By Dan Swecker, Washington State Senator – 20th Legislative District
I introduced Senate Bill 5449 in the last session of the Legislature. It creates an alternative that I’ve chosen to name “Environmental Management and Incentive Zones”. My goal is to create a process that produces better environmental outcomes while providing opportunities for landowners to preserve the economic value of their property.
One interesting sidelight, I drafted the legislation not knowing whether I-933 would pass. My effort was to provide an alternative for local jurisdictions that was the ‘right thing to do’ in either case. In large part, I believe this legislation will achieve many of the same goals as I-933.
The legislation provides an alternative to the current options available under the growth management act. For me, the issue is protecting whole landscapes and determining how environmental functions and services can be maintained and enhanced on a broader scale. It includes a stakeholder process that is intended to be both collaborative and scientific in planning for the future.
Under our current system, we expect individual landowners to navigate through a complex labyrinth of regulatory restrictions on development and government programs that provide incentives for participation in environmental protection. This legislation creates a guided process for landowners, regulators, scientists, tribes and interest groups to join together in exploring these options.
It creates 10 demonstration projects to test this approach in a variety of local jurisdictions throughout the state. It identifies numerous government programs that can help landowners protect the value of their property while ‘doing the right thing’ for the environment. It provides funds to support these efforts through a grant program administered by the Department of Ecology.
My goal is to maintain a collaborative approach to developing this legislation throughout the legislative process. I plan to reintroduce this bill with some minor modifications to address concerns that were voiced last session.
