Gov. Gary Locke Announces Important Agreement on Shoreline Guidelines

Washington State Department of Ecology

Office of Governor Gary Locke News Release - December 20, 2002

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Gov. Gary Locke Announces Important Agreement on Shoreline Guidelines

OLYMPIA - Gov. Gary Locke today announced that the state has reached a long-awaited agreement on Washington's shoreline management guidelines. Locke was joined at a news conference in Olympia by representatives of business, environmental groups and local government who participated in the negotiation.

"This important agreement will help us move forward to protect our shorelines," Locke said. "By bringing businesses and environmentalists together, we have proven that we can achieve consensus on even the most controversial issues."

The state's Shoreline Management Act directs the Department of Ecology to adopt guidelines for how to satisfy the protection standards contained in the act, and requires cities and counties to adopt local shoreline ordinances that comply with the state guidelines.

Two years ago, the state Department of Ecology updated the state's shoreline management guidelines for the first time since 1972. However, a coalition of business groups and local governments challenged the guidelines, and the Shoreline Hearings Board subsequently invalidated them. Ecology Director Tom Fitzsimmons asked Locke and Attorney General Christine Gregoire to sponsor mediation talks aimed at reaching a legal settlement.

"The successful mediation avoided further litigation that would have been costly and time consuming for all parties," Gregoire said. "This is an example of how business, environmentalists and local governments can work together to achieve their mutual goals."

Under the negotiated shoreline guidelines, local shoreline master programs must:

Manage shoreline development and uses in a manner that preserves and protects the environmental functions of the shorelines
Assure that new development will result in no net loss of shoreline ecological functions
Set priorities and include a plan for restoring past shoreline damage, where appropriate
Coordinate shoreline programs with local comprehensive plans and regulations, and with other state and federal requirements
Respect constitutional and legal limits on regulating private property

"We believe this settlement serves to protect and preserve our state's unique shorelines but still allows reasonable commercial, industrial and residential use," said Don Brunell, president of the Association of Washington Business (AWB), which represented more than four dozen business groups, cities and counties in the mediation.

Fitzsimmons said the negotiated guidelines will provide more flexibility in managing and using shorelines, while providing a greater degree of protection for crucial shoreline functions, such as containing flood waters, preventing erosion, and providing habitat for a host of aquatic life.

"Today, we've accomplished something good for our kids and grandkids. Improved guidelines will help protect the rivers, lakes and marine waters that make Washington so amazing," said Jay Manning of the Washington Environmental Council, which negotiated on behalf of several environmental organizations.

"As an industry, we felt it was important to reflect the relationship of the Shoreline Act, the Growth Management Act and SEPA (the State Environmental Protection Act), while noting the unique geology of Washington," said Bruce Chattin, executive director of the Washington Aggregates & Concrete Association.

History of the Shoreline Management Act and guidelines: http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/sea/SMA/guidelines/newguid.htm