Authored by: Lauren Giles, Kerry Shea, and Clayton Graham
Findings recently issued by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) could be the first step in national regulation of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions under the Clean Air Act. Although the findings apply only to new motor vehicles and engines for the time being, they lay the groundwork for regulating GHGs emitted by power plants and manufacturing facilities.
Continue Reading...This post is authored by: Clayton Graham & Thomas Goeltz
Landowners and developers in Washington state should be aware of a spate of recent legislation aimed at prolonging the life of active land development permits. Developers who request these extensions in a timely manner could effectively extend the life of their development approvals—including certain building permits, use permits, subdivision and other land use approvals—and may be able to save themselves the hassle and expense of having to restart the entitlement process for stalled development projects.
Financial difficulties faced by many developers in the state have prompted a number of cities and counties to adopt ordinances that authorize extensions to certain permit expiration dates. These ordinances apply to a variety of development approvals and permits, and a few of them implement automatic permit extensions.
Continue Reading...The legislature has recently authorized a regional program for the Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) among a number of Puget Sound jurisdictions, including King, Kitsap, Snohomish and Pierce Counties and the municipalities within them. This legislation (click here for HB 1172 and the final session law) , effective July 26, 2009, amends Chapter 43.362, RCW, and authorizes the State Department of Community, Trade & Economic Development (CTED) to serve as central coordinator for the program at the state level. The bill's goal is to conserve rural agricultural, forest and other resource land by encouraging transfer of density from such rural resource land to urban areas through the marketplace. Local governments can initiate participation in the program by interlocal agreement or by resolution. This regional TDR program encourages participating governments "to provide permitting or environmental review incentives for developers to participate." It may also benefit landowners and developers by permitting inter-jurisdictional sales of development capacity.
Effective, July 8, 2008, the Washington Department of Ecology has adopted an emergency rule regulating and restricting the use of so-called “exempt” wells for domestic water supply within Upper Kittitas County. Ecology’s emergency rule institutes a partial withdrawal and restriction on use of ground water via exempt wells in the upper portion of the County in an effort to minimize the potential for interference with hydrologically connected flows in the Yakima River. The emergency rule adoption follows up on the recent Memorandum of Understanding (“MOU”) entered into between Ecology and Kittitas County regarding use of exempt wells for domestic supply. The MOU was entered into in response to a 2007 private party petition by a group known as Aqua Permanente to Ecology, requesting that Ecology withdraw all unappropriated ground water in Kittitas County from further appropriation pending further study of the effect of exempt wells on senior rights and on the Yakima River. The MOU and emergency rule have been pursued by Ecology in an effort to avoid such a drastic result. The implementation of the emergency rule will occur in part through the County land use permitting process. The emergency rule, and a proposal for a permanent rule-making on the issue by Ecology, will complicate residential construction within rural Kittitas County, and is potentially controversial as to the legal basis for the regulations. The text of the emergency rule and additional information on the rule implementation prepared by Ecology is available at http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/wr/cro/kittitas_wp.html.
On June 12, 2008, a number of provisions of HB 3104 - 2007-08 will go into effect, which will expand the rights of registered domestic partners to include property rights previously enjoyed only by married individuals. The text of the session law can be viewed here
Under the new law, property acquired by either domestic partner after the partnership is registered will be held as community property. (Under Washington law, conveyances of real property held as community property generally require consent of both parties.) Once this law is in effect, purchasers of real property (not to mention insurers of title) should ensure that deeds and other conveyancing documents are executed and acknowledged by any domestic partner who may have a community interest in the real property conveyed.
Local examples of green building incentives include Seattle's density bonus incentive for commercial or residential projects achieving a LEED Silver rating or higher. Seattle provides other incentives for residential projects under its built green program, and King County provides grants for some projects meeting certain LEED certifications.
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