Title 76 — Title 76 FORESTS AND FOREST PRODUCTS
13 chapters · 240 sections in this title.
RCW 76.09.010 Legislative finding and declaration.
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(1) The legislature hereby finds and declares that the forestland resources are among the most valuable of all resources in the state; that a viable forest products industry is of prime importance to the state's economy; that it is in the public interest for public and private co…
RCW 76.09.020 Definitions.
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The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter unless the context clearly requires otherwise.(1) "Adaptive management" means reliance on scientific methods to test the results of actions taken so that the management and related policy can be changed promptly and ap…
RCW 76.09.030 Forest practices board—Created—Membership—Terms—Vacancies—Meetings—Compensation, travel expenses—Staff.
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(1) There is hereby created the forest practices board of the state of Washington as an agency of state government consisting of members as follows:(a) The commissioner of public lands or the commissioner's designee;(b) The director of the department of commerce or the director's…
RCW 76.09.040 Forest practices rules—Adoption—Review of proposed rules—Hearings—Fish protection standards—Program for the acquisition of riparian open space.
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(1)(a) Where necessary to accomplish the purposes and policies stated in RCW 76.09.010, and to implement the provisions of this chapter, the board shall adopt forest practices rules pursuant to chapter 34.05 RCW and in accordance with the procedures enumerated in this section tha…
RCW 76.09.050 Rules establishing classes of forest practices—Applications for classes of forest practices—Approval or disapproval—Notifications—Procedures—Appeals—Waiver.
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(1) The board shall establish by rule which forest practices shall be included within each of the following classes:Class I: Minimal or specific forest practices that have no direct potential for damaging a public resource and that may be conducted without submitting an applicati…
RCW 76.09.055 Findings—Emergency rule making authorized.
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(1) The legislature finds that the levels of fish stocks throughout much of the state require immediate action to be taken to help these fish runs where possible. The legislature also recognizes that federal and state agencies, tribes, county representatives, and private timberla…
RCW 76.09.060 Form and contents of notification and application—Reforestation requirements—Conversion of forestland to other use—New applications—Approval—Emergencies.
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(1) The department shall prescribe the form and contents of the notification and application. The forest practices rules shall specify by whom and under what conditions the notification and application shall be signed or otherwise certified as acceptable. Activities conducted by …
RCW 76.09.063 Forest practices permit—Habitat incentives agreement.
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When a private landowner is applying for a forest practices permit under this chapter and that landowner has entered into a habitat incentives agreement with the department and the department of fish and wildlife as provided in *RCW 77.55.300, the department shall comply with the…
RCW 76.09.065 Fee for applications and notifications related to the commercial harvest of timber—Forest practices application account—Creation—Applications submitted to a local governmental entity.
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(1) An applicant shall pay an application fee, if applicable, at the time an application or notification is submitted to the department or to the local governmental entity as provided in this chapter.(2)(a) If RCW 77.55.361, 76.09.490, 76.09.040, and 76.09.060 are not enacted int…
RCW 76.09.067 Application for forest practices—Owner of perpetual timber rights.
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Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter to the contrary, for the purposes of RCW 76.09.050(1) and 76.09.060, where timber rights have been transferred by deed to a perpetual owner who is different from the forestland owner, the owner of perpetual timber rights may sig…
RCW 76.09.070 Reforestation—Requirements—Procedures—Notification on sale or transfer.
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(1) After the completion of a logging operation, satisfactory reforestation, as defined by the rules and regulations promulgated by the board, shall be completed within three years. However:(a) A longer period may be authorized if seed or seedlings are not available;(b) A period …
RCW 76.09.080 Stop work orders—Grounds—Contents—Procedure—Appeals.
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(1) The department shall have the authority to serve upon an operator a stop work order which shall be a final order of the department if:(a) There is any violation of the provisions of this chapter or the forest practices regulations; or(b) There is a deviation from the approved…
RCW 76.09.090 Notice of failure to comply—Contents—Procedures—Appeals—Hearing—Final order—Limitations on actions.
