June 28, 2007
Sims adds greenhouse gas pollution to project environmental review
King County is the first local government in the nation to add greenhouse gas pollution that contributes to global warming to the environmental review of all projects covered by the State Environmental Policy Act where the county is lead or is permitting a project in the unincorporated area.
Beginning Sept. 1 greenhouse gases will be added to the SEPA checklist for information purposes only. Once climate impacts are added to the County’s Comprehensive Plan, the information will be used to help determine whether a full Environmental Impact Statement is needed on a county project or when permitting a private project.
The Executive Order signed by Sims June 27 is in response to the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in April that agreed with the State of Massachusetts and ordered the Environmental Protection Agency to consider greenhouse gases a pollutant. King County is the second government behind Massachusetts to add greenhouse gases to its SEPA checklist. The State of Washington’s Department of Ecology is actively considering the same change. .
“This global warming overlay to our project checklist is another of our increasingly aggressive strategies to reduce harmful air emissions,” said Executive Sims. “The state requires a look at air quality and climate, this Executive Order explicitly calls out a project’s contributions to global warming as a harmful impact.”
At this time, the county will require only that the adverse climate impacts of proposed projects be described in SEPA documents. The policy discussion regarding what, if any, regulatory requirements should be imposed to mitigate a project's adverse climate impacts will occur as part of the 2008 four-year update of the King County Comprehensive Plan that begins this September. In March 2008, after an extensive public process, the King County Executive will transmit the proposed changes to the plan to the King County Council for its review and further public outreach.
The county will develop specific criteria to be used to prevent or mitigate the air quality and climate impacts of a project. The current Comprehensive Plan lists serious local impacts of global warming such as drought, fires, water shortages, flooding, new diseases affecting humans and plants, rising sea levels and erosion.
Potential additions to the SEPA checklist would relate to greenhouse gas emissions during construction, during operation of the facility or building once completed and the availability of transit or carpools to the users of the building.
The Executive Order is available online (pdf).
Related information
- Executive order (pdf)
- Global Warming Web site
- Sims takes step to limit emissions, Seattle Times