Volume 2: Draft Gorst Planned Action Environmental Impact Statement

GORST PLANNED ACTION EIS | SUMMARYThe Draft EIS considers potential environmental impacts in Gorst Creek Watershed and Gorst UGA study area at aprogrammatic level of detail. The adoption of comprehensive plans or other long-range planning activities such asa subarea plan is classified by SEPA as a nonproject (i.e., programmatic) action. A nonproject action is defined as anaction that is broader than a single site-specific project, and involves decisions on policies, plans, and programs. AnEIS for a nonproject proposal does not require site-specific analyses; instead, the EIS discusses impacts andalternatives appropriate to the scope of the nonproject proposal and to the level of planning for the proposal(WAC 197-11-442). The process used to determine the scope of this EIS is found in Appendix A Scoping Summary.Further, portions of the study area that are considered for a planned action are highlighted, and sufficient analysisand mitigation measures are proposed to allow future project expedited environmental review when consistentwith planned action ordinance thresholds and mitigation measures.Planned ActionThe City of Bremerton and Kitsap County propose to designate the Gorst UGA as a planned action, pursuant toSEPA and implementing rules. 1 According to WAC 197-11-164, a planned action is defined as a project that has thefollowing characteristics:• is designated a planned action by ordinance,• has had significant environmental impacts addressed in an EIS,• has been prepared in conjunction with a comprehensive plan, subarea plan, master planned development, aphased project, or with subsequent or implementing projects of any of these categories,• has had project level significant impacts adequately addressed in an EIS unless the impacts are specificallydeferred for consideration at the project level pursuant to certain criteria specified in the law,• is located within a UGA,• is not an essential public facility, as defined in RCW 36.70A.200, unless an essential public facility is accessoryto or part of a residential, office, school, commercial, recreational, service, or industrial development that isdesignated a planned action under this subsection, and• is consistent with a comprehensive plan or subarea plan adopted under GMA.Review of a planned action is intended to be simpler and more focused than for other projects. If the plannedaction ordinance is adopted, the City or County would follow the applicable procedures contained in the ordinanceto determine if the proposed project impacts are consistent with the Planned Action EIS. When a permitapplication and environmental checklist are submitted for a project that is being proposed as a planned actionproject, the City or County must first verify the following:• The project meets the description of any project(s) designated as a planned action by ordinance or resolution.• The probable significant adverse environmental impacts were adequately addressed in the EIS.• The project includes any conditions or mitigation measures outlined in the ordinance or resolution.If the project meets the above requirements, the project qualifies as a planned action project and a SEPA thresholddetermination is not required. However, the following actions (i.e., the permit process) are still applicable asdescribed more fully in Chapter 2:1 Another option is to have some land use and environmental standards (for example, the Planned ActionOrdinance) become effective only upon annexation to encourage annexation, which is a Growth Management goalreflected in Kitsap County’s assignment of the UGA to the City.Draft | June 2013 1-2