SEPA

The State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) is a Washington State law known as the Revised Code of Washington (RCW) 43.21C.  RCW 43.21C was enacted in 1971 which requires state and local agencies to identify and analyze the adverse environmental impacts of a proposal before making a decision on that proposal (RCW 43.21C.030). As part of analyzing the proposal for impacts, EFSEC sends data requests to the applicant requesting additional information or clarification regarding their proposal and/or the site. When a decision is made to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for SEPA review, the EIS process is initiated with a Determination of Significance (DS). EFSEC announces the DS in a Scoping Notice which begins a public comment period. EFSEC is required to consider all comments received during Scoping in determining the Scope of the EIS but is not required to respond to those comments in writing. A Scoping Report or Memo can be prepared and informs the public about the comments received during Scoping and how that information will set the Scope of the EIS. Once the Scope of the EIS is determined, a draft EIS is prepared.

For more information on the SEPA process visit the Certification Process page.

Data Requests

SEPA Scoping

Determination of Significance

SEPA Comments Received

The SEPA Scoping comment period closed as of June 10, 2021.

Comments outside of a comment period can be sent to the EFSEC general mailbox at any time: EFSEC@utc.wa.gov

Important Note: Public comments submitted to the Council via the internet or in writing become public records under the Washington State Public Records Act (RCW 42.17). Information included in the comment such as the commenter's e-mail and mailing address becomes a public record once it is provided to EFSEC and may be subject to public inspection and copying if not protected by federal or state law. For additional information please see our Privacy Notice.