(a) “Department” means any division, subdivision or organizational unit of the city established by ordinance, rule or order.

(b) “SEPA rules” means Chapter 197-11 WAC adopted by the Department of Ecology.

(c) “Ordinance” means the ordinance, resolution, or other procedure used by the city to adopt regulatory requirements.

(d) “Early notice” means the city’s response to an applicant stating whether it considers issuance of a determination of significance likely for the applicant’s proposal (mitigated determination of nonsignificance (DNS) procedures).

(a) For those proposals for which the city is the lead agency, the responsible official shall be the planning director, or his/her designee.

(b) For all proposals for which the city is the lead agency, the responsible official shall make the threshold determination, supervise scoping and preparation of any required environmental impact statement (EIS), and perform any other functions assigned to the “lead agency” or “responsible official” by those sections of the SEPA rules that were adopted by reference in WAC 173-806-020.

(c) The city shall retain all documents required by the SEPA rules (Chapter 197-11 WAC) and make them available in accordance with Chapter 42.17 RCW.

(a) The department within the city receiving an application for or initiating a proposal that involves a nonexempt action shall determine the lead agency for that proposal under WAC 197-11-050 and 197-11-922 through 197-11-940, unless the lead agency has been previously determined or the department is aware that another department or agency is in the process of determining the lead agency.

(b) When the city is the lead agency for a proposal, the department receiving the application shall determine the responsible official who shall supervise compliance with the threshold determination requirements, and, if an EIS is necessary, shall supervise preparation of the EIS.

(c) When the city is not the lead agency for a proposal, all departments of the city shall use and consider, as appropriate, either the DNS or the final EIS of the lead agency in making decisions on the proposal. No city department shall prepare or require preparation of a DNS or EIS in addition to that prepared by the lead agency, unless required under WAC 197-11-600. In some cases, the city may conduct supplemental environmental review under WAC 197-11-600.

(d) If the city or any of its departments receives a lead agency determination made by another agency that appears inconsistent with the criteria of WAC 197-11-922 through 197-11-940, it may make an objection of the determination to the originating agency or the city must petition the Department of Ecology for a lead agency determination under WAC 197-11-946. Any such petition on behalf of the city may be initiated by the responsible official.

(e) Departments of the city are authorized to make agreements as to lead agency status or shared lead agency duties for a proposal under WAC 197-11-942 and 197-11-944; provided, that the responsible official and any department that will incur responsibilities as the result of such agreement approve the agreement.

(f) Any department making a lead agency determination for a private project shall require sufficient information from the applicant to identify which other agencies have jurisdiction over the proposal, including agencies which require nonexempt licenses.

(a) The city endorses the procedures in the SEPA rules adopted in this section for project proposal review as a “planned action” and will apply the provisions of WAC 197-11-164 through WAC 197-11-172 to projects which meet the criteria for planned action environmental review under RCW 43.21C.031.

(b) Where a project proposal meets the requirements and criteria for a planned action set forth in WAC 197-11-164 through 197-11-172, and the planned action ordinance adopted by the city, the responsible official shall not be required to issue a threshold determination or EIS under the provisions of this chapter.

(c) Nothing in this section limits the city from using this chapter or other applicable law to place conditions on the project in order to mitigate nonsignificant impacts through the normal local project review and permitting process.

(d) Public notice for projects that qualify as planned actions shall be tied to the underlying permit. If notice is otherwise required for the underlying permit, the notice shall state that the project has qualified as a planned action. If notice is not otherwise required for the underlying permit, no special notice is required.

(a) For nonexempt proposals, the DNS or final EIS for the proposal shall accompany the city’s staff recommendation to any appropriate advisory body, such as the planning commission.

(b) If the city’s only action on a proposal is a decision on a building permit or other license that requires detailed project plans and specifications, the applicant may request in writing that the city conduct environmental review prior to submission of the detailed plans and specifications. (Ord. 1110 § 3, 2002; Ord. 1051, 1998).