What is the purpose of this permit?
Washington's wetlands protect water quality, reduce flooding, provide aquifer recharge for drinking water and other uses, and provide critical habitat for fish and wildlife. As such, wetlands are regulated and protected by a combination of Federal, State, and Local laws. Multiple permits may be required for any project involving work in or near a wetland, depending on jurisdictional authority.
Please see the Notes/Comments section for a general list of potential permits. Many of these requirements are mentioned in other sections of the Regulatory Handbook. Where this is the case, the section is noted in parenthesis. Please refer to those sections for detailed permit descriptions.
Who issues this permit?
Variable: See notes/comments for more information.
What activities require this permit?
Working in or near wetlands, areas that are transitional between open water and uplands or that may be periodically inundated or saturated.
How much will this permit cost?
Variable. Please contact the permitting agency.
Where can I get the application for this permit?
The application is called '
Joint Aquatic Resources Permit (JARPA). See Notes/Comments for more details' is online and can be accessed at
http://www.epermitting.wa.gov.
Do I need to include anything with my application?
Specific requirements vary according to jurisdictional authority.
Documents that typically need to be included with the application include, a wetland delineation report and data sheets, wetland rating forms and figures, and a mitigation plan.
Is the decision on my permit dependent on anything besides the information in my application?
Variable. Please contact the permitting agency.
How long will it take to review my application?
Variable according to the permit(s) in question. Refer to the individual permit descriptions for more detail. You can also view the
permit schematics detailing some of the application processes.
Where do I submit my application?
Variable according to the permit(s) in question. Refer to the individual permit descriptions for more detail.
How long is my permit valid?
Variable according to the permit(s) in question. Refer to the individual permit descriptions for more detail.
What is the appeal process for the permit?
Variable according to the permit(s) in question. Refer to the individual permit descriptions for more detail.
Notes / Comments:
Notes about the application (JARPA): Not all cities and towns accept the JARPA. Contact the local government to make sure they also accept the JARPA. Additional forms may be required for other local, state, and federal permits. Please contact the permitting agency.
Permits may be required from multiple jurisdictions. The contacts for each jurisdiction are in the parentheses, along with the chapters of this book containing permit summaries. These permits include, but are not limited to:
- Local Jurisdiction (City or County Planning):Floodplain Development Permit (Local Permits), Shoreline Substantial Development, Variance, or Conditional Use Permit (Local Permits), Growth Management Critical Areas Ordinance Requirements.
- State Jurisdiction:Aquatic Use Authorization (Aquatic Resources, Department of Natural Resources), Hydraulic Project Approval (Aquatic Resources, Department of Fish and Wildlife), Section 401 Water Quality Certification (Federal Requirements, Ecology), Administrative Orders for projects involving Non-Federally Regulated Wetlands (Ecology), Coastal Zone Consistency Determination (Federal Requirements, Ecology), Noxious Aquatic and Emergent Weed Transport Permit (Aquatic Resources, Department of Agriculture).
- Federal Jurisdiction:Section 404 Permit (Federal Requirements, Army Corps of Engineers).
Where can I get permitting assistance?
Subject matter expert phone: See
Ecology wetland contacts by regionSubject matter expert email: See
Ecology wetland contacts by region