ENGROSSED SECOND SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 1099
State of Washington 67th Legislature 2021 Regular Session
By House Appropriations (originally sponsored by Representatives
Duerr, Fitzgibbon, Dolan, Bateman, Ramel, Gregerson, Goodman, Ryu,
Kloba, Chopp, Ormsby, Pollet, Fey, Santos, and Davis)
READ FIRST TIME 02/22/21.
1 AN ACT Relating to improving the state's climate response through
2 updates to the state's comprehensive planning framework; amending RCW
3 36.70A.020, 36.70A.480, 36.70A.320, 36.70A.190, 36.70A.030, and
4 86.12.200; reenacting and amending RCW 36.70A.070; adding new
5 sections to chapter 36.70A RCW; adding a new section to chapter
6 70A.45 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 47.80 RCW; adding a new
7 section to chapter 90.58 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 43.21C
8 RCW; and creating new sections.
9 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
10 Sec. 1. RCW 36.70A.020 and 2002 c 154 s 1 are each amended to
11 read as follows:
12 The following goals are adopted to guide the development and
13 adoption of comprehensive plans and development regulations of those
14 counties and cities that are required or choose to plan under RCW
15 36.70A.040 and, where specified, also guide the development of
16 regional policies, plans, and strategies adopted under RCW 36.70A.210
17 and chapter 47.80 RCW. The following goals are not listed in order of
18 priority and shall be used exclusively for the purpose of guiding the
19 development of comprehensive plans ((and)), development regulations,
20 and, where specified, regional plans, policies, and strategies:
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 1 (1) Urban growth. Encourage development in urban areas where
2 adequate public facilities and services exist or can be provided in
3 an efficient manner.
4 (2) Reduce sprawl. Reduce the inappropriate conversion of
5 undeveloped land into sprawling, low-density development.
6 (3) Transportation. Encourage efficient multimodal transportation
7 systems that help achieve statewide targets for the reduction of
8 greenhouse gas emissions and per capita vehicle miles traveled, and
9 are based on regional priorities and coordinated with county and city
10 comprehensive plans.
11 (4) Housing. Encourage the availability of affordable housing to
12 all economic segments of the population of this state, promote a
13 variety of residential densities and housing types, and encourage
14 preservation of existing housing stock.
15 (5) Economic development. Encourage economic development
16 throughout the state that is consistent with adopted comprehensive
17 plans, promote economic opportunity for all citizens of this state,
18 especially for unemployed and for disadvantaged persons, promote the
19 retention and expansion of existing businesses and recruitment of new
20 businesses, recognize regional differences impacting economic
21 development opportunities, and encourage growth in areas experiencing
22 insufficient economic growth, all within the capacities of the
23 state's natural resources, public services, and public facilities.
24 (6) Property rights. Private property shall not be taken for
25 public use without just compensation having been made. The property
26 rights of landowners shall be protected from arbitrary and
27 discriminatory actions.
28 (7) Permits. Applications for both state and local government
29 permits should be processed in a timely and fair manner to ensure
30 predictability.
31 (8) Natural resource industries. Maintain and enhance natural
32 resource-based industries, including productive timber, agricultural,
33 and fisheries industries. Encourage the conservation of productive
34 forestlands and productive agricultural lands, and discourage
35 incompatible uses.
36 (9) Open space and recreation. Retain open space and greenspace,
37 enhance recreational opportunities, ((conserve)) enhance fish and
38 wildlife habitat, increase access to natural resource lands and
39 water, and develop parks and recreation facilities.
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 1 (10) Environment. Protect and enhance the environment and enhance
2 the state's high quality of life, including air and water quality,
3 and the availability of water.
4 (11) Citizen participation and coordination. Encourage the
5 involvement of citizens in the planning process and ensure
6 coordination between communities and jurisdictions to reconcile
7 conflicts.
8 (12) Public facilities and services. Ensure that those public
9 facilities and services necessary to support development shall be
10 adequate to serve the development at the time the development is
11 available for occupancy and use without decreasing current service
12 levels below locally established minimum standards.
13 (13) Historic preservation. Identify and encourage the
14 preservation of lands, sites, and structures, that have historical or
15 archaeological significance.
16 (14) Climate change. Ensure that comprehensive plans, development
17 regulations, and regional policies, plans, and strategies under RCW
18 36.70A.210 and chapter 47.80 RCW adapt to and mitigate the effects of
19 a changing climate, support state greenhouse gas emissions reduction
20 requirements and state per capita vehicle miles traveled goals,
21 prepare for climate impact scenarios, foster resiliency to climate
22 impacts and natural hazards, and protect and enhance environmental,
23 economic, and human health and safety.