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If a violation, a deviation, material damage or potential for material damage to a public resource has occurred and the department determines that a stop work order is unnecessary, then the department shall issue and serve upon the operator or land owner a notice, which shall cle…
RCW 76.09.100 Failure to comply with water quality protection—Department of ecology authorized to petition appeals board—Action on petition.
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If the department of ecology determines that a person has failed to comply with the forest practices regulations relating to water quality protection, and that the department of natural resources has not issued a stop work order or notice to comply, the department of ecology shal…
RCW 76.09.110 Final orders or final decisions binding upon all parties.
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Unless declared invalid on appeal, a final order of the department or a final decision of the appeals board shall be binding upon all parties.[ 1974 ex.s. c 137 s 11.]
RCW 76.09.120 Failure of owner to take required course of action—Notice of cost—Department authorized to complete course of action—Liability of owner for costs—Lien.
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If an operator fails to undertake and complete any course of action with respect to a forest practice, as required by a final order of the department or a final decision of the appeals board or any court pursuant to RCW 76.09.080 and 76.09.090, the department may determine the co…
RCW 76.09.130 Failure to obey stop work order—Departmental action authorized—Liability of owner or operator for costs.
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When the operator has failed to obey a stop work order issued under the provisions of RCW 76.09.080 the department may take immediate action to prevent continuation of or avoid material damage to public resources. If a final order or decision fixes liability with the operator, ti…
RCW 76.09.140 Enforcement.
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(1) The department of natural resources may take any necessary action to enforce any final order or final decision, and may disapprove any forest practices application or notification submitted by any person who has failed to comply with a final order or final decision or has fai…
RCW 76.09.150 Inspection—Right of entry.
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(1) The department shall make inspections of forestlands, before, during, and after the conducting of forest practices as necessary for the purpose of ensuring compliance with this chapter, the forest practices rules, including forest practices rules incorporated under RCW 76.09.…
RCW 76.09.160 Right of entry by department of ecology.
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Any duly authorized representative of the department of ecology shall have the right to enter upon forestland at any reasonable time to administer the provisions of this chapter and RCW 90.48.420.[ 1974 ex.s. c 137 s 16.]
RCW 76.09.170 Violations—Conversion to nontimber operation—Penalties—Remission or mitigation—Appeals—Lien.
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(1) Every person who violates any provision of RCW 76.09.010 through 76.09.280 or of the forest practices rules, or who converts forestland to a use other than commercial timber operation within three years after completion of the forest practice without the consent of the county…
RCW 76.09.180 Disposition of moneys received as penalties, reimbursement for damages.
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All penalties received or recovered by state agency action for violations as prescribed in RCW 76.09.170 shall be deposited in the state general fund. All such penalties recovered as a result of local government action shall be deposited in the local government general fund. Any …
RCW 76.09.190 Additional penalty, gross misdemeanor.
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In addition to the penalties imposed pursuant to RCW 76.09.170, any person who conducts any forest practice or knowingly aids or abets another in conducting any forest practice in violation of any provisions of RCW 76.09.010 through 76.09.280 or 90.48.420, or of the regulations i…
RCW 76.09.205 Appeals board review.
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A person aggrieved by the approval or disapproval of an application to conduct a forest practice or the approval or disapproval of any landscape plan or permit or watershed analysis may seek review from the appeals board by filing a request for the same within thirty days from th…
RCW 76.09.240 Forest practices—County, city, or town to regulate—When—Adoption of development regulations—Enforcement—Technical assistance—Exceptions and limitations—Verification that land not subject to a notice of conversion to nonforestry uses—Reporting of information to the department of revenue.
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(1)(a) Counties planning under RCW 36.70A.040 with a population greater than one hundred thousand, and the cities and towns within those counties, where more than a total of twenty-five Class IV forest practices applications, as defined in RCW 76.09.050(1) Class IV (a) through (d…
RCW 76.09.250 Policy for continuing program of orientation and training.
