before the court . . . ."«50»WEAN did raise its substantive challenge to the finding of compliance on type 3 and 4 stream buffers below and has not demonstrated any prejudice from the procedural shortcomings of the Board. There is no reason why we cannot review the record for substantial evidence on this issue. Therefore, we decline to address WEAN's additional challenge to the Board's finding of compliance based on inadequate findings under RCW 34.05.461 (3) and (4) and instead address WEAN's contention that the evidence was insufficient to support the Board's finding of compliance for type 3 and 4 stream buffers.
«51»ICC 17.02.110(C) at Table 17.02.110(C).
importance is protecting water quality downstream.«52»The County recommended 50-foot buffers for type 4 streams.«53»A type 3 stream is a stream that has anadromous fish (salmon) and is 5 feet or wider, or bears resident game fish and is 10 feet or wider.«54»The County recommended 75-foot buffers for type 3 streams without anadromous fish and a 100-foot buffer for type 3 streams with anadromous fish.«55»WEAN argues that these buffer widths are smaller than the 100-foot minimum for all streams recommended by the scientific community.
WEAN directs us to the same analysis and arguments it used concerning type 5 streams above. Our review of BAS before the Board supports the conclusion that the County was in compliance concerning type 3 and 4 stream buffers because BAS does not require a 100-foot minimum for all streams.
«52»ICC 17.02.110(C) at Table 17.02.110(C).
«54»ICC 17.02.110(C) at Table 17.02.110(C).
«56»Letter from WDFW to Island County Bd. of Comm'rs of 5/8/98 at 1.
«57»Castelle, et al., supra , at 881.
«58»DESBONNET, ET AL ., supra , at 20, 26-29.
Despite WEAN's contention that Castelle fatally relied on buffer widths relating only to water quality, rather than other functions, other studies, as cited above, recommend 15 to 30 meter buffers for minimal maintenance of most functions, without reference to stream size.
We conclude that WEAN has failed to prove that the Board's order of compliance was not supported by substantial evidence.
The County argues that the Board lacked subject matter jurisdiction to review the 25-foot buffers on Category B wetlands. In the alternative, the County argues that the Board exceeded its authority when it allegedly required that the 1992 wetlands ordinance include BAS.
WEAN challenged the County's use of its preexisting wetlands ordinance for the protection of wildlife under the GMA in 1998. In the FDO, the Board stated that if the County was relying in part on the 25-foot buffers for Category B wetlands to protect wildlife functions, then the County was not in compliance because BAS required a minimum of 50-foot buffers to protect wildlife.
The County subsequently amended its regulation to require 50-foot buffers for Category B wetlands in the R zone only. In the remaining zones, the 25-foot buffer requirement remained. The Board concluded that the County was in compliance as to the R zone but was noncompliant in the other zones.
«59»JOHNSON & RYBA , supra , at 13.
«60»JOHNSON & RYBA , supra , at 6.
the wetlands regulations. The court held that the Board erred in finding noncompliance.
Even if the Board had subject matter jurisdiction, the County argues that WEAN's appeal of this matter was six years too late and thus the Board lacked the authority to hear this particular issue. If the challenge were to the wetland buffers alone, the Board acknowledged that the County was correct. "[T]he wetland buffer sizes are not able to be directly challenged in this appeal."«62»Thus, the question becomes whether the Board exceeded its authority when it required that the 1992 wetlands ordinance include BAS. The County contends that the 1995 BAS requirement for the protection of critical areas operated prospectively only.
RCW 36.70A.172 requires that the County establish regulations to protect critical areas, including fish and wildlife habitat. RCW 36.70A.172 requires that BAS be used to develop policies and development regulations to protect the functions and values of these critical areas. The BAS requirement was added to the GMA in 1995.
«61»15A KARL B. TEGLAND & DOUGLAS ENDE, WASHINGTON PRACTICE, WASHINGTON HANDBOOK ON CIVIL PROCEDURE , § 9.2, at 115 (2003).
«62»Final Decision and Order June 2, 1999 at 64; RCW 36.70A.290 (2).
If the County were relying substantively on the wetlands buffers to satisfy its obligation under RCW 36.70A.172 to protect fish and wildlife habitat, those preexisting regulations must be subject to the applicable critical areas analysis to ensure compliance with GMA requirements. Otherwise, a county could use myriad preexisting regulations in an attempt to satisfy GMA critical areas requirements without actually having to include BAS analysis. This would contravene RCW 36.70A.172 .
«63»A statutory amendment is presumed to be prospective in application only. The presumption of prospective application can be overcome only by showing (1) the Legislature intended the amendment to apply retroactively; (2) the amendment is curative; or (3) the amendment is remedial. State v. Smith , 144 Wn.2d 665 , 673, 30 P.3d 1245 (2001). None of those factors is present here, thus prospective application is proper.
«64»WWGMHB No. 98-2-0023c, Compliance Hr'g Order on FDO Remand Issues 10, 14 and 15 at 8.
«65»WWGMHB No. 97-2-0064 Compliance Order (Nov. 18, 1998).
«66»WWGMHB No. 97-2-0064 Compliance Order (Nov. 18, 1998).
«67»WEAN's Resp. to Island County's Mot. for Recons. at 17, n.6.
