SEPA Review | Clark County

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. In conjunction with this act are required information submittals, public notices, and timelines.

Who is the responsible official?

For public proposals, the head of the lead department or division making the proposal shall be the responsible official. Whenever possible, agency people carrying out SEPA procedures should be separate from agency people making the proposal. An example of a project would include changes to the County Comprehensive Plan or Code, where the responsible official would be the Community Planning Director.

For private proposals, the head of the department or division with primary responsibility for approving or processing the permits and licenses for the proposal shall be the responsible official. An example would include the review of a subdivision or site plan where the responsible official would be the Land Use Review Program Manager.

How is a SEPA threshold determination made?

First, the lead agency (i.e., Clark County) must determine if SEPA rules apply to a particular proposal. Clark County has identified the following proposals that are exempt from environmental review under SEPA:

For residential structures:
- Up to 30 single family dwelling units within unincorporated urban areas;
- Up to 20 single family dwelling units within designated urban reserve and rural areas;
- Up to 60 multifamily dwelling units within unincorporated urban areas
For agricultural structures less than 40,000 square feet in size;
For office, school, commercial, recreational, service or storage buildings but not including manufacturing buildings:
- Within unincorporated urban areas:
  - Up to 30,000 square feet of gross floor area;
  - Up to 90 associated or stand-alone parking spaces;
- Within designated urban reserve and rural areas:
  - Up to 12,000 square feet of gross floor area;
  - Up to 40 associated or stand-alone parking spaces.
For landfills and excavations not associated with an exempt project in numbers 1-3 above, up to 1,000 cubic yards.
When any of the above proposals are subject to a critical area permit, the proposal is not exempt from a SEPA review. Critical areas include:
- Critical Aquifer Recharge Area (CARA)
- Columbia River Gorge
- Forestry
- Geological
- Floodplain
- Habitat
- Historic
- SEPA
- Shoreline (except certain qualifying Shorelines Exemptions)
- Wetland

One decided that SEPA applies, the lead agency (i.e., Clark County), must determine if there are possible significant adverse environmental impacts associated with each proposal. The options include the following:

DS = Determination of Significance. The impacts cannot be mitigated through conditions of approval; thus, requiring the preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS);
MDNS = Mitigated Determination of Non-Significance. The impacts can be addressed through conditions of approval; or,
DNS = Determination of Non-Significance. The impacts can be addressed by applying the Clark County Code.

The county's threshold determination is based upon information provided from the applicant (i.e., a completed Environmental Checklist), and knowledge of the area and applicable codes.

A SEPA checklist is available as a PDF and a Word file.

What are the SEPA public notice and comment period requirements?

For a DNS or MDNS, the county must make a threshold determination, or request additional information within 15 calendar days of determining if the application for the development proposal is Fully Complete meaning that all required information has been submitted. The county may wait up to 30 days for any requested additional information. However, the county must complete the threshold determination within 15 calendar days of receiving the requested information.

Once a DNS or MDNS is made, the county sends the DNS, environmental checklist and other supporting documents out for a 14-day review and comment period. The notice goes to the Department of Ecology, affected tribes, and other local agencies whose public services would be changed as a result of implementation of the proposal.
Once the comment period closes, the county may reconsider the DNS or MDNS based upon comments received, and may retain, modify or withdraw the DNS or MDNS. Any modifications must be sent to the agencies, but does not require a new comment period.

An Optional DNS process allows the county to issue an Expected DNS, which begins the comment period upon issuance of the notice of application. This option shortens the review time by about 14 calendar days and is used by the county for most Type II reviews.

What happens if there is a Determination of Significance (DS)?

If the responsible official determines that a proposal may have a probable significant adverse environmental impact, a determination of significance shall be prepared. The DS will call for the development of an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) that will analyze only those probable adverse environmental impacts that are significant. A notice for soliciting comments on the scope of the EIS shall also be issued to agencies and the public.

The next step is to finalize the scope of the EIS and then prepare the draft EIS (DEIS). The DEIS, Final EIS (FEIS) or any supplemental EIS (SEIS) may be prepared by county staff or by a consultant. The consultant may be selected by the county, or by the applicant if approved by the county. For private proposals, the applicant will be required to retain a consultant to prepare the EIS.

Once the draft EIS is completed and accepted by the county, the county will provide public notice asking for comments, due within 30 days from issuance. A copy of the DEIS will be sent to the Department of Ecology, agencies within its jurisdiction, and to all agencies or persons who submitted written comments or have requested a copy of the DEIS.

Once the comment period closes, additional studies or amendments to the DEIS, will commence. A final EIS will normally be issued within 60 days from the end of the DEIS comment period, and shall be completed within one year of issuance of the DS.

Can the determination be appealed?

The determination may be appealed to the county Hearing Examiner by the applicant or any person or group. An appellant must submit an appeal application and fee within 14 calendar days after the written notice of the decision is mailed.

See Appeals for further information and fees.