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Home My WebLink AboutSR_ERC_Memo_Reconsideration_Request_Thunder Hills_10114.pdfDEPARTMENT OF COMMUNITY AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ERC Memorandum M E M O R A N D U M DATE: January 14, 2019 TO: Environmental Review Committee FROM: Jill Ding, Senior Planner SUBJECT: Thunder Hills Sewer Interceptor Rehabilitation (LUA18-000678) Request for Reconsideration of DNS-M The Environmental Review Committee (ERC) reviewed the above mentioned application and issued a SEPA Determination of Non-Significance Mitigated (DNS-M) on December 17, 2018 with one mitigation measure: 1. Project construction shall comply with the recommendations found in the submitted Geotechnical report prepared by Stantec dated February 13, 2015. The DNS-M was published on December 21, 2018 with an appeal period that ended on January 4, 2019. A request for reconsideration of the SEPA determination was received on January 4, 2019 from Karen Walter of the Muckleshoot Tribe. The request for reconsideration requests that the stream, Thunder Hills, be reclassified from a Type Ns to a Type F (see Exhibit 8) as the reclassification of the stream may change the analysis of the impacts of the proposal and required additional mitigation measures through SEPA. Staff Comment: The reconsideration request was provided to Stantec, who provided a response in a memo dated January 11, 2019 (Exhibit 9). The work proposed includes maintenance of an existing sewer line along Thunder Hills Creek. The proposed maintenance work along the stream qualifies as an exemption from the City’s stream regulations in accordance with RMC 4-3-050C.3.e.ii, which applies to “Normal and routine maintenance, operation and repair of existing parks and trails, or the construction of new trails, streets, roads, rights-of-way and associated appurtenances, facilities and utilities where no alteration or additional fill materials will be placed other than the minimum alteration and/or fill needed to restore those facilities or to construct new trails to meet established safety standards. The use of heavy construction equipment shall be limited to utilities and public agencies that require this type of equipment for normal and routine maintenance and repair of existing utility structures and rights-of-way. In every case, critical area and required buffer impacts shall be minimized and disturbed areas shall be restored during and immediately after the use of construction equipment.” The Stantec memo also evaluates the classification of the stream. The City’s current classification of Thunder Hills Creek as a Type Ns stream is consistent with the Washington State databases and mapping applications, and the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission (NWIFC) online tool for Statewide Integrated Fish Distribution (SWIFD), which classified Thunder Hills Creek as a Type N stream (non-fish bearing). In addition, both the SWIFD and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife’s (WDFW) SalmonScape ERC Memo on Reconsideration Page 2 of 2 January 14, 2019 ERC Memorandum mapping tool show no documented, presumed, or potential salmonid fish distributions present in Thunder Hills Creek. Recommendation: As the work proposed qualifies as an exemption from the City’s stream regulations, the classification of the stream would not impact or alter the mitigation required. Therefore, no additional mitigation is recommended and the existing SEPA DNS-M with one mitigation measure is upheld. In addition, as the City’s classification of Thunder Hills Creek as a Type Ns stream is consistent with the Washington State databases and the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission classification of the stream, a reclassification of Thunder Hills Creek to a Type F stream is not warranted at this time. Appeals of the environmental determination must be filed in writing on or before 5:00 p.m. on January 28, 2019. Appeals must be filed in writing together with the required fee with: Hearing Examiner, City of Renton, 1055 South Grady Way, Renton, WA 98057. Appeals to the Examiner are governed by RMC 4 -8- 110 and more information may be obtained from the Renton City Clerk’s Office, (425) 430-6510. Date of decision: January 14, 2019 Signatures: Gregg Zimmerman, Administrator Public Works Department Date Rick M. Marshall, Administrator Renton Regional Fire Authority Date Kelly Beymer, Administrator Date C.E. “Chip” Vincent, Administrator Date Community Services Department Department of Community & Economic Development 1 Kyle Wunderlin From:Cynthia Moya Sent:Monday, January 07, 2019 11:08 AM To:Brianne Bannwarth; Clark Close; Craig Burnell; Jason Seth; Jennifer T. Henning; Julia Medzegian; Kyle Wunderlin; Leslie Clark; Shane Moloney; Vanessa Dolbee; Chip Vincent; Jill Ding Subject:FW: City of Renton LUA Acceptance: Thunder Hills Sewer Interceptor Rehabilitation, LUA18-000678 Attachments:WDFW Fish passage map for Thunder Hills Creek.pdf Follow Up Flag:Follow up