Washington Administrative Code › Title 173 - Ecology, Department of (See also Titles 197, 317, 372, and 508) › Chapter 173-26 - State master program approval/amendment procedures and master program guidelines › Part III - GUIDELINES › Section 173-26-171 - Authority, purpose and effects of guidelines

Current through Register Vol. 24-14, July 15, 2024
(1)
Authority.
RCW
				90.58.090 authorizes and directs the
				department to adopt "guidelines consistent with
				RCW
				90.58.020, containing the elements specified
				in RCW
				90.58.100 " for development of local master
				programs for regulation of the uses of "shorelines" and "shorelines of
				statewide significance."
				RCW
				90.58.200 authorizes the department and local
				governments "to adopt such rules as are necessary and appropriate to carry out
				the provisions of" the Shoreline Management Act.
(2)
Purpose.
The general purpose
				of the guidelines is to implement the "cooperative program of shoreline
				management between local government and the state." Local government shall have
				the primary responsibility for initiating the planning required by the
				Shoreline Management Act and "administering the regulatory program consistent
				with the policy and provisions" of the act. "The department shall act primarily
				in a supportive and review capacity with an emphasis on providing assistance to
				local government and insuring compliance with the policy and provisions" of the
				act. RCW
				90.58.050.
In keeping with the relationship between state and local
				  governments prescribed by the act, the guidelines have three specific purposes:
				  To assist local governments in developing master programs; to serve as
				  standards for the regulation of shoreline development in the absence of a
				  master program along with the policy and provisions of the act and, to be used
				  along with the policy of
				  RCW
				  90.58.020, as criteria for state review of
				  local master programs under
				  RCW
				  90.58.090.
(3)
Effect.
(a) The guidelines are guiding parameters,
				standards, and review criteria for local master programs. The guidelines allow
				local governments substantial discretion to adopt master programs reflecting
				local circumstances and other local regulatory and nonregulatory programs
				related to the policy goals of shoreline management as provided in the policy
				statements of
				RCW
				90.58.020, WAC
				173-26-176 and
				173-26-181. The policy of
				RCW
				90.58.020 and these guidelines constitute
				standards and criteria to be used by the department in reviewing the adoption
				and amendment of local master programs under
				RCW
				90.58.090 and by the growth management
				hearings board and shorelines hearings board adjudicating appeals of department
				decisions to approve, reject, or modify proposed master programs and amendments
				under RCW
				90.58.190.
(b) Under
				RCW
				90.58.340, the guidelines, along with the
				policy of the act and the master programs, also shall be standards of review
				and criteria to be used by state agencies, counties, and public and municipal
				corporations in determining whether the use of lands under their respective
				jurisdictions adjacent to the shorelines of the state are subject to planning
				policies consistent with the policies and regulations applicable to shorelines
				of the state.
(c) The guidelines do
				not regulate development on shorelines of the state in counties and cities
				where approved master programs are in effect. In local jurisdictions without
				approved master programs, development on the shorelines of the state must be
				consistent with the policy of
				RCW
				90.58.020 and the applicable guidelines under
				RCW
				90.58.140.
(d) As provided in
				RCW
				90.58.060, the department is charged with
				periodic review and update of these guidelines to address technical and
				procedural issues that arise as from the review of shoreline master programs
				(SMPs) as well as compliance of the guidelines with statutory provisions. As a
				part of this process, ecology will compile information concerning the
				effectiveness and efficiency of these guidelines and the master programs
				adopted pursuant thereto with regard to accomplishment of the policies of the
				Shoreline Management Act and the corresponding principles and specific
				requirements set forth in these guidelines.