Washington Administrative Code › Title 222 - Forest Practices Board › Chapter 222-16 - Definitions › Section 222-16-050 - *Classes of forest practices

Current through Register Vol. 24-14, July 15, 2024
There are four classes of forest practices created by the act.
				All forest practices (including those in Classes I and II) on nonfederal forest
				lands must be conducted in accordance with the forest practices rules. The
				department determines the classification of each forest practices
				proposal.
(1)
"Class
			 IV-special."
Except as provided in WAC
			 222-16-051, application to
			 conduct forest practices involving the following circumstances requires an
			 environmental checklist in compliance with the State Environmental Policy Act
			 (SEPA), and SEPA guidelines, as they have been determined to have potential for
			 a substantial impact on the environment. It may be determined that additional
			 information or a detailed environmental statement is required before these
			 forest practices may be approved.
(a) Aerial
			 application of pesticides in a manner identified as having the potential for a
			 substantial impact on the environment under WAC
			 222-16-070 or ground application
			 of a pesticide within a Type A or B wetland.
(b) Specific forest practices listed in WAC
			 222-16-080 on lands designated as
			 critical habitat (state) of threatened or endangered species.
(c) Harvesting, road construction, aerial
			 application of pesticides and site preparation on all lands within the
			 boundaries of any national park, state park, or any park of a local
			 governmental entity, except harvest of less than five thousand board feet
			 within any developed park recreation area and park managed salvage of
			 merchantable forest products.
(d)
			 Timber harvest, or construction of roads, landings, gravel pits, rock quarries,
			 or spoil disposal areas, on potentially unstable slopes or landforms described
			 in (d)(i) of this subsection that has the potential to deliver sediment or
			 debris to a public resource or that has the potential to threaten public
			 safety, and which has been field verified by the department (see WAC
			 222-10-030 SEPA policies for
			 potentially unstable slopes and landforms).
(i) For the purpose of this rule, potentially
			 unstable slopes or landforms are one of the following: (See board manual
			 section 16 for more descriptive definitions.)
(A) Inner gorges, convergent headwalls, or
			 bedrock hollows with slopes steeper than thirty-five degrees (seventy
			 percent);
(B) Toes of deep-seated
			 landslides, with slopes steeper than thirty-three degrees (sixty-five
			 percent);
(C) Groundwater recharge
			 areas for glacial deep-seated landslides;
(D) Outer edges of meander bends along valley
			 walls or high terraces of an unconfined meandering stream; or
(E) Any areas containing features indicating
			 the presence of potential slope instability which cumulatively indicate the
			 presence of unstable slopes.
(ii) The department will base its
			 classification of the application or notification on professional knowledge of
			 the area, information such as soils, geologic or hazard zonation maps and
			 reports, review of approved watershed analysis mass wasting prescriptions
			 according to WAC
			 222-22-090(6) or other information provided by the applicant.
(iii) An application would not be classified
			 as Class IV-special for potentially unstable slopes or landforms under this
			 subsection if:
(A) The proposed forest
			 practice is located within a watershed administrative unit (WAU) that is
			 subject to an approved watershed analysis;
(B) The forest practices are to be conducted
			 in accordance with approved prescriptions from the watershed analysis;
			 and
(C) The applicable
			 prescriptions are specific to the site or situation, as opposed to a
			 prescription that calls for additional analysis. The need for an expert to
			 determine whether the site contains specific landforms will not be considered
			 "additional analysis," as long as specific prescriptions are established for
			 such landforms.
(e) Timber harvest, in a WAU not subject to
			 an approved watershed analysis under chapter 222-22 WAC, construction of roads,
			 landings, rock quarries, gravel pits, borrow pits, and spoil disposal areas on
			 snow avalanche slopes within those areas designated by the department, in
			 consultation with department of transportation and local government, as high
			 avalanche hazard where there is the potential to deliver sediment or debris to
			 a public resource, or the potential to threaten public safety.
(f) Timber harvest or construction of roads,
			 landings, rock quarries, gravel pits, borrow pits, and spoil disposal areas on
			 the following except in (f)(iv) of this subsection:
(i) Archaeological sites or historic
			 archaeological resources as defined in
			 RCW
			    27.53.030; or
(ii) Historic sites eligible for listing on
			 the National Register of Historic Places or the Washington Heritage Register as
			 determined by the Washington state department of archaeology and historic
			 preservation; or
(iii) Sites
			 containing evidence of Native American cairns, graves, or glyptic records as
			 provided for in chapters 27.44 and
			 27.53 RCW. The department of
			 archaeology and historic preservation shall consult with affected Indian tribes
			 in identifying such sites.
(iv) A
			 forest practice would not be classified as Class IV-special under this
			 subsection if:
(A) Cultural resources
			 management strategies from an approved watershed analysis conducted under
			 chapter 222-22 WAC are part of the proposed forest practices, and the landowner
			 states this in the application; or
(B) A management plan agreed to by the
			 landowner, the affected Indian tribe, and the department of archaeology and
			 historic preservation is part of the proposed application, and the landowner
			 states this in the application.
(g) Forest practices subject to an approved
			 watershed analysis conducted under chapter 222-22 WAC in an area of resource
			 sensitivity identified in that analysis which deviates from the prescriptions
			 (which may include an alternate plan).
(h) Filling or draining of more than 0.5 acre
			 of a wetland.