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 practices 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 IV General permit to conduct a forest practice in Western Washington is called a Class IV-G Forest Practices Application (Class IV-G FPA). This permit type is for forest practice activities that are being conducted as part of a conversion from forestry to non-forestry use. The following activities are examples of the types of proposals that may qualify for the Class IV-G FPA permit in Western Washington: forest practices on lands that are being converted to a non-forestry use, forest practices that would otherwise be class III but are taking place on lands that are not likely to be reforested because of the likelihood of future conversion to urban development, or forest practices within urban growth areas where regulatory authority has not been transferred to the local government. Where regulatory authority has been transferred to local governments for conversion activities a DNR Class IV-G permit is not required. In Western Washington this currently applies in Clark, King, Mason Pierce, and Thurston counties and the cities of: Arlington, Bonney Lake, Everett, Federal Way, Lacey, Mill Creek, Monroe, Mt. Vernon, Olympia, Port Townsend, Tumwater and University Place.
Most Class IV-G FPAs have a minimum review period of 14 days, unless waived by the local government of jurisdiction (See WAC 222-20-020(1)(c)). The review periods for Class IV-G FPAs extend out to a maximum of 30 days in most cases. (See RCW 76.09.050(1) and WAC 222-12-030(3))
Explanation/Description of costs/fees, including statutory, regulatory, or other legal authority for fees
The fee for a Class IV-G FPA is $1500. (See RCW 76.09.065(1)(A)and(B))