The purpose of this part is to set forth general requirements that apply to all environmental determinations and all environmental review responsibilities on the part of the City. The following sections apply to environmental review in general, and to specific regulations for cities planning under the Growth Management Act. They also describe the procedures when environmental review is applied in conjunction with other state environmental laws. It also incorporates the following sections of the Washington Administrative Code by reference:
WAC 197-11-050
Lead agency.
WAC 197-11-060
Content of environmental review.
WAC 197-11-070
Limitations on actions during SEPA process.
WAC 197-11-080
Incomplete or unavailable information.
WAC 197-11-090
Supporting documents.
WAC 197-11-100
Information required of applicants.
WAC 197-11-158
GMA project review. Reliance on existing plans, laws, and regulations.
WAC 197-11-164
Planned actions. Definition and criteria.
WAC 197-11-168
Ordinance or resolution designating planned actions. Procedures for adoption.
WAC 197-11-172
Planned actions. Project review.
WAC 197-11-210
SEPA/GMA integration.
WAC 197-11-220
SEPA/GMA definitions.
WAC 197-11-228
Overall SEPA/GMA integration procedures.
WAC 197-11-230
Timing of an integrated SEPA/GMA process.
WAC 197-11-232
SEPA/GMA integration procedures for preliminary planning, environmental analysis, and expanded scoping.
WAC 197-11-235
Documents.
WAC 197-11-238
Monitoring.
WAC 197-11-250
SEPA/Model Toxics Control Act integration.
WAC 197-11-253
SEPA lead agency for MCTA actions.
WAC 197-11-256
Preliminary evaluation.
WAC 197-11-259
Determination of non-significance for MCTA remedial action.
WAC 197-11-262
Determination of significance and EIS for MCTA remedial actions.
WAC 197-11-265
Early scoping for MCTA remedial actions.
WAC 197-11-268
MCTA interim actions.
(Ord. 27995 Ex. J, 2011-06-14)
The City, when acting in the capacity of the lead agency, shall be the only agency responsible for complying with the threshold determination procedures of SEPA; and the responsible official of the City, as designated pursuant to Section 13.12.220 of this chapter, shall be responsible for the supervision, or actual preparation, of any draft EIS pursuant to this chapter, including the circulation of such statements and the conduct of any public hearings required by this chapter. The responsible official of the City shall also prepare or supervise preparation of any required final EIS pursuant to WAC 197-11 and this chapter. {13.12.923}
(Ord. 27995 Ex. J, 2011-06-14)
A. 
In instances in which the City is the lead agency, the responsible official as designated by subsections B, C, D and E of this section shall carry out such duties and functions assigned the City as a lead agency.
B. 
The responsible official for General Government shall be the department director for projects initiated by that department or processed by that department. However, a department director may designate an environmental officer to carry out the duties and responsibilities mandated by this chapter, except that all threshold determinations shall only be made with the express consent and approval of the director.
C. 
The responsible official for the Department of Public Utilities shall be the Director of Utilities or designee for projects initiated or processed by the Department of Public Utilities.
D. 
For proposals initiated jointly by several departments within General Government, designation of the responsible official shall be by common agreement among the directors of the involved departments. In the event such department directors are unable to agree on who shall be the responsible official for such matter, determination of the responsible official shall be made by the City Manager.
E. 
For proposals initiated jointly by General Government and Public Utilities, designation of the responsible official shall be by common agreement between the City Manager and the Director of Utilities.
F. 
City staff carrying out the SEPA procedures shall be different from the staff making the proposal. That is, the responsible official shall not be the staff person responsible for filling out and signing the environmental checklist.
G. 
The director of the department with appropriate expertise shall be responsible for preparation of written comments responding to a consultation request from another lead agency prior to a threshold determination, participation in scoping, and reviewing a DEIS.
H. 
The director shall be responsible for the City’s compliance with WAC 197-11-550 whenever such department is a consulted agency and is authorized to develop operating procedures that will ensure that responses to consultation requests are prepared in a timely fashion and include data from all appropriate departments of the City.
(Ord. 27995 Ex. J, 2011-06-14)
A. 
