January 2002
Contact: Josh Weiss,
Legislative and Legal Affairs Coordinator
(360) 902-2226

Background

Hydraulic Project Approvals (HPAs), required for work that changes the bed or flow of waters within the State of Washington, are currently processed at no cost to the applicant.

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) presently processes more than 6,000 HPA permit applications per year. The scope of the HPA permit review varies widely based on the proposed project.

For example, an HPA permit for minor work project, such as small-scale, non-mechanical aquatic weed control, can be processed without a site visit or negotiations. These types of projects comprise about 5 percent of the HPA permits the agency issues each year.

Larger scale projects, such as those for small bridge projects, culverts, conduit crossings, or shoreline modifications, may need several meetings and a site visit. These types of projects comprise approximately 85 percent of the HPA permits the agency issues each year.

The largest projects, such as new marinas, jetties, dikes, or a major bridge construction project, make up about 10 percent of the agency's annual HPA permit workload.

Solution

The proposed legislation would allow the Fish and Wildlife Commission to set fees to be charged for HPA permits. Fees would be based on the scope and complexity of the HPA permit project. Fish habitat enhancement projects requiring an HPA permit would be exempt from this fee schedule.

Return to Legislature 2002