24 Sec. 2. RCW 36.70A.480 and 2010 c 107 s 2 are each amended to
25 read as follows:
26 (1) For shorelines of the state, the goals and policies of the
27 shoreline management act as set forth in RCW 90.58.020 are added as
28 one of the goals of this chapter as set forth in RCW 36.70A.020
29 without creating an order of priority among the ((fourteen)) 15
30 goals. The goals and policies of a shoreline master program for a
31 county or city approved under chapter 90.58 RCW shall be considered
32 an element of the county or city's comprehensive plan. All other
33 portions of the shoreline master program for a county or city adopted
34 under chapter 90.58 RCW, including use regulations, shall be
35 considered a part of the county or city's development regulations.
36 (2) The shoreline master program shall be adopted pursuant to the
37 procedures of chapter 90.58 RCW rather than the goals, policies, and
38 procedures set forth in this chapter for the adoption of a
39 comprehensive plan or development regulations.
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 1 (3)(a) The policies, goals, and provisions of chapter 90.58 RCW
2 and applicable guidelines shall be the sole basis for determining
3 compliance of a shoreline master program with this chapter except as
4 the shoreline master program is required to comply with the internal
5 consistency provisions of RCW 36.70A.070, 36.70A.040(4), 35.63.125,
6 and 35A.63.105.
7 (b) Except as otherwise provided in (c) of this subsection,
8 development regulations adopted under this chapter to protect
9 critical areas within shorelines of the state apply within shorelines
10 of the state until the department of ecology approves one of the
11 following: A comprehensive master program update, as defined in RCW
12 90.58.030; a segment of a master program relating to critical areas,
13 as provided in RCW 90.58.090; or a new or amended master program
14 approved by the department of ecology on or after March 1, 2002, as
15 provided in RCW 90.58.080. The adoption or update of development
16 regulations to protect critical areas under this chapter prior to
17 department of ecology approval of a master program update as provided
18 in this subsection is not a comprehensive or segment update to the
19 master program.
20 (c)(i) Until the department of ecology approves a master program
21 or segment of a master program as provided in (b) of this subsection,
22 a use or structure legally located within shorelines of the state
23 that was established or vested on or before the effective date of the
24 local government's development regulations to protect critical areas
25 may continue as a conforming use and may be redeveloped or modified
26 if: (A) The redevelopment or modification is consistent with the
27 local government's master program; and (B) the local government
28 determines that the proposed redevelopment or modification will
29 result in no net loss of shoreline ecological functions. The local
30 government may waive this requirement if the redevelopment or
31 modification is consistent with the master program and the local
32 government's development regulations to protect critical areas.
33 (ii) For purposes of this subsection (3)(c), an agricultural
34 activity that does not expand the area being used for the
35 agricultural activity is not a redevelopment or modification.
36 "Agricultural activity," as used in this subsection (3)(c), has the
37 same meaning as defined in RCW 90.58.065.
38 (d) Upon department of ecology approval of a shoreline master
39 program or critical area segment of a shoreline master program,
40 critical areas within shorelines of the state are protected under
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 1 chapter 90.58 RCW and are not subject to the procedural and
2 substantive requirements of this chapter, except as provided in
3 subsection (6) of this section. Nothing in chapter 321, Laws of 2003
4 or chapter 107, Laws of 2010 is intended to affect whether or to what
5 extent agricultural activities, as defined in RCW 90.58.065, are
6 subject to chapter 36.70A RCW.
7 (e) The provisions of RCW 36.70A.172 shall not apply to the
8 adoption or subsequent amendment of a local government's shoreline
9 master program and shall not be used to determine compliance of a
10 local government's shoreline master program with chapter 90.58 RCW
11 and applicable guidelines. Nothing in this section, however, is
12 intended to limit or change the quality of information to be applied
13 in protecting critical areas within shorelines of the state, as
14 required by chapter 90.58 RCW and applicable guidelines.
15 (4) Shoreline master programs shall provide a level of protection
16 to critical areas located within shorelines of the state that assures
17 no net loss of shoreline ecological functions necessary to sustain
18 shoreline natural resources as defined by department of ecology
19 guidelines adopted pursuant to RCW 90.58.060.
20 (5) Shorelines of the state shall not be considered critical
21 areas under this chapter except to the extent that specific areas
22 located within shorelines of the state qualify for critical area
23 designation based on the definition of critical areas provided by RCW
24 36.70A.030(((5))) (6) and have been designated as such by a local
25 government pursuant to RCW 36.70A.060(2).
26 (6) If a local jurisdiction's master program does not include
27 land necessary for buffers for critical areas that occur within
28 shorelines of the state, as authorized by RCW 90.58.030(2)(((f)))
29 (d), then the local jurisdiction shall continue to regulate those
30 critical areas and their required buffers pursuant to RCW
31 36.70A.060(2).
