Attorney General McKenna Announces Appeal of Water Rights Decision

Attorney General Rob McKenna announced on July 7, 2008 that the State will appeal the recent King County Superior Court ruling that suggests three sections of the Municipal Water Law are invalid. He has been joined in the appeal by the Washington Water Utilities Council – a coalition of public and private water purveyors. In the Attorney General’s Press Release, he stated:

We respectfully disagree with the Superior Court’s decision to strike down three of the eight challenged sections of the Municipal Water Law. We believe that the law as crafted by the Legislature is a constitutionally-sound way to protect our growing water needs while protecting the environment. I’m confident that our view will ultimately prevail in court.

The Municipal Water Law was enacted in 2003 to protect water service for Washington State citizens. It requires water systems to plan for the future and use water efficiently. The law has been challenged by some Washington tribes and environmental groups.

On June 11, 2008, King County Superior Court Judge Jim Rogers ruled that three sections of the Municipal Water Law were invalid, suggesting they violate the constitutional separation of powers between the legislative and judicial branches of government. Judge Rogers said the Legislature had overstepped its authority by, in effect, setting aside an earlier state Supreme Court ruling on water rights.

Notice of appeal has been filed via mail to the state Supreme Court. The Court may choose to hear the case or send it to the Court of Appeals.

If you have questions or would like more information, please contact AWC’s Dave Williams at 1-800-562-8981 or davew@awcnet.org.

Residential Yard Waste Burn Ban – Update

GMA-planning cities and towns of fewer than 5,000 residents have been banned from allowing outdoor burning of residential yard wastes since the beginning of 2007. Several cities have adapted to this ban while others have not. Recently, House Speaker, Rep. Frank Chopp (D-Seattle) has heard from a number of officials from impacted communities about their frustrations and has asked him to take a closer look at the issue.

AWC staff has requested a meeting with staff from the House Democratic Caucus to explore if there are any possible ways to address concerns of impacted cities. We’re also continuing discussions with officials at the Department of Ecology. While we’re not necessarily optimistic that changes will be made to this ban, we are appreciative that there’s increasing recognition that the "problem" hasn’t been solved. Stay tuned!

Information to Help with Stormwater and NPDES Phase II

If your city is working on the NPDES Phase II permit requirements and other stormwater issues, there are a several helpful websites you should be aware of. Both are focused on Phase II stormwater issues but have other information and resources related to stormwater and low impact development from a national perspective. Also, useful material to help with public presentations about stormwater, as well as information specifically for elected officials, is available. The links are provided below and can also be found on the AWC website under the "Resources" tab.

As a reminder, AWC staff has the capability to hold consultation sessions on NPDES Phase II with interested local governments, including elected officials and key policy and program staff. If you think this would be helpful or have related questions, please contact Andy Meyer (andym@awcnet.org). In addition, the following websites contain helpful information:

Stormwater Manager's Resource Center (www.stormwatercenter.net)
Water Environment Research Foundation (www.werf.org/livablecommunities)

Puget Sound Partnership

The Puget Sound Partnership is picking up steam as it moves forward developing the Action Agenda for restoration of a healthy Puget Sound by 2020. At the July 23-24 Leadership Council meeting, Partnership staff shared a draft Action Agenda outline. Currently, the draft outline suggests the Action Agenda will contain the following and more:

Threats and current management approaches
Description of what a healthy Sound is, with key science-based indicators, measures and targets for restoration
High priority Sound-wide activities (organized by the Partnership's Initial Strategic Priorities (AWC is seeking input from interested cities on these priorities, below)
High priority activities in each Action Area and key early actions for next two years

The Partnership is currently seeking input from cities on their Initial Strategic Priorities and draft Action Area Profiles.

Initial Strategic Priorities – These priorities will provide a framework in which to indentify and place actions to be included in the Action Agenda. The Partnership wants to know whether these are the right priorities and how your priority activities related to the Sound fit within these priorities. Please provide your comments directly to AWC's Tim Gugerty, timg@awcnet.org, who will forward them to the Partnership. More information can be found at www.psp.wa.gov/downloads/LC2008/061208/5Priorities.pdf.

Action Area Profiles – These Action Area profiles are intended to be broad descriptions of the area, including key threats. The focus of these profiles is the ecological characteristics unique to each Action Area within the Sound ecosystem. Comments are due by August 17 and can be made directly to the Partnership at http://actionagenda.psp.wa.gov/discussion.

Over the next couple of months, the Partnership will begin to focus on how local actions fit within the Action Agenda. Please stay tuned for future updates and requests for review and input. If you have questions, comments or concerns, please contact AWC's Tim Gugerty at 360-438-0227 or timg@awcnet.org.

Climate Change

The Climate Action Team

The Governor’s Climate Action Team (CAT) met on July 25 in Spokane. One of the main purposes of the meeting was to receive status updates from the following four Implementation Working Groups (IWGs): Transportation, SEPA, Beyond Waste and Energy Efficiency & Green Buildings. As mentioned in last month’s Bulletin, each of these IWGs (which have several city representatives on each) has specific goals. The IWGs have been meeting frequently and have released their initial recommendations to the CAT, many of which could impact cities. The recommendations from each of the IWGs as well as future meeting dates for the full CAT and each IWG can be found at: www.ecy.wa.gov/climatechange/2008CAT_meetings.htm.

Other Climate Change Efforts

Evaluating Local Solutions to Climate Change/GMA Integration (ESSB 6580)

ESSB 6580 established an Advisory Policy Committee to evaluate and report back to the 2009 Legislature with recommendations of changes, if any, to the Growth Management Act and other relevant statutes would enable state and local governments to address climate change issues through land use and transportation planning processes.

The Advisory Policy Committee has held two meetings so far, and will hold its next one on August 8 in the SeaTac area.

At that meeting, the Committee hopes to narrow its focus as it attempts to seek agreement on what changes, if any, to statutes are appropriate.

There are numerous ideas and not all 5 city representatives agree among each other, let alone the whole Committee, as to which are most "promising or appropriate." In a conference call among them on July 9 prior to their last Committee meeting, they did agree on the following general principles:

There should be a variety of incentives to encourage cities of all sizes to address climate change impacts through land use or other authorities
At this point in time, there shouldn’t be mandates to address climate change. After more cities get experience on how to address it, this issue may need to be revisited
Cities need help and guidance on how we can measure & manage to reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Anything recommended by the Committee needs to add value to local planning processes
We don’t support subjecting cities at this point in time to additional liability
Help us use and perfect current authorities (zoning, planning, etc.) to help reduce emissions (such as: promote tools to help provide more consistent development standards in urban growth areas – whether or not it’s in the city).
Do not pursue legislative bills that haven’t passed before in this process.

Western Climate Initiative (WCI)

On July 23, 2008, the WCI Partners released their "Draft Design of the Regional Cap and Trade Program." Public comments are due by August 13, 2008. For more information on the WCI, including a link to the Draft Design, meeting dates and instructions for submitting public comments can be found at: www.ecy.wa.gov/climatechange/wci_stakeholders.htm.

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