We also adhere to all the State requirements including The Washington State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA).

SEPA is part of the State Code RCW 43.21c and has implementing rules located in the WAC 197-11 and Tacoma Municipal Code Title 13.12. The implementation includes a public process, which allows review and comment from both reviewing agencies and members of the community at large.

State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) is part of the State Code RCW 43.21c and has implementing rules located in the WAC 197-11 and Tacoma Municipal Code Title 13.12. The implementation includes a public process, which allows review and comment from both reviewing agencies and members of the community at large.

SEPA is a tool Washington State and local jurisdictions in Washington state use to identify, assess, and review environmental impacts for proposed projects  at the earliest point possible. SEPA authority can be used to modify, condition, or deny a proposal when impacts are identified.

SEPA was created to identify and modify or mitigate conditions on a project that have environmental impacts. Modification can occur through project changes and prior decisions can be adopted and/or amended to address project revisions. Mitigation can be achieved through conditions that address the identified impact and must be based on adopted policy, plans, rules or regulations and must be reasonable and capable of being accomplished.

All projects are reviewed for environmental impacts. The decision that a project requires a separate SEPA process is based on the scale of the project, existing regulations and the likelihood of impacts.

The Agency that makes the decision on a project that requires a SEPA process  is responsible for doing the environmental analysis. Analysis includes review and commenting from other agencies and the public and issuing the final environmental determination for a proposal.

The lead agency does not necessarily have authority over all aspects of a project and may not be the sole permitting and inspecting authority. Other agencies may also require additional or further environmental review or analysis, monitoring and enforcement of compliance with regulations.

No, SEPA is an environmental review process that is used by jurisdictions to help make permitting decisions. A proposal still has to meet all building codes and regulations. SEPA conditions can be enforced when they are applied to a permit.

Usually, no, SEPA review will not stop a project from being permitted. SEPA can inform mitigation and can result in project modifications, but it is not a way to arbitrarily change or deny a proposal: any changes to a proposal must be based in adopted policy.

Once the final determination has been issued and appeal periods completed, the SEPA review is complete.

Yes, there is an appeal process, which varies based on the type of permit. SEPA associated with a land use permit can be appealed to the City’s Hearings Examiner; other SEPA decisions are appealable to Superior Court. A SEPA determination will always include the applicable appeal provisions.

Yes, you can. Comments should be specific and mention your individual concerns. Comments that are vague or advocate for an outcome on the permit application are not useful as the City is limited on the conditions it can impose.

 A determination of nonsignificance (DNS), which may include mitigation conditions, in which case it is labeled as a “mitigated DNS,” means that based on adopted policy and standards, as well as on review of the SEPA checklist and associated studies, the environmental official has determined there are no probable significant adverse environmental impacts from a proposal. 

If a determination of significance/scoping notice (DS/Scoping) is issued and the environmental impact statement (EIS) process is started. The EIS will analyze alternatives and possible mitigation measures to reduce the environmental impacts of the proposal.