32 NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. A new section is added to chapter 36.70A
33 RCW to read as follows:
34 (1) The requirements of the greenhouse gas emissions reduction
35 subelement of the climate change and resiliency element set forth in
36 RCW 36.70A.070(9) apply only to those counties that are required or
37 that choose to plan under RCW 36.70A.040 and that also meet either of
38 the criteria set forth in (a) or (b) of this subsection (1) on or
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 1 after January 1, 2021, and the cities with populations greater than
2 6,000 as of January 1, 2021, within those counties:
3 (a) A county with a population density of at least 100 people per
4 square mile and a population of at least 200,000; or
5 (b) A county with a population density of at least 75 people per
6 square mile and an annual growth rate of at least 1.75 percent as
7 determined by the office of financial management.
8 (2) The requirements of the amendments to the transportation
9 element of RCW 36.70A.070 set forth in this act apply only to: (a)
10 Counties and cities that meet the population criteria set forth in
11 subsection (1) of this section; and (b) cities with populations of
12 6,000 or greater as of January 1, 2021, that are located in a county
13 that is required or that chooses to plan under RCW 36.70A.040.
14 (3) The requirements of the amendments to the land use element of
15 RCW 36.70A.070 set forth in this act apply only to: (a) Counties and
16 cities that meet the population criteria set forth in subsection (1)
17 or (2) of this section; and (b) counties that have a population of
18 20,000 or greater as of January 1, 2021, and that are required or
19 that choose to plan under RCW 36.70A.040.
20 (4) The requirements of the amendments to the rural element of
21 RCW 36.70A.070 set forth in this act apply only to counties that are
22 required or that choose to plan under RCW 36.70A.040 and that have a
23 population of 20,000 or greater as of January 1, 2021.
24 (5) Once a county meets either of the sets of criteria set forth
25 in subsection (1) of this section, the requirement to conform with
26 the greenhouse gas emissions reduction subelement of the climate
27 change and resiliency element set forth in RCW 36.70A.070 remains in
28 effect, even if the county no longer meets one of these sets of
29 criteria.
30 (6) If the population of a county that previously had not been
31 required to conform with the greenhouse gas emissions reduction
32 subelement of the climate change and resiliency element set forth in
33 RCW 36.70A.070 changes sufficiently to meet either of the sets of
34 criteria set forth in subsection (1) of this section, the county, and
35 the cities with populations greater than 6,000 as of January 1, 2021,
36 within that county, shall adopt a greenhouse gas emissions reduction
37 subelement of the climate change and resiliency element set forth in
38 RCW 36.70A.070 at the next scheduled update of the comprehensive plan
39 as set forth in RCW 36.70A.130.
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1 (7) The population criteria used in this section must be based on
2 population data as determined by the office of financial management.
3 Sec. 4. RCW 36.70A.070 and 2017 3rd sp.s. c 18 s 4 and 2017 3rd
4 sp.s. c 16 s 4 are each reenacted and amended to read as follows:
5 The comprehensive plan of a county or city that is required or
6 chooses to plan under RCW 36.70A.040 shall consist of a map or maps,
7 and descriptive text covering objectives, principles, and standards
8 used to develop the comprehensive plan. The plan shall be an
9 internally consistent document and all elements shall be consistent
10 with the future land use map. A comprehensive plan shall be adopted
11 and amended with public participation as provided in RCW 36.70A.140.
12 Each comprehensive plan shall include a plan, scheme, or design for
13 each of the following:
14 (1) A land use element designating the proposed general
15 distribution and general location and extent of the uses of land,
16 where appropriate, for agriculture, timber production, housing,
17 commerce, industry, recreation, open spaces, general aviation
18 airports, public utilities, public facilities, and other land uses.
19 The land use element shall include population densities, building
20 intensities, and estimates of future population growth. The land use
21 element shall provide for protection of the quality and quantity of
22 groundwater used for public water supplies. The land use element
23 should give special consideration to achieving environmental justice
24 in its goals and policies. In addition, the land use element must
25 avoid creating or worsening environmental health disparities.
26 Wherever possible, the land use element should consider utilizing
27 urban planning approaches that promote physical activity and reduce
28 per capita vehicle miles traveled within the jurisdiction, but
29 without increasing greenhouse gas emissions elsewhere in the state.
30 Where applicable, the land use element shall review drainage,
31 flooding, and stormwater runoff in the area and nearby jurisdictions
32 and provide guidance for corrective actions to mitigate or cleanse
33 those discharges that pollute waters of the state, including Puget
34 Sound or waters entering Puget Sound. The land use element must
35 reduce and mitigate the risk to lives and property posed by wildfires
36 by using land use planning tools, which may include reducing
37 residential development pressure in the wildland urban interface
38 area.
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 1 (2) A housing element ensuring the vitality and character of
2 established residential neighborhoods that: (a) Includes an inventory
3 and analysis of existing and projected housing needs that identifies
4 the number of housing units necessary to manage projected growth; (b)
5 includes a statement of goals, policies, objectives, and mandatory
6 provisions for the preservation, improvement, and development of
7 housing, including single-family residences; (c) identifies
8 suffic