USA: Benton County Shoreline Program Under Final Review

A program to manage 330 miles of shoreline, including portions of the Columbia and Yakima rivers, in Benton County is open for comment through the Washington Department of Ecology.

The locally tailored shoreline program is designed to help minimize environmental damage to shoreline areas, reserve appropriate areas for water-oriented uses and protect people’s access to public land and waters.

Comments will be accepted through September 11.

Taking public comments into consideration, Ecology may approve Benton County’s proposed shoreline program as written, reject it or identify specific modifications to meet the Shoreline Management Act and applicable state regulations.

Under Washington’s 1972 voter-approved Shoreline Management Act, Ecology must review and approve the proposed shoreline program before it takes effect. More than 150 cities and counties statewide are in the process of, or soon will be updating or creating, their shoreline programs.

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Press Release, August 12, 2014