Description/Purpose

The Department of Natural Resources (DNR) regulates forest practices on private and state forest land. A permit is not required for every forest practice, but the forest practice rules must be followed when conducting all forest practices activities. There are five classes of forest practices depending on the types of activities being proposed and their potential impact to public resources (see WAC 222-16-050). Once an application is received by the department it gets assigned a classification which in turn determines the type of permit.

A Class III permit to conduct a forest practice in Western Washington is called a Class III Forest Practices Application (FPA). This permit type is for forest practice activities that have been determined to have an ordinary potential to damage a public resource.

The following activities are examples of the types of proposals that may qualify for the FPA permit in Western Washington:

• Projects in or over streams or wetlands
• Aerial applications of chemicals
• Proposals containing alternate plans
• Harvests exceeding nineteen acres in areas designated as difficult to regenerate

Most Class III FPAs have a minimum review period of 14 days. The review periods for Class III FPAs can extend out to 30, 45, 60, or 90 days depending on the type of FPA submitted. Below is a bulleted explanation of these review periods:

• Standard Class III FPA = maximum 30 day review period (14 minimum). (See RCW 76.09.050(1) and WAC 222-12-030(3))
• Class III FPAs containing requests for multi-year (4 or 5) applications = 45 day review period (14 minimum). (See RCW 76.09.060(6)(d) and WAC 222-12-030(3)(a))
• Class III FPAs containing certain hydraulic work = 60 day review period (44 minimum). (See RCW 76.09.050(1), WAC 222-12-030(3)(c), and WAC 222-20-017)
• Class III FPAs containing Long Term Applications = two 45 day reviews; 90 days total (two separate 14 day periods mandatory; 28 total days minimum). (See RCW 76.09.050(1), WAC 222-12-030(3)(b), and WAC 222-20-016)

Explanation/Description of costs/fees, including statutory, regulatory, or other legal authority for fees

The fee for a Class III FPA is $150 unless the landowner is considered a small forest landowner and the proposal is being conducted on a single continuous ownership consisting of one or more parcels, then the fee is reduced to $100. (see RCW 76.09.065(1)(A)and(B))

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