Section 40.570.090

40.570.090 Categorical Exemptions

A. Purpose of This Section and Adoption by Reference.

This section contains rules for determining if a proposal is exempt from environmental review under this chapter. This section also applies optional criteria for exemptions, including establishment of local thresholds, designation of critical areas, and selection of nonexempt actions within those areas. The county adopts the following sections of the SEPA Rules by reference, as supplemented in this section:

WAC

197-11-305 Categorical exemptions

197-11-800 Categorical exemptions

197-11-880 Emergencies

197-11-890 Petitioning DOE to change exemptions

197-11-908 Critical areas

RCW

43.21C.410 Battery charging and exchange station installation

(Amended: Ord. 2009-07-01; Ord. 2011-06-14; Ord. 2018-01-09; Ord. 2023-03-01)

B. Use of Exemptions.

1. Each department within the county that receives an application for a license or, in the case of governmental proposals, the department initiating the proposal, shall determine whether the license and/or the proposal is exempt. The department’s determination that a proposal is exempt shall be final and not subject to administrative review. If a proposal is exempt, none of the procedural requirements of this chapter apply to the proposal. The county shall not require completion of an environmental checklist for an exempt proposal.

2. In determining whether or not a proposal is exempt, the department shall make certain the proposal is properly defined and shall identify the governmental licenses required (WAC 197-11-060). If a proposal includes exempt and nonexempt actions, the department shall determine the lead agency, even if the license application that triggers the department’s consideration is exempt.

3. If a proposal includes both exempt and nonexempt actions, the county may authorize exempt actions prior to compliance with the procedural requirements of this chapter, except that:

a. The county shall not give authorization for:

(1) Any nonexempt action;

(2) Any action what would have an adverse environmental impact; or

(3) Any action that would limit the choice of alternatives;

b. A department may withhold approval of an exempt action that would lead to modification of the physical environment, when such modification would serve no purpose if nonexempt action(s) were not approved; and

c. A department may withhold approval of exempt actions that would lead to substantial financial expenditures by a private applicant when the expenditures would serve no purpose if nonexempt action(s) were not approved.

(Amended: Ord. 2018-01-09; Ord. 2023-03-01)

C. Exempt Levels for Minor New Construction.

Clark County establishes the following exempt levels for the minor new construction activities under WAC 197-11-800(1)(b) based on local conditions except when undertaken wholly or partly on lands covered by water as authorized under RCW 43.21C.135:

1. For residential structures in WAC 197-11-800(1)(b)(i), thirty (30) or fewer single-family residential dwelling units shall be exempt within unincorporated urban areas designated by the comprehensive plan; within designated urban reserve and rural areas, twenty (20) or fewer dwelling units shall be exempt.

2. For residential structures in WAC 197-11-800(1)(b)(ii), sixty (60) or fewer multifamily residential dwelling units shall be exempt within unincorporated urban areas designated by the comprehensive plan.

3. For agricultural structures in WAC 197-11-800(1)(b)(iii), the exempt threshold shall be forty thousand (40,000) square feet.

4. For office, school, commercial, recreational, service or storage buildings (but not including manufacturing buildings) in WAC 197-11-800(1)(b)(iv), up to thirty thousand (30,000) square feet of gross floor area and up to ninety (90) associated or stand-alone parking spaces shall be exempt within unincorporated urban areas designated by the comprehensive plan; within designated urban reserve and rural areas, the exempt levels for these facilities shall be twelve thousand (12,000) square feet or less, and up to forty (40) associated or stand-alone parking spaces.

5. For landfills and excavations in WAC 197-11-800(1)(b)(v), not associated with an exempt project in Section 40.570.090(C)(1) through (4), up to one thousand (1,000) cubic yards shall be exempt.

6. Whenever the county establishes new exempt levels under this section, it shall send them to the Washington Department of Ecology, Headquarters Office, Olympia, Washington 98504, under WAC 197-11-800(1)(c).

(Amended: Ord. 2009-07-01; Ord. 2013-06-15; Ord. 2018-01-09; Ord. 2023-03-01)

D. Critical Areas.

1. Clark County designates the following as critical areas, in which the exemptions as specified in subsection (E) of this section do not apply:

a. Shoreline Management Areas. Land and water areas under jurisdiction of the Shoreline Management Act are critical areas. These shorelines of the county are mapped in the Clark County shoreline master program, which maps are incorporated in this chapter by reference. All development subject to shorelines substantial development permits, shorelines conditional use permits, and shorelines variance permits are subject to SEPA, except that SEPA review shall not be required for the exempt shoreline developments listed in Section 40.460.230(B); provided, that no part of the exempt shoreline development is undertaken on lands covered by water as defined in WAC 197-11-756. In addition, the minor repair or replacement of structures such as pilings, ramps, floats, or mooring buoys, or minor repair, alteration, or maintenance of docks that are specifically exempted within WAC 197-11-800(3) shall also be exempt from SEPA review.

b. Floodplains. Except for exempt shoreline developments listed in Section 40.570.090(D)(1)(a) that are above the ordinary high water mark, or other development outside of shorelines areas that do not require a flood hazard permit under Chapter 40.420, all areas within special flood hazard areas delineated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) under the Flood Insurance Study for Clark County are critical areas. These special flood hazard areas are designated on FEMA’s Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRM), which are incorporated in this chapter by reference.

c. Wetlands subject to the provisions of Chapter 40.445 are critical areas.