Category B wetlands and their 25-foot buffers to protect wildlife functions, the County is not in compliance with the Act."«68»Because the County has adopted separate regulations for wetlands (ICC 17.02.110(A)) and fish and wildlife protections (ICC 17.02.110(C)), the Board erred in invalidating the wetland buffers because they were inadequate to protect fish and wildlife . As the Board recognized, "the wetland buffer sizes are not able to be directly challenged in this appeal."«69»It could only reach the issue "if the County is relying in part on Category B wetlands . . . to protect wildlife functions."«70»Because ICC 17.02.100(c) addresses that issue, we affirm the trial court's ruling reversing the Board's holding that the County's 25-foot Category B wetland buffers did not comply with BAS and the GMA.
The County contends that the Board erred as a matter of law when it adopted a "no balancing" rule that restricted the County's discretion to balance the various GMA goals. The County also argues that the Board ignored the County's evidence that the agricultural exemption was subject to best management practices (BMP) and thus was not open to indiscriminate use in the R zone in violation of critical area protections. We conclude that we need not decide whether the no-balancing rule articulated by the Board was an improper reading of the statute. Rather, we conclude that there is no evidence in the record that an exemption of the scope granted by the County is necessary for R lands.
«68»Final Decision and Order June 2, 1999 at 64 (emphasis added).
«69»Final Decision and Order June 2, 1999 at 64.
«70»Final Decision and Order June 2, 1999 at 64.
requires counties to balance more than a dozen goals, listed in RCW 36.70A.020 , and several specific directives in implementing those goals.«72»One of these goals is RCW 36.70A.020 (8), which states that the County must "[m]aintain and enhance natural resource-based industries, including productive timber, agricultural, and fisheries industries. Encourage the conservation of productive forest lands and productive agricultural lands and discourage incompatible uses."
The Board held that as to lands designated RA, the exemption complied with the GMA. The Board also held that the BMP choices of the County concerning the application of the exemption to Category A wetland buffers and Category B wetlands were in compliance with the GMA. But the Board concluded that the County had inappropriately balanced "non-designated agricultural uses" against critical area protections by allowing the application of the exemption to agricultural activities, including hobby farms, in the R zone. This latter conclusion is the focus of our analysis here.
The County argues that the Board erred as a matter of law when it adopted a "no balancing" rule that restricted the County's discretion to balance GMA goals to maintain and enhance agriculture and to protect critical areas in the County's rural area. The County argues that RCW 36.70A.020 (8) allows it to consider agricultural uses on nondesignated natural resource lands, and that the Board's attempts to limit these considerations with the imposition of its "no balancing" rule was improper.
«72» See HEAL , 96 Wn. App. at 531 .
The construction of a statute is a question of law that we review de novo.«74»The essence of the County's argument is that the plain words of RCW 36.70A.020 (8) read more broadly than the Board concluded. Specifically, although the second sentence of that statute appears to limit any balancing to consideration of "agricultural lands," as defined in RCW 36.70A.030 (2),«75»the first sentence arguably sweeps more broadly - encompassing agricultural industries. This latter term is undefined in the GMA, but does not appear to be limited to lands.
WEAN does not directly respond to this statutory construction argument. Rather, it relies on other arguments to support its conclusion that the decision of the Board was correct.
We need not decide whether the Board's reading of the statute was correct in this case. Rather, we conclude that there is no evidence to support the application of such a broad exemption to R lands and affirm the Board's finding of noncompliance on that basis.
We are in agreement with WEAN and the Board that if the agricultural exemption exists to help the County conserve all agricultural activities, there should be some evidence in the record to support the need for an agricultural exemption on all lands, including R zoned lands. The County fails to cite to anything in the record to support the claim that the exemption is necessary to protect agricultural activities.
«74» Rettkowski v. Dep't of Ecology , 128 Wn.2d 508 , 515, 910 P.2d 462 (1996).
«75»" 'Agricultural land' means land primarily devoted to the commercial production of horticultural, viticultural, floricultural, dairy, apiary, vegetable, or animal products or of berries, grain, hay, straw, turf, seed, Christmas trees . . . finfish in upland hatcheries, or livestock, and that has long-term commercial significance for agricultural production."
RR zone [sic] is in the agricultural tax program. Further, the County provides none of this RR [sic] "agricultural" activity with GMA protections such as notification to adjacent landowners or application of its nuisance protection regulation.
There is simply no evidence to support the County's assertion that the goal of protecting or preserving agricultural activities on R lands is furthered by the application of the exemption.
The County also argues that the requirement that those claiming the exemption employ BMP, and the Board's finding that the BMP included BAS, renders the exemption GMA compliant as to critical area protection, regardless of the lack of evidence in the record supporting broad application of the exemption. This argument is not persuasive. Although the County cites to the November 2000 Compliance Hearing Order to support its contention that the Board found the BMPs compliant with BAS, the County is wrong. The Board found the exemption GMA compliant as to Category A and B wetlands and streams. It did not make any determination as to the use of BAS in the BMPs, or the application of BMPs to R lands. Again, the County fails to point to evidence in the record that proves that BAS was employed in crafting the exemption or the BMPs to which the exemption is allegedly subject on R lands.
In short, the record does not support the County's contention that such a broad exemption, which includes all R lands, is necessary, or that BAS was considered in creating the exemption.
The County also argues that the Board improperly shifted the burden from WEAN to the County. The County is mistaken. The Board simply required that the County comply with the GMA and determined that it had not. This is not impermissible burden shifting.
decline to conclude, as the County argues, that there was an "unreasoned taking of land." Furthermore, the County's argument that there will be "unnecessary and considerable loss of arable land and money at the farmer's expense" is speculation and not supported by any citation to the record.
We affirm in part and reverse in part the decision of the superior court.
AGID and APPELWICK , JJ ., concur . Reconsideration denied July 12, 2004 .

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