Washington Administrative Code › Title 220 - Fish and Wildlife, Department of › ENVIRONMENTAL STANDARDS AND CONSERVATION › Chapter 220-660 - Hydraulic code rules › Section 220-660-370 - Shoreline stabilization in saltwater areas

Current through Register Vol. 24-14, July 15, 2024
Appropriate methods to assess the need for marine shoreline
				  stabilization and, if needed, to design marine shoreline stabilization are
				  available in the department's
Marine Shoreline Design
				  Guidelines
, as well as other published manuals and guidelines.
(1)
Description:
A broad
				spectrum of shoreline stabilization techniques can be applied to protect
				property. These range from passive techniques that require minimal or no
				engineering, engineered soft shore protection, and hard shoreline armor.
				Passive techniques include planting native vegetation, improving drainage, and
				relocating buildings, roads, and improvements (e.g., wells, utilities, septic
				fields, and the like). Passive techniques typically preserve the natural
				condition of the shore and have few to no negative impacts on fish life. Soft
				shore techniques such as log placement, beach nourishment, resloping the bank,
				and re-vegetation can provide erosion protection using strategically placed
				natural materials while reducing impacts to beach processes and fish habitat.
				Conventional hard techniques include bulkheads, seawalls, revetments and
				related structures, which are designed to preclude shoreline migration and bank
				erosion. Each type of approach has varying degrees of impact. In general,
				passive techniques result in the fewest impacts to fish life and hard
				techniques have the most impacts.
(2)
Fish life concerns:
Conventional hard techniques as well as some soft shore techniques can
				physically alter the beach and disrupt beach processes. Sea level rise will
				magnify the loss of beach habitat if beaches are unable to retreat due to the
				presence of shoreline stabilization. This alteration can cause a loss of the
				beach spawning habitat for Pacific sand lance and surf smelt. These forage fish
				species are a primary food source for some adult salmon species. This
				alteration can also reduce beach complexity, the presence of marine riparian
				vegetation including overhanging vegetation alongshore that produces
				terrestrial insects that are eaten by juvenile salmon, and this may be
				exacerbated by the effects of climate change. To protect fish life, the
				department protects both beaches where saltwater habitats of special concern
				occur and the beach processes that form and maintain this habitat.
(3)
Alternative selection:
(a) To ensure the protection of fish life, a
				person must use the least impacting technically feasible shoreline
				stabilization alternative. For the purpose of this section, "feasible" means
				available and capable of being done after taking into consideration cost,
				existing technology, and logistics in light of overall project purposes. A
				person should propose a hard armor technique only after considering site
				characteristics such as the threat to major improvements, wave energy, and
				other factors in an alternatives analysis.
(b) Common alternatives for both new
				shoreline stabilization and the replacement or rehabilitation of shoreline
				stabilization that extends waterward of an existing shoreline stabilization
				structure are, from most preferred to least preferred:
(i) Remove any existing shoreline
				stabilization structure and restore the beach;
(ii) Control upland drainage;
(iii) Protect, enhance, and replace native
				vegetation;
(iv) Relocate buildings
				and improvements;
(v) Construct a
				soft structure;
(vi) Construct
				upland retaining walls;
(vii)
				Construct a hard structure landward of the ordinary high water line;
				and
(viii) Construct a hard
				structure at the ordinary high water line.
(c) Common alternatives for replacement or
				rehabilitation of residential shoreline stabilization are, from most preferred
				to least preferred:
(i) Remove the existing
				shoreline stabilization structure and restore the beach;
(ii) Remove the existing shoreline
				stabilization structure and install native vegetation;
(iii) Remove the existing shoreline
				stabilization structure and control upland drainage;
(iv) Remove the existing shoreline
				stabilization structure and replace it with a soft structure constructed of
				natural materials, including bioengineering;
(v) Remove the existing hard structure and
				construct upland retaining walls;
(vi) Remove the existing hard structure and
				replace it landward with another hard structure, preferably at or above the
				ordinary high water line; or
(vii)
				Remove the existing hard structure and replace it in the same footprint with
				another hard structure.
(d) Except as provided in (f) of this
				subsection, HPA applications for the following types of projects must include a
				site assessment, alternatives analysis and design rationale for the proposed
				method(s) prepared by a qualified professional (Qualified Professional's
				Report):
(i) New shoreline
				stabilization;
(ii) Replacement or
				rehabilitation of shoreline stabilization that extends waterward of an existing
				shoreline stabilization structure; and
(iii) Replacement or rehabilitation of
				residential shoreline stabilization.
(e) The applicant must submit the Qualified
				Professional's Report to the department as part of a complete application for
				an HPA that includes:
(i) An assessment of the
				level of risk to existing buildings, roads, or services being threatened by the
				erosion;
(ii) Evidence of erosion
				and/or slope instability to warrant the stabilization work;
(iii) Alternatives considered and the
				technical rationale specific to the shoreline stabilization technique
				proposed;
(iv) An analysis of the
				benefits and impacts associated with the chosen protection method;
				and
(v) An explanation of the
				method chosen, design parameters, types of materials, quantities, staging, and
				site rehabilitation.
(f)
				The department may grant an exemption to the Qualified Professional's Report
				required under (d) and (e) of this subsection based on the scale and nature of
				the project for the following:
(i) Projects
				for the removal of an existing shoreline stabilization structure and
				restoration of the beach.
(ii)
				Projects employing passive techniques such as controlling upland drainage or
				planting native vegetation.
(iii)
				Other projects as assessed by the department.
(g) Emergency or expedited applications
				submitted under
				RCW
				77.55.021(12), (14), or (16)
				that do not include a site assessment and alternatives analysis report should
				identify only the work necessary to stabilize the emergency or expedited
				conditions authorized under
				RCW
				77.55.021. A site assessment and alternatives
				analysis report must be submitted within 90 days from the permit issuance
				unless the department issues an exemption. After consideration of the
				assessment and analysis report, if the department determines that shoreline
				stabilization work conducted under the emergency or expedited permit is not the
				least impactful technically feasible alternative, the applicant may be required
				to replace the structure with one that is the least impactful technically
				feasible alternative.