Pro-property-owner, anti-bureaucrat

Lawmakers to pry bureaucrat grip from Washington shorelines

OLYMPIA (Thursday 2-17-00)- A bill granting the Legislature more control over changes to state shoreline law is still "under construction" in the state House of Representatives.

State Reps. Joyce Mulliken and Tom Mielke, the co-chair and co-vice chair of the House Local Government Committee, say they are committed to passing legislation this year to protect citizens' property rights.

Last spring, the state Department of Ecology (DOE) proposed changes to the state Shoreline Management Act that would have imposed buffers of up to 200 feet on nearly all state shorelines.

Strong public opposition forced the DOE to rescind its proposal. The agency issued revised plans, based on public testimony, last December.

"It's great that citizens won in the last go-around with DOE," said Mulliken, R-Ephrata. "But we can't ignore the fact that even though DOE calls the changes it has made 'significant,' many of the revised proposals are still unacceptable.

"And DOE has said it will probably adopt the new guidelines this July. There should be a clear process in place for reviewing DOE's proposed changes to the Shoreline Management Act. As representatives of the people, the Legislature should have a say in such significant changes to state law."

"DOE's first proposal showed that the agency isn't very concerned about people's property rights," said Mielke, R-Battle Ground. "We can't allow unelected bureaucrats to have so much power. Agencies should be accountable.

"They should answer to both the Legislature and the public. A more democratic review process will make sure that any changes made to shoreline law are reasonable and fair."

House Bill 2391, which is co-sponsored by Mulliken and Mielke along with a bipartisan group of lawmakers, would - among other things - establish a legislative task force to review shoreline issues and recommend legislation.

The task force would look at ways to make shoreline rules more flexible, reduce the costs to local governments for compliance with shoreline rules, and integrate shoreline rules with land-use laws.

In addition to legislators, the task force would include representatives from local government, the governor's office, the business community and environmental groups

At the same time, the DOE would be required to convene a "work group" to develop new guidelines for shoreline management.

Mielke and Mulliken would like to strengthen the bill by adding a requirement that DOE submit any proposed shoreline changes to the Legislature. The current bill lacks such a requirement.

The lawmakers would also like to specify that the legislative task force should meet first, issue its recommendations, and based on those recommendations the DOE group should then convene and work on new shoreline rules.HB 2391 currently allows both groups to meet at the same time.

"It makes more sense for the group of legislators to meet first and then have the DOE group use our recommendations to draft new rules," explained Mulliken. "That way the DOE can truly respond to lawmakers and citizens."

"We also believe the DOE should submit its proposed shoreline law changes to the Legislature," said Mielke. "If that requirement isn't in law, then we could eventually run into the same situation we had last year where DOE wanted to impose its plan on the people without any legislative review. There has to be accountability."