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History - A Brief History of Environmental Policy in Washington State

By Hildi Flores

Over the past 25 years, SPEECH has covered a variety of issues concerning shoreline management, critical areas protection, and other environmental policies. All of this activity occurs under the legal framework of environmental policies that have been structured over the past several decades.

Lisa Palazzo of the SCI Alliance gave a presentation on the development of Washington's environmental policies on October 27 at the Coach House in Olympia. This history is relevant to the issues we deal with today, as well as how we continue to shape the environmental policy of the future.

The first proactive steps taken were in response to environmental destruction that severely impacted the society or resulted in a state of emergency. Palazzo used examples such as river pollution, floods, soil erosion, and the Dust Bowl to illustrate her points.

In the 1940s conservation districts were established for flood control. The 1950s saw an expansion of government programs for erosion control, with a focus on strip mining. In the 1960s the first mitigation programs were implemented to hold mining companies accountable for environmental damages.

The 1970s was the beginning of major development of current environmental regulatory laws, with a focus on clean water.

Rachel Carson's book Silent Spring, published in 1962, led to the passing of the Endangered Species Protection Act in 1966. At this time there was growing public concern over the impact of pesticides on the biosphere. The bald eagle, as the nation's symbol, gained exceptional attention when it was found to be endangered because DDT caused its eggs to collapse. A response mobilized and decades later, the eagle is recovering.

In 1971, Washington State passed the Shoreline Management Act intended to regulate marine waters, streams, and rivers under the national Clean Water Act. The law's framework regulates water quality and point source pollution, allowing agencies to issue permits to polluters and the authority to review the use of those permits. An effort to create the National Wetland Inventory occurred in 1979, which entailed the classification of wetlands. This required the Army Corps of Engineers to compose a working definition of a wetland which requires three parameters: a long duration, hydric soils, and a hydrophytic vegetation community.

The Washington Growth Management Act of 1990 recognized critical areas and began to identify infrastructure limitations. It states, "uncoordinated and unplanned growth posed a threat to the environment, sustainable economic development, and the quality of life in Washington." It included a focus on local control through Critical Areas Ordinances.

Today, almost every city and county in the state has a Critical Areas Ordinance and a Shoreline Master Plan. As we currently deal with mitigation guidance through setbacks and buffers, we are constantly reminded that natural systems don't stay within their boundaries.

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