Developers add chinook to list of challenges

By RON RATHBURN
PBS Environmental

Recently, the process of developing land within King County and surrounding areas has been significantly impacted by the National Marine Fisheries' listing of Chinook salmon as a threatened species.

This listing is part of an ongoing review of species by the NMFS and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service under the Federal Endangered Species Act. Section 4(d) of the ESA, says that individual governments, such as King County, must adopt measures to prevent any actions that harass, harm, kill, collect or modify the Chinook's habitat.

The ripple effect of this listing on the region's financial and development communities is beginning to unfold, but the ultimate impact on the environmental permitting and regulatory process will not be clear until the NMFS adopts a regulatory framework to protect this species.

If a general prohibition is proposed by NMFS, then land development and regulatory review would be subject to considerable legal and environmental interpretation, resulting in delays and considerable financial costs.

King County takes the lead

King County has been at the forefront of the salmon preservation effort, and many other government entities are implementing their own plans and ordinances to address the ESA.

The result of these ordinances is a significant change in how a environmental permit application is reviewed, as well as in the environmental issues that must be addressed for a permitting agency to support approval.

According to King County Development and Environmental Services, the following changes are likely as a result of future NMFS regulations:

• Development adjacent or near waterways affecting salmon will be reviewed more comprehensively;

• The state's environmental permit review process will be expanded to protect salmon; and

• Governments will increase enforcement activity in projects near drainage areas that involve clearing, grading and erosion control measures.

King County will use three principal development standards to integrate the protection of salmon:

• Sensitive Areas Ordinance
  
• Clearing and Grading Code
  
• Stormwater Management

Other local governments appear to also be using similar ordinances or are in the process of upgrading codes to adhere to the ESA requirements.

Although developers have historically responded to the local permit requirements, the new regulations may result in more detailed environmental analysis, longer delays in permitting and additional financial costs.

These changes by the ESA will most likely require developers to get a more comprehensive environmental analysis of a piece of land than they had to in the past. Developers will be expected to demonstrate compatibility with existing watershed management plans that integrate a salmon recovery plan.

To assess compatibility, an adequate scientific foundation is integral to the analysis. For undeveloped areas that do not provide the supporting science, then biological assessments or detailed fishery investigations may be required to assist NMFS or local agencies in evaluating the ESA requirements.

To address land developers' concerns and ensure they are compliant with any regulations the NMFS may adopt, engineering and natural resources firms are now required to work closely together on this common challenge. Consultants are now seeing the benefits of working from a more holistic "bio-engineering" perspective, one that integrates the elements of science and engineering during the planning stages to protect and conserve salmon, while supporting the economic vitality of the region.

For additional information on the Endangered Species Act, as it applies to Chinook salmon in the Puget Sound area: see King County's website.

---

djc home | top | special issues index