Judges: CHRISTINE O. GREGOIRE, Attorney General MAUREEN HART, Senior Assistant Attorney General
Filed Date: 12/11/1996
Status: Precedential
Modified Date: 7/6/2016
Bruce Miyahara, Secretary Department of Health P.O. Box 47890 Olympia, WA 98504-7890
Mary Riveland, Director Department of Ecology P.O. Box 47600 Olympia, WA 98504-7600
Dear Secretary Miyahara and Director Riveland:
By joint letter previously acknowledged, you have asked for ourlegal opinion on several questions relating to RCW
Does the procedure in RCW
90.03.383 (3) for modifying a water right permit as to the place of use of the water based on an intertie, apply only to interties existing and in use as of January 1, 1991, or does the process also apply to interties approved by the Department of Health as of January 1, 1991, but first used after that date?Under RCW
90.03.383 (3), is a water right permit modified only to reflect a change in the place of use of the water or is the water right permit also modified as to the quantity of water that may be delivered through the intertie?What is the scope of the Department of Ecology's inquiry under RCW
90.03.383 (4) in determining whether exchange or delivery of water through an intertie first used after January 1, 1991, should be permitted?
Under RCW
The scope of the Department of Ecology's inquiry under RCW
Does the procedure in RCW90.03.383 (3) for modifying a water right permit as to the place of use of the water based on an intertie, apply only to interties existing and in use as of January 1, 1991, or does the process also apply to interties approved by the Department of Health as of January 1, 1991, but first used after that date?
Based on the legislative findings and substantive provisions of RCW
The statute about which you inquire begins with a preamble, containing several legislative findings. In addition to finding that interties promote reliable, efficient, and healthy public water systems, the Legislature finds that a specific approach to approval of interties is in the public interest. In this respect, RCW
The legislature finds that it is in the public interest to recognize interties existing and in use as of January 1, 1991, and to have associated water rights modified by the department of ecology to reflect current use of water through those interties, pursuant to subsection (3) of this section. The legislature further finds it in the public interest to develop a coordinated process to review proposals for interties commencing use after January 1, 1991.
Just as these legislative findings reflect an intent to treat interties existing and in use as of January 1, 1991, differently from those first used after that date, so too does the substantive provision to which the findings refer. Subsection (3) of RCW
Public water systems with interties existing and in use as of January 1, 1991, or that have received written approval from the department of health prior to that date, shall file written notice of those interties with the department of health and the department of ecology.
Subsection (3) also provides:
Notwithstanding the provisions of RCW
90.03.380 and90.44.100 ,2 for public water systems with interties existing and in use as of January 1, 1991, the department of ecology, upon receipt of notice meeting the requirements of this subsection, shall, as soon as practicable, modify the place of use descriptions in the water right permits, certificates, or claims to reflect the actual use through such interties, provided that the place of use is within service area designations established in a water system plan approved pursuant to chapter43.20 RCW, or a coordinated water system plan approved pursuant to chapter70.116 RCW, and further provided that the water used is within the instantaneous and annual withdrawal rates specified in the water right permit and that no outstanding complaints of impairment to existing water rights have been filed with the department of ecology prior to September 1, 1991. Where such complaints of impairment have been received, the department of ecology shall make all reasonable efforts to resolve them in a timely manner through agreement of the parties or through available administrative remedies.
(Emphasis added.)
Thus, in the same subsection, the Legislature recognizes and describes two categories of interties those "existing and in use as of January 1, 1991", and those "that have received written approval from the department of health prior to that date". In prescribing the procedure for modifying a water right permit on the basis of an intertie in RCW
Where the language of a statute is clear, that language controls the meaning to be given to the statute. Becker v. County of Pierce,
Under RCW90.03.383 (3), is a water right permit modified only to reflect a change in the place of use of the water or is the water right permit also modified as to the quantity of water that may be delivered through the intertie?
For public water systems with interties existing and in use as of January 1, 1991, RCW
Essentially, you ask whether this provision directs the Department of Ecology only to modify the place of use of the water or whether it also directs the Department to state the amount of water that may be delivered to the different place of use through the intertie. We conclude that this provision directs modification of the place of use description to reflect the amount of water that may be used and the new location in which it may be used. In our view, this conclusion is most consistent with the language of RCW
Our analysis begins with the language of RCW
This conclusion finds further support in RCW
Based on this condition in RCW
What is the scope of the Department of Ecology's inquiry under RCW90.03.383 (4) in determining whether exchange or delivery of water through an intertie first used after January 1, 1991, should be permitted?
RCW
Notwithstanding the provisions of RCW
90.03.380 and90.44.100 , exchange or delivery of water through interties commencing use after January 1, 1991, shall be permitted when the intertie improves overall system reliability, enhances the manageability of the systems, provides opportunities for conjunctive use, or delays or avoids the need to develop new water sources, and otherwise meets the requirements of this section, provided that each public water system's water use shall not exceed the instantaneous or annual withdrawal rate specified in its water right authorization, shall not adversely affect existing water rights, and shall not be inconsistent with state-approved plans such as water system plans or other plans which include specific proposals for construction of interties. Interties commencing use after January 1, 1991, shall not be inconsistent with regional water resource plans developed pursuant to chapter90.54 RCW.
Although this provision contains the criteria for approving interties commencing use after January 1, 1991, it does not identify the agency responsible for determining whether these criteria have been met. With respect to proposals for interties commencing use after January 1, 1991, RCW
For public water systems subject to the approval process of chapter
43.20 RCW or chapter70.116 RCW, proposals for interties commencing use after January 1, 1991, shall be incorporated into water system plans pursuant to chapter43.20 RCW or coordinated water system plans pursuant to chapter70.116 RCW and submitted to the department of health and the department of ecology for review and approval as provided for in subsections (5) through (9) of this section. The plan shall state how the proposed intertie will improve overall system reliability, enhance the manageability of the systems, provide opportunities for conjunctive use, or delay or avoid the need to develop new water sources.
RCW
The department of health shall be responsible for review and approval of proposals for new interties. In its review the department of health shall determine whether the intertie satisfies the criteria of subsection (4) of this section, with the exception of water rights considerations, which are the responsibility of the department of ecology, and shall determine whether the intertie is necessary to address emergent public health or safety concerns associated with public water supply.
(Emphasis added.)
The referenced "water rights considerations which are the responsibility of the department of ecology" under subsection (4) are whether each system's use exceeds the instantaneous or annual withdrawal rate specified in its water right authorization and whether the use adversely affects existing water rights. We see no reason to conclude that a different division of responsibility is intended under RCW
We trust that this opinion will be of assistance to you.
Sincerely,
CHRISTINE O. GREGOIRE Attorney General
MAUREEN HART Senior Assistant Attorney General (360) 753-2536
Under RCW
RCW