PUBLIC COMMENT FOR SEPA RULEMAKING DUE DECEMBER 11

The first phase of rulemaking for SEPA is in the public comment phase.  Yesterday, the Dept. of Ecology held a public hearing in Olympia.  In addition, DOE will be accepting written comments until December 11^th. Chris Moore, Mary Thompson and Mary Rossi have served on the SEPA advisory committee representing the interests of cultural resources.  You can review their comments to DOE on the proposed rule change here: ProposedRuleComments120312 docx. Their final comments express the concern that SEPA remains the only vehicle at the state level providing for consideration of historic and cultural resources; revising SEPA (such as the proposed increased thresholds) without due consideration for historic and cultural resources will increase the risk placed on these resources. You are all encouraged to provide your own written comments. You can email your comments to separulemaking@ecy.wa.gov.  For more information on submitting comments, please visit: https://fortress.wa.gov/ecy/publications/publications/1206009.pdf To review the proposed rule change and other documents associated with this process, visit:  http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/sea/sepa/rulemaking2012.html