Site Information - Project Questionnaire

Project Questionnaire

Introduction

Questionnaire

Site Info

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General Information

The 'Environmental Permit Handbook' and 'Project Questionnaire' websites are part of a series of applications that make up the Online Permit Assistance System (OPAS) provided by the Office of Regulatory Assistance (ORA) that provides information about Environmental Permits and regulations for Washington State. OPAS is really a central database managed by the ORA. Data is fed weekly to these systems as they work together to provide the Project Questionnaire and the Permit Handbook for information about Environmental regulations and permits in Washington State. Only the website hosted by ORA or the Department of Ecology with the OPAS symbol in the upper left deliver the best and most recent permit data from the central database. All other sites may contain inconsistencies or may be out of date. See below.

What is a 'Permit'?

A permit is typically a required document for which you may first need to complete an application. In this Handbook, it also includes Environmental Licenses, Requirements, Certificates, and Approvals.

About this icon -

You will see the image above on only those web pages hosted by the Office of Regulatory Assistance (ORA) or Department of Ecology that currently uses information directly from the Online Permit Assistance System (OPAS) database. OPAS is made up of several applications that manage "Environmental Permit" information in a central location. Any page without the OPAS logo that may contain environmental permit information for Washington State does not use OPAS data and may host inconsistent or out of date information. In this case, we encourage you to report this to the ORA office at assistance@ora.wa.gov so that we can provide better service to the public.

Local Government Limitation

The OPAS websites do not provide information on permits and approvals from CITY or COUNTY governments. You should contact the county or city where you want to conduct the activities if your project:

Involves clearing, grading, open burning, construction, demolition, or additions to existing structures;
Will be served by an on-site sewage disposal system;
Requires division of land; or
" Is in an area regulated by the local shoreline management plan; or
Is in an area regulated by the local comprehensive flood control management plan.

See: http://www.ora.wa.gov/counties/index.htm

Privacy Notice

None of the OPAS websites gathers or tracks personal or project related information. They are simply tools for your use to understand environmental permitting in Washington State. To find out more about how the Department of Ecology manages privacy and what we disclaim in regards to the content it provides on this and other Ecology web sites, see http://www.ecy.wa.gov/privacy_notice.html.

Data Completeness

The completeness and accuracy of permit data is dependent upon the knowledge, skill and care taken by Permitting specialists at the Department of Ecology. In the Environmental Permit Handbook, there is a 'Last Update' date which states when the permit was last edited. In some cases this date may show that a particular permit has not been updated for some time. If you feel that the information presented is grossly out of date for any permit, please contact the Office of Regulatory Assistance at assistance@ora.wa.gov.

Optimal Browsing Requirements

The OPAS web sites can be viewed by most modern web browsers such as Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Safari and with a minimum monitor display setting of 800x600 pixels.

Acknowledgements

This site was conceived by Scott Boettcher in the Office of Regulatory Assistance and Sue Mauerman in Executive Regulatory Reform at the Department of Ecology. Michael Heiser and Randy Moore are the principle web developers. Other contributors include Debbie Stewart (IS Applications & Data Services), Bob Monn (IS Web Manager), Randi Redick (ORA), Wendy Bolender (ORA), Penny Keys (SEA), Don Bales (SEA), Chris Anderson (Water Resources), Gary Bailey (Water Quality), Bernard Bailey (Air Program), Idell Hansen (Hazardous Waste Program), Jason Greer (ORA), Elaine Worthen (ORA), Dorothy Planeta (ORA), and Jamie Cary (ORA).

Feedback

If you have a question about this site, the information presented, or if you have any comments, you can email the Office of Regulatory Assistance at assistance@ora.wa.gov.

Department of Ecology | Environmental Permitting Services | Permit Handbook