Agency.
(1) "Agency" means any state or local governmental body, board, commission, department, or officer authorized to make law, hear contested cases, or otherwise take the actions stated in WAC
197-11-704, except the judiciary and state legislature. An agency is any state agency (WAC
197-11-796) or local agency (WAC
197-11-762).
(2) "Agency with environmental expertise" means an agency with special expertise on the environmental impacts involved in a proposal or alternative significantly affecting the environment. These agencies are listed in WAC
197-11-920; the list may be expanded in agency procedures (WAC
197-11-906). The appropriate agencies must be consulted in the environmental impact statement process, as required by WAC
197-11-502.
(3) "Agency with jurisdiction" means an agency with authority to approve, veto, or finance all or part of a nonexempt proposal (or part of a proposal). The term does not include an agency authorized to adopt rules or standards of general applicability that could apply to a proposal, when no license or approval is required from the agency for the specific proposal. The term also does not include a local, state, or federal agency involved in approving a grant or loan, that serves only as a conduit between the primary administering agency and the recipient of the grant or loan. Federal agencies with jurisdiction are those from which a license or funding is sought or required.
(4) If a specific agency has been named in these rules, and the functions of that agency have changed or been transferred to another agency, the term shall mean any successor agency.
(5) For those proposals requiring a hydraulic project approval under RCW
75.20.100, both the department of game and the department of fisheries shall be considered agencies with jurisdiction.
[Statutory Authority: RCW
43.21C.110. WSR 84-05-020 (Order DE 83-39), ยง 197-11-714, filed 2/10/84, effective 4/4/84.]