SEA Program Home > Shoreline Management Home > SMP Home > Shoreline Planners Toolbox > Shoreline Master Program Guidelines

Shoreline Master Program Guidelines (WAC 173-26, Part III)

• SMP Guidelines
• Code Revisers Office version of new SMP Guidelines (includes Parts I, II, III and IV)
• Supporting documents (Responsiveness Summary, EIS, Cost-Benefit Analysis, Small Business Economic Impact Statement)

Background and history

The Shoreline Management Act created a cooperative partnership between the state and local governments to manage shoreline use and development. When the state legislature passes a law, they also require state agencies to develop rules that guide how the law is carried out. For Shoreline Master Programs (SMPs), the rule is Chapter 173-26 of the Washington Administrative Code (WAC). Part III of the rule is the Guidelines.

Each city or county adopts a Shoreline Master Program (SMP) that is based on the state rule, but is tailored to the specific needs of their local community. The Guidelines translate the broad policies of RCW 90.58.020 into standards for regulation of shoreline uses. The state legislature directed Ecology in 1995 to update the state's guidelines, which had not been revised since 1972 and were showing their age. The department proposed a first draft in 1999 and eventually adopted a substantially revised draft in 2000 that was challenged in court.

Then-Governor Gary Locke and former Attorney General Christine Gregoire cosponsored a year-long mediation effort in 2002 that culminated in a third draft, which was issued for public comment in July 2002. That proposal had the endorsement of the Association of Washington Business (representing a coalition of business organizations, cities and counties), the Washington Aggregates & Concrete Association, the Washington Environmental Council (WEC) and other environmental organizations – all of whom were parties to the lawsuit.

Ecology received about 300 comments on the version proposed in 2003. Seventeen changes were made in response to those comments, to clarify language and to delete obsolete or duplicative references. The final version was adopted December 17, 2003.

• More background information: History of the Shoreline Management Act and Guidelines
• Archive files related to Ecology's process of developing shoreline guidelines, including information on the negotiated settlement.

For more information

• For more information on the SMP guidelines, contact Ecology's Peter Skowlund, (360) 407-6522.
• For information about an existing city or county SMP, visit the Local Planning Page.
• Contact Ecology's regional planners.