Flag Status:Flagged I have attached a Request for Reconsideration regarding an Administrative Report & Decision for Thunder Hills Sewer Interceptor Rehabilitation File – LUA‐18‐000678 we just received today at 10:54 am but Vanessa Dolbee received this Request on Friday, January 4, 2019 at 12:47 pm. Please copy our office on your response regarding this request. Thank you, Cindy Moya, City Clerk Specialist City of Renton ‐ Administrative Services/City Clerk Division cmoya@rentonwa.gov 425‐430‐6513 From: Vanessa Dolbee Sent: Monday, January 07, 2019 10:54 AM To: Cynthia Moya <CMoya@Rentonwa.gov> Cc: Jill Ding <JDing@Rentonwa.gov> Subject: FW: City of Renton LUA Acceptance: Thunder Hills Sewer Interceptor Rehabilitation, LUA18‐000678 Cindy, Please find below a reconsideration request that was sent to me last Friday. Vanessa Dolbee, Current Planning Manager Community & Economic Development Department Planning Division 1055 S Grady Way Renton, WA 98057 (425)430‐7314 2 From: Karen Walter [mailto:KWalter@muckleshoot.nsn.us] Sent: Friday, January 04, 2019 12:47 PM To: Vanessa Dolbee <VDolbee@Rentonwa.gov> Cc: Jill Ding <JDing@Rentonwa.gov>; Gresham, Doug (ECY) <DGRE461@ECY.WA.GOV>; Meg Bommarito <mbom461@ECY.WA.GOV>; Larry Fisher <Larry.Fisher@dfw.wa.gov>; Rains, Christy A (DFW) <Christy.Rains@dfw.wa.gov> Subject: FW: City of Renton LUA Acceptance: Thunder Hills Sewer Interceptor Rehabilitation, LUA18‐000678 Vanessa, We received the City of Renton’s DNS-M for the Thunder Hills Sewer Interceptor Rehabilitation project dated December 21, 2018. Per the DNS-M, the City is maintaining that Thunder Hills Creek is a Type N (non-fish bearing water). We disagree and provided information from the State of Washington that indicates the stream should be considered a Type F water in the project area (see email below). No new data was provided by the City to refute the State’s findings nor does it appear that the City carefully considered this information and re-evaluated the project accordingly. The WDFW information we provided is more recent than any previous stream assessments conducted for the City’s Critical Areas Ordinance. The criteria from the WAC represents the best available science for determining potential fish habitat in absence of fish presence data. It is based on thousands of data points collected on streams in Washington State that corresponded to fish presence and habitat features in a simplified approach. It has been accepted by WDNR, WDFW, WDOE, NMFS, USFWS and others as the approach to evaluate potential fish habitat. This project is where this criteria should be used based on known barriers and assess habitat. You see the known barriers on Thunder Hills Creek near the project (see attached map; the links to it and the individual culvert reports are found in our previous email below). The I-405 culvert downstream of the site has been deemed a fish passage barrier by WDFWD and WSDOT and is on the State’s list to be fixed per the federal court injunction from U.S. v. Washington. This culvert would not be on the list if there wasn’t at least 200 meters of potential salmon habitat above it. Therefore, we respectfully request that the City of Renton reconsider the SEPA determination for this project based on an inaccurate stream classification which would likely materially affect the impact analysis and potential mitigation measures needed to address any unavoidable impacts. Please advise. Karen Walter Watersheds and Land Use Team Leader Muckleshoot Indian Tribe Fisheries Division Habitat Program 39015-A 172nd Ave SE Auburn, WA 98092 253-876-3116 From: Karen Walter Sent: Monday, November 19, 2018 3:43 PM To: Jill Ding Subject: FW: City of Renton LUA Acceptance: Thunder Hills Sewer Interceptor Rehabilitation, LUA18-000678 Jill, We got the NOA/ODNS for the City of Renton’s Thunder Hills project referenced above. I doubt I will have time to fully review the documents before I go on leave starting this week; however, please note that Thunder Hills Creek is not a Type Np stream. It is a Type F stream and would be used by salmon if not but for the downstream artificial barriers. This is documented in WDFW’s assessment of the stream and is why the I-405 crossing of Thunder Hills Creek is on the State barrier’s list subject to replacement per U.S. v Washington. See http://apps.wdfw.wa.gov/fishpassage/ http://apps.wdfw.wa.gov/fishpassagephotos/Reports/994417_Report.pdf 3 http://apps.wdfw.wa.gov/fishpassagephotos/Reports/994406_Report.pdf (This stream report mislabels the stream as Rolling Hills Creek but it is Thunder Hills Creek) If you recall, we noted Thunder Hills Creek potential fish bearing status to you in our comments to the Sam’s Club UST removal project in August 2018. An incorrect stream classification would likely affect the project’s impact assessment and mitigation needs. This should be addressed with revised documents that go out for review prior to the City issuing any final environmental determination for this project. Thank you, Karen Walter Watersheds and