Environment - Growth Management Act

• Frequently Asked Questions
• Recommendations
• Local and regional resources
• Federal resources
• Other sources of information
• WSDOT Contacts

WSDOT and the Washington State Department of Community, Trade and Economic Development (CTED) worked jointly on a White Paper to explore the relationship between the State Growth Management Act and transportation planning. The White Paper explores the relevance of various Growth Management related topics such as the Goals of the Act, the transportation element of local comprehensive plans and communities' Critical Area Ordinances to transportation planning. The White Paper suggests how locally generated information might assist with National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the Endangered Species Act (ESA) compliance and other related processes.

• Community, Trade and Economic Development (CTED)
• White Paper (pdf 198 kb)
• State Growth Management Act
• Goals of the Act (pf 24 kb)
• Transportation element of local comprehensive plans
• Critical Area Ordinances
• National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)
• Endangered Species Act (ESA) compliance and other related processes.

Many counties have information on-line including GIS maps. Information can be found at Municipal Research and Services Center (MRSC) of Washington including city and county links.

  
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Interested staff can obtain a wealth of information from local growth management planning efforts, especially if contacted early in the WSDOT planning process. Each jurisdiction planning under the State Growth Management Act (29 of 39 counties and their cities and towns), must provide updated information at least every 7 years on topics such as: land uses, transportation, capital facilities, and housing.

The FAQ's explore the relevance of the Growth Management Act to WSDOT transportation plans, to project level environmental assessment and to project permitting. The FAQ's are divided into subject categories:

• Federal Transportation Planning Process
• Washington State Transportation Planning Process
• Washington State Growth Management Act (GMA)
• Relevance of the GMA to Transportation Plans
• Required Environmental Review for Transportation Projects
• Relevance of GMA plans to Project Permitting
• WSDOT and others invest in Environmental Permit Streamlining
• Relevance of Tribal plans to Project Permitting

  
Recommendations

Throughout this website the following concepts are introduced which should assist project planners in developing transportation plans:

• Early notification to the local jurisdiction about the project, including the identification of all the appropriate local stakeholders, governmental and non-governmental organizations, and current points of contact.
   
• Meeting with the planning or public works department to explain the project and obtain feedback and gather local information (Growth Management Plan, maps, etc.).
   
• Researching information on the jurisdiction's public participation program for growth management planning and how to get involved in that process.
   
• Encouraging local jurisdictions to actively participate in the development of WSDOT planning documents (i.e. RDP, Corridor studies) to help incorporate these into their local comprehensive plans to ensure consistency.
   
• Good communication between WSDOT, local governments, MPOs and RTPOs during the development of Regional Transportation Plans.
   
• Developing and maintaining a relationship with the regional WSDOT representative to keep lines of communication open.

  
Local and Regional Resources

• Regional planning organizations (Metropolitan Planning Organizations and Regional Transportation Planning Organizations) maintain a considerable amount of forecast information for their regions.
   
• Transportation and Economic data is available from regional Conferences of Governments found throughout Washington State.
   
• Puget Sound Partnership has information focusing on environmental issues for Puget Sound communities.
   
• Watershed Resource Inventory Area plans (WRIA) contain information on the water and habitat environment along watersheds throughout the state.
   
• Local Government Environmental Assistance Network (LGEAN) is a "first-stop shop" providing environmental management, planning, funding, and regulatory information for local government elected and appointed officials, managers and staff. LGEAN enables local officials to interact with their peers and others online. The website is managed and operated by the International City/County Management Association.
   
• County Road Administration (CRAB). This agency is a major technical and financial resource for counties and administers two grant programs for counties to preserve and improve county roads.
   
• Highways and Local Programs ( H&LP ) WSDOT website 
    
• Community Design Resources
• Context Sensitive Solutions
• Community Design Assistance
   
• WSDOT Planning Office website
• Coordinating Transportation and Growth Management Planning(pdf 1 mb)was produced in partnership with CTED. 
• Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs)
• Regional Transportation Planning Organizations (RTPOs)
• Route Development Plans
• Washington Transportation Plan
   
• State Department of Community Trade and Economic Development (CTED) website 
• The Growth Management Act

• State Department of Ecology (DOE) website
• SEPA   

  
Federal Resources

• The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) website offers information on
• Integrating transportation planning with federal & state requirements
• Planning-related transportation issues.
   
• The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) website has information on planning, citizen involvement in highway programs and a variety of other resources.
   
• National Context Sensitive Design Website: Context sensitive design (CSD) (also called context sensitive solutions [CSS]) is a collaborative, interdisciplinary approach that involves all stakeholders to develop a transportation facility that fits its physical setting and preserves scenic, aesthetic, historic, and environmental resources, while maintaining safety and mobility.   

  
Other Sources of Information 

• Comparison of States with GMA and SEPA Programs - A map showing which states have Growth Management programs and State Environmental Policy programs. Clicking on an area on the map will give more detailed information.
  
• Local sewage treatment plans and local water system plans include a discussion of land uses and population projections.
  
• Maps of many of the larger jurisdictions have GIS capability and smaller jurisdictions rely on their county or neighboring larger city for GIS mapping support.
   
• Local planning departments can provide an indication of development likely to occur. They may also be able to provide a listing of past development.
   
• Special District Plans (school districts, transit systems, ports, parks, etc) may contain useful information.
   
• Buildable Lands reports from Clark, Thurston, Pierce, Kitsap, King and Snohomish counties can provide economic and land use data.

  
WSDOT Contacts

For more information on the connections between transportation planning, environmental, and Growth Management:

• WSDOT transportation planning, contact Elizabeth Robbins.
• WSDOT related environmental services, contact Kathleen McKinney.
• Questions about the State Growth Management Act, contact CTED.