Web page revised 1.1.26

What is the purpose of SEPA?

The purpose of the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) is to ensure that governmental agencies consider the environmental impacts of a proposal before making a decision. It also requires the responsible official to make a threshold determination as to whether a proposal has a probable significant, adverse environmental impact requiring an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to be prepared. For more information see SEPA.

What is a Planned Action?

In 1995, the SEPA Rules were amended to encourage cities and counties to combine SEPA and Growth Management Act (GMA) processes and analyses. The amendments allow the county to conduct environmental review at the planning stage so that impacts and mitigation can be analyzed system-wide, rather than on a project-by-project basis. Specifically, the legislature authorized a new category of project action in SEPA called a Planned Action. Designating specific types of projects as Planned Action projects shifts environmental review of a proposal from the time a permit application is made to an earlier phase in the planning process.

Where can I apply for a Planned Action?

Highway 99 Overlay District, Clark County Code (CCC) 40.250.020: Clark County adopted the Highway 99 Sub-Area Plan Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (FSEIS) as a Planned Action document. The FSEIS provided a framework for encouraging development proposals within the Highway 99 Overlay District and ensures that the environmental impacts of qualifying projects within the Sub-Area have been adequately addressed in the FSEIS and Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (DSEIS); complying with CCC40.570.020 to streamline and expedite the land use permit process.

What is the Planned Action permitting process?

The Planned Action permitting process reduces the overall cost of construction and building plans for projects in the Highway 99 Sub-Area by saving the cost of a SEPA review. Planned Action projects avoid SEPA review but are still subject to environmental review and mitigation under the county’s critical areas ordinance. The SEPA Planned Action Applicant Affidavit must be completed, signed and submitted with the development application.

What qualifies a project as a Planned Action development?

Planned Action development project must satisfy all of the criteria in CCC 40.570.020(F). Projects that can answer yes to the questions below will qualify as a Planned Action. Clark County Community Development will verify the determination during the pre-application conference.

Essential public facilities as defined in Revised Code of Washington (RCW) 36.70A.200 do not qualify as a planned action.

To be a Planned Action project, you must answer yes to all of the following questions.

Is the project…

• …located with the Highway 99 Overlay District?
• …exempt from an archaeological predetermination?
• …exempt from critical aquifer recharge permitting?
• …exempt from floodplain permitting?
• …exempt from geologic hazard permitting?
• …exempt from habitat permitting?
• …exempt from wetland permitting?

Upon verifying that the project qualifies as a Planned Action, the applicant indicates information presented during the pre-application conference is not false or misleading.

How long will it take to get an answer?

Pre-Application Conference reports are generally issued within 7 days of the conference.

What happens if my project does not qualify as a Planned Action development?

The applicant would apply through the regular SEPA review process.

Is there an additional fee for this special process?

No. Only those fees associated with the respective permits are required (i.e., site plan review, subdivision review, final construction plan review, etc.). 

Reference

Clark County Code 40.570 State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA)