(1) Each agency is
required by the act and this section to adopt its own rules and procedures for
implementing SEPA. (
RCW 43.21C.120.) Agencies may revise
or add to their SEPA procedures at any time. Agencies may adopt these rules
(chapter
197-11 WAC) by reference, and shall meet the requirements of WAC
197-11-906 concerning the content
of their procedures. State and local rules for carrying out SEPA procedures are
called "agency SEPA procedures."
(2)
State agencies shall adopt or amend their procedures within one hundred eighty
days of the effective date of this chapter or subsequent revisions, or within one
hundred eighty days of the establishment of an agency, whichever shall occur
later. State agencies shall adopt their procedures by rule making under the state
Administrative Procedure Act,
chapter
34.05 RCW. If a state agency
does not have rule making authority under
chapter
34.05 RCW, the agency shall
adopt procedures under whatever authority it has, and public notice and
opportunity for public comment shall be provided. Adoption shall be deemed to
have taken place at the time the transmittal of adopted rules is filed with the
code reviser.
(3) Local agencies
shall adopt or amend their procedures within one hundred eighty days of the
effective date of this chapter or subsequent revisions, or within one hundred
eighty days of the establishment of the local governmental entity, whichever
shall occur later. Local agencies shall adopt their procedures by rule,
ordinance, or resolution, whichever is appropriate, to ensure that the procedures
have the full force and effect of law. Public notice and opportunity for public
comment shall be provided as part of the agency's process for adopting its SEPA
procedures.
(4) Any agency
determining that all actions it is authorized to take are exempt under Part Nine
of these rules may adopt a statement to the effect that it has reviewed its
authorized activities and found them all to be exempt under this chapter.
Adoption of such a statement under the procedures in subsections (2) and (3)
shall be deemed to be in compliance with the requirement that the agency adopt
procedures under this chapter.
(5)
The adoption of agency procedures is procedural and shall be categorically exempt
under this chapter (WAC
197-11-800(19)).
