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A RESOLUTION to oppose proposed revisions to the United States Army Corps of Engineers’ policy regarding variances from the national standard for managing vegetation on levees, floodwalls, embankment dams, and appurtenant structures and providing King County Flood Control Zone District comments in response to the February 9, 2010 federal register notice on docket number COE-2010-0007.
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WHEREAS, in 2007, the King County Council created a Flood Control Zone District ("District") to oversee flood control efforts in the most populated county in the state of Washington; and
WHEREAS, beginning in January 2008, the District began assessing property taxes to fund countywide flood control efforts; and
WHEREAS, the District has effectively partnered with the Army Corp of Engineers ("Corps") Seattle District to leverage federal and local funding used to construct flood risk reduction projects; and
WHEREAS, the interests of the District and the people of King County are best served when flood risk reduction efforts are implemented in an efficient and timely manner; and
WHEREAS, the District must align flood safety and environmental rules; and
WHEREAS, the current national levee vegetation standards in the Corps ER 500-1-1 engineering manual were developed decades ago and were based primarily on the needs of river systems in regions other than Puget Sound; and
WHEREAS, the National Marine Fisheries Service’s ("NMFS") 2003 review of the Corps’ Programmatic Biological Assessment of the Flood Control Projects Maintenance Inspection Program concluded that removal of riparian vegetation is an action that is “likely to adversely affect” listed fish species; and
WHEREAS, the federal government has conflicting policies regarding vegetation management between the Corps’ proposed policy and the NMFS Biological Opinion to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, issued in September 2008, which describes the serious adverse affects to Endangered Species Act("ESA")-listed salmon and steelhead in Puget Sound resulting from the removal of levee vegetation; and
WHEREAS, the continued removal of trees presents a direct conflict with the need documented in the federally-adopted Puget Sound Salmon Recovery Plan to protect existing riparian habitat and recover lost riparian habitat for endangered fish species; and WHEREAS, removing existing riparian vegetation and precluding the growth of additional riparian vegetation would exacerbate existing water temperature problems for rivers listed as impaired under Section 303(d) of the Clean Water Act;
NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED BY THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS OF THE KING COUNTY FLOOD CONTROL ZONE DISTRICT:
A. The District requests that the Corps withdraw its current proposal and base any future policy changes regarding vegetation management on scientific research, which the Corps committed to at the Corps-sponsored symposium, “An Examination of Levee Vegetation Policy,” held in February 2009 in Renton, Washington.
B. The District requests that the Corps allow the current Seattle District regional variance to remain in place until collaborative scientific research on the effects of levee vegetation in the Pacific Northwest is complete.
C. The District requests that the Corps consider local conditions and opportunities in its vegetation management policies.
D. The District requests the Corps to consult with the NMFS and the United States Fisheries and Wildlife Service regarding the impacts of the Corps’ levee vegetation requirements on species listed under the federal ESA.