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The board shall establish a policy for a continuing program of orientation and training to be conducted by the department with relation to forest practices and the regulation thereof pursuant to RCW 76.09.010 through 76.09.280.[ 1974 ex.s. c 137 s 25.]
RCW 76.09.260 Department to represent state's interest—Cooperation with other public agencies—Grants and gifts.
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The department shall represent the state's interest in matters pertaining to forestry and forest practices, including federal matters, and may consult with and cooperate with the federal government and other states, as well as other public agencies, in the study and enhancement o…
RCW 76.09.270 Annual determination of state's research needs—Recommendations.
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The department, along with other affected agencies and institutions, shall annually determine the state's needs for research in forest practices and the impact of such practices on public resources and shall recommend needed projects to the governor and the legislature.[ 1974 ex.…
RCW 76.09.280 Removal of log and debris jams from streams.
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Forestland owners shall permit reasonable access requested by appropriate agencies for removal from streambeds abutting their property of log and debris jams accumulated from upstream ownerships. Any owner of logs in such jams in claiming or removing them shall be required to rem…
RCW 76.09.290 Inspection of lands—Reforestation.
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The department shall inspect, or cause to be inspected, deforested lands of the state and ascertain if the lands are valuable chiefly for agriculture, timber growing, or other purposes, with a view to reforestation.[ 1986 c 100 s 49.]
RCW 76.09.300 Mass earth movements and fluvial processes—Program to correct hazardous conditions on sites associated with roads and railroad grades—Hazard-reduction plans.
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(1) Mass earth movements and fluvial processes can endanger public resources and public safety. In some cases, action can be taken which has a probability of reducing the danger to public resources and public safety. In other cases it may be best to take no action. In order to de…
RCW 76.09.305 Advisory committee to review hazard-reduction plans authorized—Compensation, travel expenses.
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The forest practices board may, upon request of the department or at its own discretion, appoint an advisory committee consisting of not more than five members qualified by appropriate experience and training to review and comment upon such draft hazard reduction plans prepared b…
RCW 76.09.310 Hazard-reduction program—Notice to landowners within areas selected for review—Proposed plans—Objections to plan, procedure—Final plans—Appeal.
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(1) The department shall send a notice to all forestland owners, both public and private, within the geographic area selected for review, stating that the department intends to study the area as part of the hazard-reduction program.(2) The department shall prepare a proposed plan…
RCW 76.09.315 Implementation of hazard-reduction measures—Election—Notice and application for cost-sharing funds—Inspection—Letter of compliance—Limitations on liability.
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(1) When a forestland owner elects to implement the recommended hazard-reduction measures, the landowner shall notify the department and apply for cost-sharing funds. Upon completion, the department shall inspect the remedial measures undertaken by the forestland owner. If, in th…
RCW 76.09.320 Implementation of hazard-reduction program—Cost sharing by department—Limitations.
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(1) Subject to the availability of appropriated funds, the department shall pay fifty percent of the cost of implementing the hazard-reduction program, except as provided in subsection (2) of this section.(2) In the event department funds described in subsection (1) of this secti…
RCW 76.09.330 Legislative findings—Liability from naturally falling trees required to be left standing.
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The legislature hereby finds and declares that riparian ecosystems on forestlands in addition to containing valuable timber resources, provide benefits for wildlife, fish, and water quality. The legislature further finds and declares that leaving riparian areas unharvested and le…
RCW 76.09.340 Certain forest practices exempt from rules and policies under this chapter.
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Forest practices consistent with a habitat conservation plan approved prior to March 25, 1996, by the secretary of the interior or commerce under 16 U.S.C. Sec. 1531 et seq., and the endangered species act of 1973 as amended, are exempt from rules and policies under this chapter,…
RCW 76.09.350 Long-term multispecies landscape management plans—Pilot projects, selection—Plan approval, elements—Notice of agreement recorded—Memorandums of agreements—Report, evaluation.
