§ 20.30B.030. Designation criteria.

1.

Criteria for Designation. A mineral extraction site may be designated as mineral resource lands if it meets all of the following criteria:

a.

The site must contain nonstrategic minerals which are minable, recoverable, and marketable under the technologic and economic conditions that exist at the time of application for designation or which can be estimated to exist in the foreseeable future as determined by a licensed professional geologist. In determining whether minerals are minable, recoverable, and marketable, the county will consider the guidelines in Washington Administrative Code Section 365-190-070, as amended.

b.

At least sixty percent of the area within one thousand feet of a site must have parcels five acres in size or larger at the time of the application for designation (see Appendix Figure 18) excluding parcels less than five acres in size owned by the applicant.

c.

An area proposed for mineral resource lands designation shall be at least five acres.

d.

The site shall be separated by a distance of at least one thousand feet from public preserves, which include parks, national wildlife refuges, state conservation areas, wildlife areas, and other government-owned preserves, but excluding exclusive hunting areas. In addition, designated mineral resource lands shall be at least one thousand feet from urban growth areas.

e.

Designated mineral resource lands may include lands designated for long-term forestry.

f.

Critical Areas: Critical areas will be examined at the time of designation review using the county's geographic information system. The applicant may be required to provide detailed information (such as a wetland delineation, habitat evaluation, or geotechnical report) prepared by a qualified expert to clarify county mapping of critical areas. A more comprehensive critical areas review will be done at time of permitting.

i.

Mineral resource lands shall not be designated within the Zone 1 (one-year) or Zone 2 (five-year) horizontal time of travel boundaries for any Group A public water system.

ii.

Mineral resource lands shall not include category (class) one (1) or two (2) wetlands or their protective buffers, but may include category (class) three (3) and four (4) wetlands.

iii.

Mineral resource lands shall not include agriculture lands of long term commercial significance, or historical/cultural preservation sites, and any Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) one-hundred-year floodplain.

iv.

Mineral resource lands shall not include habitats of primary association to species listed as endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act or state law and their buffers as established by the critical areas ordinance at the time of designation.

v.

Mineral extraction activities shall not negatively affect nor endanger surface and ground water flows and quality.

vi.

Mineral resource lands shall be located away from geologically hazardous areas such as marine bluffs, the bluff area in the Nisqually Hillside Overlay, or areas that would cause a public safety hazard, but may include steep and/or unstable slopes as provided by the critical areas ordinance.

(Ord. No. 14402, § 6, 9-7-2010; Ord. No. 14740, § 1(Att. A), 4-17-2012; Ord. No. 14848, § 1(Att. A), 1-8-2013)