Wetlands & CAO Updates: Guidance for Small Cities | Washington State Department of Ecology

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Wetlands & Critical Areas Ordinance (CAO) Updates

Guidance for Small Cities

Ecology, with funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, has developed guidance and tools useful in developing a wetland protection program for small cities and towns that are in the process of updating their critical areas ordinances (CAOs). We recognize many local governments lack the planning staff and resources necessary to develop and implement wetland standards that are both locally appropriate and based on "best available science" (BAS).

The guidance, called "Wetlands and CAO Updates: Guidance for Small Cities," describes the important topics that should be addressed in the wetlands section of your CAO. It includes recommendations for wetland protection based on BAS. The guidance also includes a sample CAO chapter for wetlands that incorporates these recommendations into a format similar to that found in many local CAOs and contains definitions that are commonly used in wetlands regulations.

This document revises the wetland-specific provisions in the Department of Commerce's Critical Areas Assistance Handbook. For assistance with other aspects of your critical areas ordinance update, please contact the Department of Commerce's Growth Management Services.

The recommendations in this document and the sample ordinance may not be appropriate for use by rural county governments. Factors to consider are the county’s rate of growth, the nature and intensity of land uses in the county, the wetland resources at risk, and the ability of the county to implement its CAO. We suggest that you contact us to determine whether this guidance is applicable to your county.

Summary of July 2011 Revisions

Several important changes have occurred since this guidance was originally released in January 2010. These include:

Change in requirements for wetland delineation
Development of an additional “credit-debit” method for calculating mitigation ratios
Expiration of the moratorium on adoption of new critical area regulations with respect to agriculture

The July 2011 revisions also include:

Sample CAO language on monitoring that was inadvertently omitted from the original document
Guidance on reducing mitigation ratios for rehabilitation and enhancement when used in combination with 1:1 replacement through creation or reestablishment, consistent with the recommendations in the joint mitigation guidance
Criteria to be considered when approving alternative mitigation plans
Correction of several formatting errors

If you have a paper copy of the January 2010 document, you should recycle it and use the July 2011 revision, which will be available on line only.

Download the Guidance

For More Information

If you have questions about the guidance or need additional assistance with the wetlands section of your critical areas ordinance update, please contact Donna Bunten at (360) 407-7172 or contact the wetland specialist for your area.