Snohomish County Farm Bureau v. WDFW, WSDOT, Alan Soicher and Kevin Stuber
Reason:
Appeal of Hydraulic Project Approval
Closing Comments:
The five appellants in this consolidated appeal challenged Washington State Department of Fish & Wildlife’s (WDFW) issuance of a Hydraulic Project Approval (HPA-3) to Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW). The HPA was for a proposal to armor the north slope of State Route 532 and conduct associated activities. WDFW had already issued a prior HPA (HPA-2) for this project which was identical in every respect. HPA-2 expired before the project was completed, and therefore WDFW extended it by issuing HPA-3. Three of the five appellants had previously appealed HPA-2 to the PCHB, which had ruled on two partial summary judgments, and then proceeded to hearing on the remainder of the issues in the appeal. After a two-day evidentiary hearing, the Board ruled in WDFW and WSDOT’s favor and dismissed the appeals.
The appeals of HPA-3 were challenged by the agencies’ on the basis of res judicata, collateral estoppel and time bar. The Board concluded that the three appellants that had participated in the prior case were precluded from bringing their appeals both on the basis of res judicata and collateral estoppel. With regard to the two new appellants, the Board concluded that they were barred from challenging HPA-3 because the scope of the issues that can be raised in an appeal of a reissued permit are limited to those that pertain to new elements of the reissued permit. Here, since HPA 3 was identical to HPA 2, there were no issues that were open to appeal. On this basis, the Board granted summary judgment to WDFW and WSDOT, and dismissed the consolidated appeals.