Who is notified of a board's record of decision and
report of examination?
(1)
Ecology shall identify to all boards the ecology designated regional
representative for receipt of each board's records of decision. Boards shall
hand deliver or send by mail records of decision and reports of examination to:
(a) The applicant;
(b) The ecology regional office;
(c) Any person who protested the
transfer;
(d) Any person who
requested notice of the board's record of decision;
(e) Any tribe with reservation or trust lands
contiguous with or wholly or partly within the area of jurisdiction of the
board; and
(f) Any commenting
agency or tribe.
How is the record of decision and report of examination
transmitted?
(2) Within fifteen business days of a board's
decision, the board shall simultaneously mail a copy of the record of decision
and the report of examination to all parties identified in subsection (1) of
this section. A paper copy of the following shall simultaneously be mailed or
delivered to the ecology designated regional representative:
(a) The record of decision;
(b) The report of examination;
(c) The application;
(d) Public notices; and
(e) Attachments to the application.
The board shall state to the parties receiving the record of
decision and report of examination that it has been simultaneously sent to
ecology. Whenever boards have the capacity to do so, they must transmit a
signed electronic copy of the record of decision and report of examination to
the ecology regional office on the same day that copies of the decision are
mailed or hand-delivered.
(3) As stated in WAC
173-153-130, boards must fully
document their process of arriving at a record of decision regarding water
right transfer applications. Once the board has concluded its work on a water
right transfer application, the board must submit to ecology, within fourteen
days after the completion of ecology's review period, any remaining original
documents not previously submitted to ecology in accordance with subsection (2)
of this section, and any documents received or developed by the board related
to its deliberations regarding the application upon which it has made a
decision. All documents submitted shall be clearly marked with the
board-assigned water right change application number on the water right
transfer application pursuant to WAC
173-153-070(7).
As noted, the original versions of these documents must be provided to ecology;
copies are not acceptable for submission. These documents must be sent to the
ecology regional office designated by ecology. The board may retain a copy of
all of the above-mentioned documents. After the board completes its business on
a water right transfer application, and upon submission to ecology of all
records related to the application file, ecology shall be responsible for
public records requests related to that file.
(4) Any comments received by a board
regarding its record of decision within thirty days after ecology's final
decision must be forwarded to ecology within five business days of the board's
receipt of such comments by the board. For the purposes of this subsection, the
term "receipt" refers to the act of a board commissioner or designated
administrative support person for the board picking up the board's mail. These
comments must be submitted by the board to the ecology regional
office.
