What is the Purpose of this Permit?

The Department of Natural Resources (DNR) regulates forest practices on private and state forest land. A permit is not required for every forest practice, but the forest practices rules must be followed when conducting all forest practices activities. There are five classes of forest practices depending on the types of activities being proposed and their potential impact to public resources (see WAC 222-16-050). Once an application is received by the DNR it gets assigned a classification which in turn determines the type of permit.

A Class IV General permit to conduct a forest practice in Eastern Washington is called a Class IV-G Forest Practices Application (Class IV-G FPA). This permit type is for forest practice activities that are being conducted as part of a conversion from forestry to a non-forestry use. The following activities are examples of the types of proposals that may qualify for the Class IV-G FPA permit in Eastern Washington: forest practices on lands that are being converted to a non-forestry use, forest practices that would otherwise be class III but are taking place on lands that are not likely to be reforested because of the likelihood of future conversion to urban development, or forest practices within urban growth areas where regulatory authority has not been transferred to the local government. Where regulatory authority has been transferred to local governments for conversion activities, a DNR Class IV-G permit is not required. In Eastern Washington this currently only applies in Spokane County.

Most Class IV-G FPAs have a minimum review period of 14 days, unless waived by the local government of jurisdiction (see WAC 222-20-020(1)(c). The review periods for Class IV-G FPAs extend out to a maximum of 30 days in most cases. (See RCW 76.09.050(1) and WAC 222-12-030(3))

Who Issues this Permit?

Department of Natural Resources (DNR)

How Much Will this Permit Cost?

The fee for a Class IV-G FPA is $1500. (See RCW 76.09.065(1)(A)and(B))

Where Can I Get the Application for this Permit?

The application is online and can be accessed at http://www.dnr.wa.gov/programs-and-services/forest-practices/review-applications-fpars/forest-practices-forms-and.

How Long Will it Take to Review my Application?

Target date September 2014.

Permit Timeliness Results

Permit Timeliness data collection is in response to a State Auditor’s Performance Audit and RCW 43.42A. Each regulatory agency developed a plan to improve permit clarity, predictability, and timeliness. Each agency considers the customers experience to ensure permit assistance is simple to use, easy to access, and designed in a customer-friendly manner. Agencies report progress to the Governor’s Office for Regulatory Innovation and Assistance (ORIA). ORIA prepares and distributes reports, with participation from the State Auditor’s Office and Results Washington. See latest report here: https://www.oria.wa.gov/ORIA-2018-PermitTimelinessProgressReport.pdf.

All permits submitted for reporting were entered into this Regulatory Handbook. Here are the results of the performance data:

Estimated Time Required By the Agency to Process a Permit Application (Definition)
Average number of days from Receipt to Complete: 1
Maximum number of days from Receipt to Complete: 2

Estimated Time Required By the Agency to Issue a Permit Decision (Definition)
Average number of days from Complete Application to Decision: 24.6
Maximum number of days from Complete Application to Decision: 30

(Summary results based on 27 submittals in 2020)

* Permit information last updated 8/13/2015