Opinion ID: 6072720
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Cooke’s Permit Application

Text: In January 2019, Cooke submitted two marine finfish aquaculture permit applications to WDFW: one application requested renewal of an existing permit to farm nonnative Atlantic salmon and the other application was a proposal to 4 Wild Fish Conservancy v. Dep’t of Fish & Wildlife, No. 99263-1 transition its finfish aquaculture operations from farming Atlantic salmon to farming native steelhead trout. 4 The new permit application to farm steelhead presented a change in Cooke’s operations and required an environmental assessment under SEPA. Between March and September 2019, Cooke worked with WDFW to develop the required documentation, including a SEPA environmental checklist. See WAC 197-11-960. After evaluating Cooke’s initial submission, WDFW required Cooke submit an updated environmental checklist with additional requested information and data. The agency also required Cooke hire independent experts to review and update the 1990 programmatic environmental impact statement (PEIS)—the most recent EIS on marine net-pen aquaculture in Puget Sound. The agency spent approximately 10 months reviewing the materials and information submitted by Cooke, the 1990 PEIS and its update, and additional scientific reports. On October 1, 2019, WDFW announced its decision to issue a mitigated determination of nonsignificance (MDNS) and a five-year marine aquaculture permit to Cooke to farm all-female, sterile steelhead trout in Cooke’s existing 4 WDFW approved Cooke’s renewal application to continue its Atlantic salmon farming operations for the duration of its valid DNR leases. The agency determined it was not required to perform an environmental assessment under SEPA because the renewal request did not establish a material change from Cooke’s current activities. WAC 197-11-800(13)(i) (“The renewal or reissuance of a [business] license regulating any present activity or structure [requires no SEPA action] so long as no material changes are involved.”). It is unclear, based on the record, whether Cooke continues to farm Atlantic salmon in any of its net pens. 5 Wild Fish Conservancy v. Dep’t of Fish & Wildlife, No. 99263-1 marine net pens. The MDNS included a 12-page summary of the key issues that WDFW considered in its decision-making process. It also included 22 mitigating provisions that the agency imposed on Cooke’s steelhead permit. WDFW then invited the public, affected tribes, and other agencies to comment on the MDNS. Generally, an agency that issues an MDNS is required to open the comment period for 14 days. WDFW, however, initially opened the comment period for 21 days and extended it twice for a total of 53 days, closing it on November 22, 2019. 5 After the close of the comment period, the agency held a government-togovernment meeting with representatives of the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community to discuss the MDNS. The final MDNS included a 19-page summary of the submitted comments, a 34-page document explaining the scientific basis for its determination and providing substantive responses to the comments, and modifications to the mitigating provisions in response to some of the public’s voiced concerns. The agency imposed an additional seven mitigating provisions to the final steelhead permit. The WFC prepared and submitted a report during the comment period in which it raised concerns that it continues to advance in this action. The 5 WDFW reported they received 3,578 comments, 884 of which were unique comments. The remaining comments were identical or nearly identical or submitted more than once by the same author. 6 Wild Fish Conservancy v. Dep’t of Fish & Wildlife, No. 99263-1 organization argued that WDFW erroneously arrived at the conclusion that the steelhead net pens will not have a probable, significant adverse impact on the environment, and therefore, WDFW should have prepared an EIS under SEPA. Appellants’ Opening Br. at 36-49. The WFC critiqued WDFW’s analysis, stating that the agency relied on an “insufficient [] update [to] an entirely stale EIS,” thereby ignoring the best available science developed over the last 30 years. Administrative Record (AR) at 3701. It also raised several “reasonable, safer alternatives” to raising steelhead trout that in its opinion, WDFW should have considered. AR at 3701. Its comment called for an EIS that includes a “no-action alternative” based on the “cessation of operation of the pens (and cessation of any environmental risk) after the legislative non-native aquaculture phaseout takes effect in 2022.” AR at 3703. The WFC argues that WDFW was required to evaluate and disclose alternatives to the steelhead permit but failed to do so. WDFW imposed 29 mitigating provisions on the final steelhead aquaculture permit. A comparison of the Atlantic salmon renewal permit and the steelhead trout permit reveals the relative extent to which WDFW imposed conditions on Cooke’s steelhead permit aimed at mitigating any potential environmental impacts. Both permits require Cooke adhere to the requirements set out in its (1) plan of operation, (2) fish escape prevention, response, and reporting plan, and (3) regulated finfish pathogen reporting plan. Similar to the Atlantic salmon permit, 7 Wild Fish Conservancy v. Dep’t of Fish & Wildlife, No. 99263-1 the steelhead permit requires Cooke update these three plans annually in consultation with, and to be approved by, WDFW. Also, the steelhead permit, unlike the Atlantic salmon permit, requires Cooke draft its fish escape prevention, response, and reporting plan in consultation with DNR, Department of Ecology, and “[a]ffected treaty tribes.” AR at 4534.