The SEPA PIC shall maintain a DNS register.
B. 
The SEPA PIC shall maintain an EIS register including for each proposal the location, a brief description of the nature of the proposal, the date first listed on the register, and a contact person or office from which further information may be obtained.
C. 
The documents are required to be maintained at the information center for seven years, and shall be available for public inspection, and copies thereof shall be provided upon request. The City may charge for copies in the manner provided by Chapter 42.56 RCW (Public Records Act) and for the cost of mailing.
D. 
The SEPA PIC shall be the contact listed on the Department of Ecology’s list of SEPA authorities. It shall receive and route consultation requests, information requests, checklists, threshold determinations, and all other SEPA materials to appropriate departments or divisions of the City.
E. 
The SEPA PIC shall maintain a listing of recommended Federal, State, regional, local and private agencies/organizations and their addresses for use by responsible officials of the City in making scoping requests and circulating draft EISs.
F. 
The SEPA PIC shall review all threshold determinations and final environmental impact statements submitted to the Information Center by departments of General Government and Tacoma Public Utilities and approve such determinations of nonsignificance as to form at the time of filing.
G. 
The SEPA PIC shall maintain a general mailing list for the threshold determination distribution.
H. 
The following location constitutes the SEPA public information center:
Planning and Development Services
Tacoma Municipal Building
747 Market Street
Tacoma, Washington 98402
(Ord. 27995 Ex. J, 2011-06-14; Ord. 28109 Ex. O, 2012-12-04; Ord. 28336 Ex. C, 2015-12-01)
A. 
The SEPA process shall be integrated with City activities to ensure that planning and decisions reflect environmental values, avoid delays later in the process, and seek to resolve potential problems.
B. 
The responsible official shall prepare the threshold determination and environmental impact statement (EIS), if required, at the earliest possible point in the planning and decision making process, once the principal features of a proposal and its environmental impacts can be reasonably identified.
1. 
A proposal exists when:
a. 
The responsible official is presented with an application; or
b. 
The responsible official has a goal and is actively preparing to make a decision on one or more alternative means of accomplishing that goal; and
c. 
The proposal is not otherwise exempt; and
d. 
The environmental effects can be meaningfully evaluated.
The fact that proposals may require future City approvals or environmental review shall not preclude current consideration, as long as proposed future activities are specific enough to allow some evaluation of their probable environmental impacts.
2. 
The environmental process shall commence when the responsible official receives an environmental document and request for a determination.
3. 
Appropriate consideration of environmental information shall be completed before the responsible official commits to a particular course of action.
C. 
At the latest, the responsible official shall begin environmental review, if required, when the application for both SEPA and the underlying action is determined to be complete. The responsible official may initiate review earlier and may have informal conferences with applicants. A final threshold determination or Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) shall precede or accompany the staff report, if any, in a public hearing on an application.
D. 
When the environmental effects can be meaningfully evaluated on a proposal, the responsible official shall begin the preparation of EIS on private proposals at the conceptual stage rather than the final detailed design stage.
1. 
If the responsible official’s only action is a decision on a building permit or other license that requires detailed project plans and specifications, the responsible official shall provide applicants with the opportunity for environmental review under SEPA prior to requiring applicants to submit such detailed project plans and specifications.
2. 
The responsible official may specify the amount of detail needed from applicants for such early environmental review, consistent with WAC 197-11-100 and 197-11-335.
3. 
This subsection does not preclude the responsible official or applicants from preliminary discussions or exploration of ideas and options prior to commencing formal environmental review.
E. 
An overall decision to proceed with a course of action may involve a series of actions or decisions by one or more agencies. If several agencies have jurisdiction over a proposal, they should coordinate their SEPA processes wherever possible. The responsible official shall comply with lead agency determination requirements in WAC 197-11 and this chapter.
F. 
To meet the requirement to ensure that environmental values and amenities are given appropriate consideration along with economic and technical considerations, environmental documents and analyses shall be circulated and reviewed with other planning documents to the fullest extent possible.
G. 
For their own public proposals, lead agencies may extend the time limits prescribed in these rules.
(Ord. 27995 Ex. J, 2011-06-14)