Regulations and Policies Related to Biodiversity

King County Regulations and Policies

The King County Comprehensive Plan (Comp Plan) is the guiding policy document for all land use and development regulations in unincorporated King County, and for regional services throughout the County including transit, sewers, parks, trails and open space. The Comp Plan was updated in 2008, and biodiversity is addressed in its own section for the first time.

Critical Areas, Stormwater, and Clearing and Grading Ordinances: The goal of the Critical Areas Ordinance package is to protect the existing functions and values of critical areas and ensure public safety where there are identified hazard areas. The ordinance identifies two general classes of critical areas: (1) environmentally sensitive critical areas, which include rivers, streams, lakes, wetlands, and wildlife habitat; and (2) public safety critical areas (hazard areas), which include areas at high risk for erosion, landslides, earthquakes, or flooding, as well as coal mine hazard areas. The ordinance applies throughout unincorporated King County. Updates to the ordinance are mandated by the State of Washington’s Growth Management Act.

For a list of species protected in the Comp Plan and CAO as Species of Local Importance, scroll down on this page.

Federal Laws

Endangered Species Act

The Federal Endangered Species Act (ESA) was passed in 1973 and prohibits the importation, exportation, taking, and commercialization in interstate or foreign commerce of fish and wildlife, and plants that are listed as threatened or endangered species. The Act also implements the provisions of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Here is a digest of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531-1543). And here is the entire ESA in PDF format.

Other Federal Laws

In addition to the ESA, many Federal Laws are in place that protect wildlife. This fact is often overlooked when people are considering County wildlife regulations. Federal Laws are an additional protection for many of our migratory birds, for example.

This external web site presents a summary of some federal wildlife regulations. Here is an excerpt:

• Migratory Bird Treaty Act (16 U.S.C. 703-712), except as allowed by implementing regulations, makes it unlawful to pursue, hunt, kill, capture, possess, buy, sell, purchase, or barter any migratory bird, including the feathers or other parts, nests, eggs, or migratory bird products.
• Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act (16 U.S.C. 668-668C) makes it illegal to import, export, or take bald or golden eagles, or to sell, purchase, or barter their parts, or products made from them, including their nests or eggs.
makes it illegal to import, export, or take bald or golden eagles, or to sell, purchase, or barter their parts, or products made from them, including their nests or eggs.
• Marine Mammal Protection Act (16 U.S.C. 1361-1407) establishes a moratorium on the taking and importation of marine mammals, including parts and products, and defines Federal responsibility for conservation of marine mammals, with management authority vested in the Department of the Interior for the sea otter, walrus, polar bear, dugong, and manatee.
• Lacey Act (18 U.S.C. 42; 16 U.S.C. 3371-3378) provides authority to the Secretary of the Interior to designate injurious wildlife and ensure the humane treatment of wildlife shipped to the United States. Further, it prohibits the importation, exportation, transportation, sale, or purchase of fish and wildlife taken or possessed in violation of State, Federal, Indian tribal, and foreign laws. Also, the act provides an important tool in the effort to gain control of smuggling and trade in illegally taken fish and wildlife.
• Wild Bird Conservation Act of 1992 (16 U.S.C. 4901) promotes the conservation of exotic birds by (1) encouraging wild bird conservation and management programs in countries of origin; (2) ensuring that all trade in such species involving the United States is biologically sustainable and to the benefit of the species; and (3) limiting or prohibiting imports of exotic birds when necessary to ensure that exotic wild populations are not harmed by removal for the trade.

The US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) web site contains a lot of relevant information:

• Digest of Federal Resource Laws.
• PDF booklet: Facts about Federal Wildlife Laws.
• Guide to the Laws and Treaties of the United States for Protecting Migratory Birds
• Birds protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (Adobe Acrobat file)

Enforcement

Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) at Syracuse University took a look at Trends in prosecution in wildlife laws. They found that "Enforcement of the federal laws designed to protect migratory birds, endangered species, marine mammals and other kinds of wild life has slumped during the Bush Administration, according to authoritative Justice Department data." Additionally, "The decline was documented in an analysis of a special new data base comparing the number of individuals and corporations charged with violating such laws during the first term of President Clinton, the second Clinton term and the Bush years. The data were obtained and analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC)."

Washington State Laws

The Revised Code of Washington (RCW) Title 77: Fish and Wildlife is the primary source of fish and wildlife laws specific to Washington State. Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) Enforcement Program is primarily responsible for enforcing the Fish and Wildlife Code.

List of Species Protected in the Comp Plan and CAO as Species of Local Importance

This list is current as of June 30, 2008, and represents King County's Species of Local Importance. Asterisks (*) indicate which species have specified development standards in the Critical Areas Ordinance. Species in boldface are not WDFW Species of Concern. Federal and State status codes are defined at the bottom of the list.

Status Codes:

• FE: Federal Endangered
• FT: Federal Threatened
• FC: Federal Candidate
• FCo: Federal Species of Concern
• SE: State Endangered, defined in WAC 232-12-297, Section 2.4, to include "any wildlife species native to the state of Washington that is seriously threatened with extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range within the state."
• ST: State Threatened, defined in WAC 232-12-297, Section 2.5, to include "any wildlife species native to the state of Washington that is likely to become an endangered species within the foreseeable future throughout a significant portion of its range within the state without cooperative management or removal of threats."
• SC: State Candidate, defined in WDFW Policy M-6001 to include fish and wildlife species that the Department will review for possible listing as State Endangered, Threatened, or Sensitive. A species will be considered for designation as a State Candidate if sufficient evidence suggests that its status may meet the listing criteria defined for State Endangered, Threatened, or Sensitive.
• SS: State Sensitive, defined in WAC 232-12-297, Section 2.6, to include "any wildlife species native to the state of Washington that is vulnerable or declining and is likely to become endangered or threatened throughout a significant portion of its range within the state without cooperative management or removal of threats."