WAC 365-190-030   Definitions.  (1) Agricultural land is land primarily devoted to the commercial production of horticultural, viticultural, floricultural, dairy, apiary, vegetable, or animal products or of berries, grain, hay, straw, turf, seed, Christmas trees not subject to the excise tax imposed by RCW 84.33.100 through 84.33.140, or livestock, and that has long-term commercial significance for agricultural production.

     (2) Areas with a critical recharging effect on aquifers used for potable water are areas where an aquifer that is a source of drinking water is vulnerable to contamination that would affect the potability of the water.

     (3) City means any city or town, including a code city.

     (4) Critical areas include the following areas and ecosystems:

     (a) Wetlands;

     (b) Areas with a critical recharging effect on aquifers used for potable water;

     (c) Fish and wildlife habitat conservation areas;

     (d) Frequently flooded areas; and

     (e) Geologically hazardous areas.

     (5) Erosion hazard areas are those areas containing soils which, according to the United States Department of Agriculture Soil Conservation Service Soil Classification System, may experience severe to very severe erosion.

     (6) Forest land is land primarily useful for growing trees, including Christmas trees subject to the excise tax imposed under RCW 84.33.100 through 84.33.140, for commercial purposes, and that has long-term commercial significance for growing trees commercially.

     (7) Frequently flooded areas are lands in the flood plain subject to a one percent or greater chance of flooding in any given year. These areas include, but are not limited to, streams, rivers, lakes, coastal areas, wetlands, and the like.

     (8) Geologically hazardous areas are areas that because of their susceptibility to erosion, sliding, earthquake, or other geological events, are not suited to siting commercial, residential, or industrial development consistent with public health or safety concerns.

     (9) Habitats of local importance include, a seasonal range or habitat element with which a given species has a primary association, and which, if altered, may reduce the likelihood that the species will maintain and reproduce over the long-term. These might include areas of high relative density or species richness, breeding habitat, winter range, and movement corridors. These might also include habitats that are of limited availability or high vulnerability to alteration, such as cliffs, talus, and wetlands.

     (10) Landslide hazard areas are areas potentially subject to risk of mass movement due to a combination of geologic, topographic, and hydrologic factors.

     (11) Long-term commercial significance includes the growing capacity, productivity, and soil composition of the land for long-term commercial production, in consideration with the land's proximity to population areas, and the possibility of more intense uses of land.

     (12) Minerals include gravel, sand, and valuable metallic substances.

     (13) Mine hazard areas are those areas directly underlain by, adjacent to, or affected by mine workings such as adits, tunnels, drifts, or air shafts.

     (14) Mineral resource lands means lands primarily devoted to the extraction of minerals or that have known or potential long-term commercial significance for the extraction of minerals.

     (15) Natural resource lands means agricultural, forest and mineral resource lands which have long-term commercial significance.

     (16) Public facilities include streets, roads, highways, sidewalks, street and road lighting systems, traffic signals, domestic water systems, storm and sanitary sewer systems, parks and recreational facilities, and schools.

     (17) Public services include fire protection and suppression, law enforcement, public health, education, recreation, environmental protection, and other governmental services.

     (18) Seismic hazard areas are areas subject to severe risk of damage as a result of earthquake induced ground shaking, slope failure, settlement, or soil liquefaction.

     (19) Species of local importance are those species that are of local concern due to their population status or their sensitivity to habitat manipulation or that are game species.

     (20) Urban growth refers to growth that makes intensive use of land for the location of buildings, structures, and impermeable surfaces to such a degree as to be incompatible with the primary use of such land for the production of food, other agricultural products, or fiber, or the extraction of mineral resources. When allowed to spread over wide areas, urban growth typically requires urban governmental services. "Characterized by urban growth" refers to land having urban growth located on it, or to land located in relationship to an area with urban growth on it as to be appropriate for urban growth.

     (21) Volcanic hazard areas shall include areas subject to pyroclastic flows, lava flows, and inundation by debris flows, mudflows, or related flooding resulting from volcanic activity.

     (22) Wetland or wetlands means areas that are inundated or saturated by surface water or ground water at a frequency and duration sufficient to support, and that under normal circumstances do support, a prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions. Wetlands generally include swamps, marshes, bogs, and similar areas. Wetlands do not include those artificial wetlands intentionally created from nonwetland sites, grass-lined swales, canals, detention facilities, wastewater treatment facilities, farm ponds, and landscape amenities. However, wetlands may include those artificial wetlands intentionally created from nonwetland areas created to mitigate conversion of wetlands, if permitted by the county or city.



[Statutory Authority: RCW 36.70A.050. 91-07-041, § 365-190-030, filed 3/15/91, effective 4/15/91.]