Washington Administrative Code › Title 222 - Forest Practices Board › Chapter 222-20 - Application and notification procedures › Section 222-20-010 - Applications and notifications- Policy

Current through Register Vol. 24-14, July 15, 2024
(1)
No Class II, III or IV forest
			 practices
shall be commenced or continued unless the department has
			 received a notification for Class II forest practices, or approved an
			 application for Class III or IV forest practices pursuant to the act. Where the
			 time limit for the department to act on the application has expired, and none
			 of the conditions in WAC
			 222-20-020(1) exist, the operation may commence. (NOTE: OTHER LAWS AND RULES AND/OR PERMIT
			 REQUIREMENTS MAY APPLY. SEE CHAPTER 222-50 WAC.)
(2)
The department shall
prescribe the form and contents of notifications and applications. The
			 department shall specify the information required for a notification, and the
			 information required for the department to approve or disapprove an
			 application.
(3)
Except as
			 provided in subsection (4) of this section, applications and
			 notifications
shall be signed by the landowner, the timber owner, and
			 the operator if the operator is known at the time the application is submitted.
			 Electronic signatures may be accepted when the department develops an
			 electronic business system.
(4) In
			 lieu of a landowner's signature, where the timber rights have been transferred
			 by deed to a perpetual owner who is different from the forest landowner, the
			 owner of perpetual timber rights may sign a forest practices application or
			 notification for operations not converting to another use and the statement of
			 intent not to convert for a set period of time. The holder of perpetual timber
			 rights shall serve the signed forest practices application or notification and
			 the signed statement of intent on the forest landowner. The forest practices
			 application shall not be considered complete until the holder of perpetual
			 timber rights has submitted evidence acceptable to the department that such
			 service has occurred.
(5)
Where an application
for a conversion is not signed by the
			 landowner, the department shall not approve the application. Applications and
			 notifications for the development or maintenance of utility rights of way shall
			 not be considered to be conversions.
(6)
Transfer of the
approved
			 application or notification to a new landowner, timber owner or operator
			 requires written notice by the former landowner or timber owner to the
			 department and should include the original application or notification number.
			 This written notice shall be in a form acceptable to the department and shall
			 contain an affirmation signed by the new landowner, timber owner, or operator,
			 as applicable, that he/she agrees to be bound by all conditions on the approved
			 application or notification. In the case of a transfer of an application
			 previously approved without the landowner's signature, the new timber owner or
			 operator must submit a bond securing compliance with the requirements of the
			 forest practices rules as determined necessary by the department. If an
			 application or notification indicates that the landowner or timber owner is
			 also the operator, or an operator signed the application, no notice need be
			 given regarding any change in subcontractors or similar independent contractors
			 working under the supervision of the operator of record.
(7)
The landowner or timber owner must
			 provide notice of hiring or change of operator
to the department within
			 forty-eight hours of the change. The department shall promptly notify the
			 landowner if the operator is subject to a notice of intent to disapprove under
			 WAC
			 222-46-070.
			 Once notified, the landowner will not permit the operator, who is subject to a
			 notice of intent to disapprove, to conduct the forest practices specified in
			 the application or notification, or any other forest practices until such
			 notice of intent to disapprove is removed by the department.
(8)
Applications and
			 notifications,
if complete, will be considered officially received on
			 the date shown on any registered or certified mail receipt, or the written
			 receipt given at the date of personal delivery, or on the date of receipt by
			 general mail delivery, or on the date of electronic receipt when the department
			 develops an electronic business system. The department will immediately provide
			 a dated receipt to the applicant. Applications or notifications that are not
			 complete, or are inaccurate will not be considered officially received until
			 the applicant furnishes the necessary information to complete the application.
(a) A review statement from the U.S. Forest
			 Service that evaluates compliance of the forest practices with the Columbia
			 River Gorge National Scenic Area Act (CRGNSA) special management area
			 guidelines is necessary information for an application or notification within
			 the CRGNSA special management area. The review statement requirement shall be
			 waived if the applicant can demonstrate the U.S. Forest Service received a
			 complete plan application and failed to act within forty-five days.
(b) A complete environmental checklist (WAC
			 197-11-315) is necessary information for all Class IV applications.
(c) A local governmental entity clearing
			 and/or grading permit is necessary information for all Class IV applications on
			 lands that will be converted to a use other than commercial timber operations
			 if the local governmental entity has jurisdiction and has an ordinance
			 requiring such permit.
(d) A
			 checklist road maintenance and abandonment plan is necessary information for
			 all small forest landowners' applications or notifications for timber harvest
			 (including salvage), unless exempt under WAC
			 222-24-0511,
			 or unless the application is a small forest landowner long-term application
			 which requires a roads assessment.