(1) Exemptions listed in Section 40.445.040 shall be exempt from SEPA.

(2) Other exemptions as specified in Section 40.570.090(E) do not apply unless authorized by a Level 1 wetland permit under Section 40.445.080.

d. The following critical areas regulation ordinances but only for personal wireless service facilities:

(1) Chapter 40.445, Wetlands and Fish and Wildlife Habitat Conservation Areas;

(2) Chapter 40.430, Geologic Hazard Areas;

(3) Chapter 40.410, Critical Aquifer Recharge Areas (CARAs).

2. The scope of environmental review of actions within these areas shall be limited to:

a. Documenting whether the proposal is consistent with the requirements of the applicable critical areas ordinance; and

b. Evaluating potentially significant impacts on the critical area resources not adequately addressed by the comprehensive plan and implementing ordinances, including any additional mitigation measures needed to protect the critical areas in order to achieve consistency with SEPA and other applicable environmental review laws.

3. The county shall treat proposals located wholly or partially within a critical area no differently than other proposals under this chapter, making a threshold determination for all such proposals. The county shall not automatically require an EIS for a proposal merely because it is proposed for location in a critical area.

(Amended: Ord. 2012-12-23; Ord. 2013-06-15; Ord. 2016-09-04; Ord. 2018-01-09; Ord. 2023-03-01)

E. Non-Applicable Exemptions to Critical Areas.

Clark County selects the following categorical exemptions to be inapplicable within certain critical areas as specified below:

1. The minor new construction exemptions under Section 40.570.090(C) do not apply within any critical area, except that agricultural structures in Section 40.570.090(C)(3) are exempt in shoreline and unstable slope areas, and on slopes of forty percent (40%) or greater.

2. Other minor new construction exemptions under WAC 197-11-800(2) do not apply as follows:

a. Bus shelters and other transit facilities in WAC 197-11-800(2)(b) are not exempt in any critical area;

b. Commercial and public signs in WAC 197-11-800(2)(c) are not exempt in shoreline management areas;

c. Minor road and street improvements in WAC 197-11-800(2)(d) are not exempt in any critical area;

d. Grading, septic tank installation, and other activities in WAC 197-11-800(2)(e) are not exempt in any critical area;

e. Building additions and modifications in WAC 197-11-800(2)(f) are not exempt in any critical area;

f. Demolition of structures in WAC 197-11-800(2)(g) is not exempt in shoreline management areas;

g. Underground storage tanks in WAC 197-11-800(2)(h) are not exempt in any critical area; and

h. Street or road vacations in WAC 197-11-800(2)(i) are not exempt in shoreline management areas.

3. The approval of short plats under WAC 197-11-800(6)(a) is not exempt in any critical area.

4. Licenses for amusement and entertainment activities in WAC 197-11-800(13)(c) are not exempt in any critical area.

5. Utility-related exemptions under WAC 197-11-800(23) do not apply as follows:

a. Communication lines in WAC 197-11-800(23)(a) are not exempt in shoreline management areas;

b. Water, sewer and stormwater facilities in WAC 197-11-800(23)(b) are not exempt in any critical area;

c. Electric facilities in WAC 197-11-800(23)(c) are not exempt in shoreline management areas;

d. Natural gas distribution facilities in WAC 197-11-800(23)(d) are not exempt in shoreline areas; and

e. Right-of-way clearing in WAC 197-11-800(23)(f) is not exempt in shoreline areas.

6. The natural resources management exemptions under WAC 197-11-800(24) do not apply as follows:

a. Issuance of leases for school sites in WAC 197-11-800(24)(e) is not exempt in any critical area; and

b. Development of recreational sites in WAC 197-11-800(24)(g) is not exempt in any critical area.

7. Personal wireless service facilities in WAC 197-11-800(25) are not exempt in any critical area.

(Amended: Ord. 2006-05-27; Ord. 2013-06-15; Ord. 2016-09-04; Ord. 2018-01-09)

F. Exempt Levels for Battery Charging and Exchange Station Installation.

Clark County establishes the following exempt levels for battery charging and exchange station installation authorized under RCW 43.21C.410:

1. The installation of individual battery charging stations and battery exchange stations, which individually are categorically exempt under the rules adopted under RCW 43.21C.110, may not be disqualified from such categorically exempt status as a result of their being parts of a larger proposal that includes other such facilities and related utility networks under the rules adopted under RCW 43.21C.110.

2. The definitions in this subsection apply throughout this section unless the context clearly requires otherwise.

a. “Battery charging station” means an electrical component assembly or cluster of component assemblies designed specifically to charge batteries within electric vehicles, which meet or exceed any standards, codes, and regulations set forth by Chapter 19.28 RCW and consistent with rules adopted under RCW 19.27.540.

b. “Battery exchange station” means a fully automated facility that will enable an electric vehicle with a swappable battery to enter a drive lane and exchange the depleted battery with a fully charged battery through a fully automated process, which meets or exceeds any standards, codes, and regulations set forth by Chapter 19.28 RCW and consistent with rules adopted under RCW 19.27.540.

(Added: Ord. 2011-06-14)