Land Use Team Leader Muckleshoot Indian Tribe Fisheries Division Habitat Program 39015-A 172nd Ave SE Auburn, WA 98092 253-876-3116 From: Kyle Wunderlin [mailto:KWunderlin@Rentonwa.gov] Sent: Monday, November 19, 2018 2:19 PM To: Karen Walter; Laura Murphy Cc: Jill Ding Subject: City of Renton LUA Acceptance: Thunder Hills Sewer Interceptor Rehabilitation, LUA18-000678 Hello, Please see linked the documents for City of Renton LUA acceptance for the following project: Thunder Hills Sewer Interceptor Rehabilitation, LUA18‐000678 Find the following documents linked: Notice of Application Environmental Checklist Biological Assessment Critical Areas Report All other submittal documents may be found here. As the project progresses, more information will be available by request and through our online Public Notice of Land Use Applications Map. Thank you, Kyle Wunderlin | Planning Technician | she/her/hers City of Renton | CED | Planning Division 1055 South Grady Way | 6th Floor | Renton, WA 98057 Phone: (425) 430‐6583 | Fax: (425) 430‐7300 | kwunderlin@rentonwa.gov 0 0.25 0.5 0.75 10.125 mi No t a b arr ier Pa rtial FishPassageBlockage To ta l F ishPassageBlockageBarrier,Un kn ow nPercentPassable Div er sio n Na tu ra l Ba rr ie r -Ver ifie d Un kn ow n Co rre cte dBarriers NH D Wa te r C our ses Co astlin e Str eam /Pe re nn ialIntermitten t /Ep he mer al Ca nal, Dit ch Exp o rt ed : 1/4/2 019 12:3 9:32 P M Wa sh ingt on St ate Fish Pas sa ge M ap fo r http://app s.wdfw.wa.gov/fish passage/?ex tent=-1 22.2501,47.4508,-122.1631,47.48 65 0 0.25 0.5 0.75 10.125 mi No t a b arr ier Pa rtial FishPassageBlockage To ta l F ishPassageBlockageBarrier,Un kn ow nPercentPassable Div er sio n Na tu ra l Ba rr ie r -Ver ifie d Un kn ow n Co rre cte dBarriers NH D Wa te r C our ses Co astlin e Str eam /Pe re nn ialIntermitten t /Ep he mer al Ca nal, Dit ch Exp o rt ed : 1/4/2 019 12:3 9:32 P M Wa sh ingt on St ate Fish Pas sa ge M ap fo r http://app s.wdfw.wa.gov/fish passage/?ex tent=-1 22.2501,47.4508,-122.1631,47.48 65 Exhibit A To: Jill Ding, Senior Planner From: Kristi Rettmann City of Renton, Community and Economic Development 1055 S Grady Way, 6th Floor Renton, WA 98057 Stantec 11130 NE 33rd Place Suite 200 Bellevue WA 98004 File: 2002003611 Date: January 11, 2019 Reference: Clarification on Stream Designation and Exemption Status of the Thunder Hills Sewer Interceptor Rehabilitation Project - DNS-M SEPA Determination (LUA18-000678) Due to the deterioration of the sewer interceptor caused by erosion and slope sloughing impacts to the existing sewer line, as well as inadequate manhole access, the Thunder Hills Sewer Interceptor Rehabilitation Project (Project) intended to repair and improve approximately 2,050 lineal feet of sewer main. Additionally, due to erosion, slope sloughing and inadequate width of the maintenance access road, it will also be necessary to improve approximately 37,574 square feet of maintenance access road, and stabilize slopes to help alleviate potential, future erosion issues. This is strictly a maintenance project to ensure continued operation of an existing sewer line necessary to service the surrounding residential area and provide only the necessary access to the sewer line as needed. This project will not require any work within the creek itself. The stream classification of Thunder Hills Creek and the exemption status of these project-related activities are described below. Based on the table within RMC 4-3-050C.3, several activities within streams of any designation and their associated buffers are exempt from permitting requirements of the critical area regulations for the City of Renton. Regardless of stream classification, these permitted and exempt activities within the vicinity of streams include but are not limited to maintenance, operation, repair, and the construction of new trails and existing or new utilities. Since the project includes exempt activities specifically noted in RMC 4-3-050C.3.e.ii and iii, the project is exempt from stream restoration requirements. Washington State databases and mapping applications were consulted for the current stream typing designation for Thunder Hill Creek, determined by Washington Department of Natural Resources (WDNR). Using the WDNR Forest Practices Application Mapping Tool (https://fpamt.dnr.wa.gov), Thunder Hills Creek is designated as a Type N stream, non-fish bearing (Figure 1). This designation was confirmed using the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission (NWIFC) online tool for Statewide Integrated Fish Distribution (SWIFD) (https://geo.nwifc.org/swifd/), which also indicates that Thunder Hills Creek is Type N stream (Figure 2). In addition, both the SWIFD and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife’s (WDFW) SalmonScape mapping tool (http://apps.wdfw.wa.gov/salmonscape/map.html) show no documented, presumed, or potential salmonid fish distributions present in Thunder Hills Creek. As part of WDFW’s Fish Passage Program, the Washington State Fish Passage