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The legislature recognizes the importance of providing the greatest diversity of habitats, particularly riparian, wetland, and old growth habitats, and of assuring the greatest diversity of species within those habitats for the survival and reproduction of enough individuals to m…
RCW 76.09.360 Single multiyear permit.
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The department together with the department of fish and wildlife, and the department of ecology relating to water quality protection, shall develop a suitable process to permit landowners to secure all permits required for the conduct of forest practices in a single multiyear per…
RCW 76.09.368 Intent—Small forestland owners—Alternate plan processes/alternate harvest restrictions—Report to the legislature.
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The legislature intends that small forestland owners have access to alternate plan processes or alternate harvest restrictions, or both if necessary, that meet the public resource protection standard set forth in RCW 76.09.370(3), but which also lowers the overall cost of regulat…
RCW 76.09.370 Findings—Forests and fish report—Adoption of rules.
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(1) The legislature finds that the process that produced the forests and fish report was instigated by the forest practices board, the report is the product of considerable negotiations between several diverse interest groups, and the report has the support of key federal agencie…
RCW 76.09.390 Sale of land or timber rights with continuing obligations—Notice—Failure to notify—Exemption.
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(1) Except as provided in subsection (2) of this section, prior to the sale or transfer of land or perpetual timber rights subject to continuing forestland obligations under the forest practices rules adopted under RCW 76.09.370, as specifically identified in the forests and fish…
RCW 76.09.405 Forest and fish support account—Created.
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The forest and fish support account is hereby created in the state treasury. Receipts from appropriations, the surcharge imposed under RCW 82.04.261, and other sources must be deposited into the account. Expenditures from the account shall be used for activities pursuant to the s…
RCW 76.09.410 Road maintenance and abandonment plans—Fish passage barriers.
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(1) The state may not require a small forestland owner to invest in upgrades, replacements, or other engineering of a forest road, and any fish passage barriers that are a part of the road, that do not threaten public resources or create a barrier to the passage of fish.(2) Parti…
RCW 76.09.420 Road maintenance and abandonment plans—Rules—Checklist—Report to the legislature—Emergency rules.
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(1) The board must amend the forest practices rules relating to road maintenance and abandonment plans that exist on May 14, 2003, to reflect the following:(a) A forestland owner who owns a total of eighty acres or less of forestland in Washington is not required to submit a road…
RCW 76.09.430 Application to RCW 76.13.150.
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RCW 76.13.150 applies to road maintenance and abandonment plans under this chapter.[ 2003 c 311 s 8.]Notes:Findings—Effective date—2003 c 311: See notes following RCW 76.09.020.
RCW 76.09.440 Small forestland owner—Fish passage barriers.
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The department shall not disapprove a forest practices application filed by a small forestland owner on the basis that fish passage barriers have not been removed or replaced if the small forestland owner filing the application has committed to participate in the program establis…
RCW 76.09.450 Small forestland owner—Defined.
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For the purposes of this chapter and RCW 76.13.150 and 77.12.755, "small forestland owner" means an owner of forestland who, at the time of submission of required documentation to the department, has harvested from his or her own lands in this state no more than an average timber…
RCW 76.09.460 Notice of conversion to nonforestry use—Denial of permits or approvals by the county, city, town, or regional governmental entity—Enforcement.
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If a county, city, town, or regional governmental entity receives a notice of conversion to nonforestry use by the department under RCW 76.09.060, then the county, city, town, or regional governmental entity must deny all applications for permits or approvals, including building …
RCW 76.09.470 Conversion of land to nonforestry use—Action required of landowner—Action required of county, city, town, or regional governmental entity.
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(1) If a landowner who did not state an intent to convert his or her land to a nonforestry use decides to convert his or her land to a nonforestry use within six years of receiving an approved forest practices application or notification under this chapter, the landowner must:(a)…