2012 Revised Code of Washington
Title 43 - STATE GOVERNMENT — EXECUTIVE
43.21C State environmental policy.
43.21C.011 Finding -- Preservation and conservation of agricultural lands -- Rule update and review.
RCW 43.21C.011 Finding — Preservation and conservation of agricultural lands — Rule update and review.
(1) The legislature finds the state's farm and range lands are a unique natural resource that provide for the production of food, fiber, alternative fuels, and other products necessary for the continued welfare of people locally, nationally, and globally. Each year, a significant amount of the state's agricultural land is irrevocably converted from actual or potential agricultural use to nonagricultural use. The continued decrease in the state's agricultural resource land base is threatening the ability of the agricultural industry to produce safe and affordable agricultural products in sufficient quantities to meet our current and future local, regional, and national food and fiber needs, as well as the demands of our export markets.
(2) The program and project actions of state agencies, local governments, and persons, in many cases, inadvertently result in the conversion of farmland to nonagricultural uses where alternative actions would be preferred. The legislature declares that it is the policy of the state to identify and take into account the adverse effects of these actions on the preservation and conservation of agricultural lands; to consider alternative actions, as appropriate, that could lessen such adverse effects; and to assure that such actions appropriately mitigate for unavoidable impacts to agricultural resources.
(3) By December 31, 2013, the department of ecology shall conduct rule making to review and consider whether the current environmental checklist form in WAC 197-11-960 ensures consideration of potential impacts to agricultural lands of long-term commercial significance, as that term is used in chapter 36.70A RCW. The review and update shall ensure that the checklist is adequate to allow for consideration of impacts on adjacent agricultural properties, drainage patterns, agricultural soils, and normal agricultural operations.
[2012 c 247 § 1.]
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