Map Application (https://geodataservices.wdfw.wa.gov/hp/fishpassage/index.html) indicates four (4) barriers on Thunder Hills Creek (Figure 3). These barriers include the culvert under I-405 (Site 994406), a small stormwater drain from nearby apartment complex (Site 994416), an artificial boulder and cobble cascade (Site 921151) leading to a boulder dam (Site 994418), and a concrete culvert at the top of the stream that receives water from a closed surface water management system to drain surround roads and parking lots (Site 930876). Each barrier is designated as “Total Fish Blockage”, and two (994416 and 994418) are further designated as being “On a Non-Fish Bearing Stream”. Each of these barriers has a report filed by WDFW biologists that assess the barrier and potential fish habitat above the barrier, as per the protocols in “Fish Passage and Surface Water Diversion Screening Assessment and Prioritization Manual” (WDFW 2009). The report for Site 994406 displays photos of culverts and barriers January 11, 2019 Jill Ding, Senior Planner Page 2 of 5 on the downstream side of I-405, not the upstream end of the culvert running under the interstate, and incorrectly displays some photos of Site 994407 as being from Site 994406. Reports for Sites 994416 and 994418 both specifically mention the structures are on a small non-fish bearing stream. Habitat assessments are conducted when the goal or objective of the fish passage inventory is to prioritize barriers for correction. Prioritization helps ensure projects that have the greatest benefits to fish are constructed first. It also provides the ability to compare similar projects in different watersheds, taking into account the benefits to fish as well as other pertinent factors such as project cost and fish stock status. These assessments are not an indication of or confirmation of salmon or trout presence within a given stream. They assess the condition and quantities of potential spawning and rearing habitat that could be available in the event fish passage barriers be corrected. Additional supporting information or clarification can be provided upon request. Thank you, Kristi Rettmann M.Sc., CESCL Environmental Scientist Phone: 425.214.3901 kristi.rettmann@stantec.com Attachments: Figure 1. WDNR Forest Practices Application Mapping Tool output showing Thunder Hills Creek as a Type N stream (green). Figure 2. NWIFC online tool for Statewide Integrated Fish Distribution (SWIFD) indicating Thunder Hills as a Type N stream. Figure 3. Mapping output from the Washington State Fish Passage Map Application for Thunder Hills. References: Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW). 2009. Fish Passage and Surface Water Diversion Screening Assessment and Prioritization Manual. Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. Olympia, Washington. Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW). 2018. Fish Passage and Diversion Screening Inventory Database Site Reports, site 994406. Accessed on 01/08/2019: http://apps.wdfw.wa.gov/fishpassagephotos/Reports/994406_Report.pdf Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW). 2018. Fish Passage and Diversion Screening Inventory Database Site Reports, site 994417. Accessed on 01/08/2019: http://apps.wdfw.wa.gov/fishpassagephotos/Reports/994417_Report.pdf Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW). 2019. Fish Passage and Diversion Screening Inventory Database Site Reports, site 921151. Accessed on 01/08/2019: http://apps.wdfw.wa.gov/fishpassagephotos/Reports/921151_Report.pdf Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW). 2019. Fish Passage and Diversion Screening Inventory Database Site Reports, site 930876. Accessed on 01/08/2019: http://apps.wdfw.wa.gov/fishpassagephotos/Reports/930876_Report.pdf Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW). 2019. Fish Passage and Diversion Screening Inventory Database Site Reports, site 994416. Accessed on 01/08/2019: http://apps.wdfw.wa.gov/fishpassagephotos/Reports/994416_Report.pdf Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW). 2019. Fish Passage and Diversion Screening Inventory Database Site Reports, site 994418. Accessed on 01/08/2019: http://apps.wdfw.wa.gov/fishpassagephotos/Reports/994418_Report.pdf Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW). 2019. Fish Passage and Diversion Screening Inventory Database Site Reports, site 994419. Accessed on 01/08/2019: http://apps.wdfw.wa.gov/fishpassagephotos/Reports/994419_Report.pdf January 11, 2019 Jill Ding, Senior Planner Page 3 of 5 Figure 1. WDNR Forest Practices Application Mapping Tool output showing Thunder Hills Creek as a Type N stream (green). January 11, 2019 Jill Ding, Senior Planner Page 4 of 5 Figure 2. NWIFC online tool for Statewide Integrated Fish Distribution (SWIFD) indicating Thunder Hills as a Type N stream. 99440 January 11, 2019 Jill Ding, Senior Planner Page 5 of 5 Figure 3. Mapping output from the Washington State Fish Passage Map Application for Thunder Hills. Site numbers have been added.