The Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is pursuing Agency Request Legislation make adjustments to the Forest Fire Protection Assessment (FFPA).
Under Washington’s Environmental Justice Law, also known as the Healthy Environment for All (HEAL) Act (see Chapter 70A.02 RCW) an environmental justice assessment (EJA) is required of DNR, as a “covered agency” for a Significant Agency Action (SAA) (including Agency Request Legislation) and is an opportunity to assess the potential environmental justice impacts of the action. "Environmental justice" is defined in the RCW 70A.02.010, as “the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, rules, and policies. Environmental justice includes addressing disproportionate environmental and health impacts in all laws, rules, and policies with environmental impacts by prioritizing vulnerable populations and overburdened communities, the equitable distribution of resources and benefits, and eliminating harm.” The EJA informs and supports consideration of tribes, overburdened communities, and vulnerable populations when making decisions.
We welcome public comments to assist DNR with considerations for the equitable distribution of environmental benefits, the reduction of environmental harms, and the identification and reduction of health disparities related to this proposal.
As provided under RCW 76.04.610, the FFPA is an annual fee paid by owners of private and state “forest land” as defined in RCW 76.04.005 (9), including “unimproved lands” as defined in RCW 76.04.005 (17). The FFPA provides a crucial source of revenue for DNR, paid by private forest landowners and certain exempt entities, to cover the costs of preparing to fight forest fires rather than the actual suppression costs.
The FFPA is an assessment on forest landowners collected by the county treasurers through the property tax statement (see RCW 76.04.610). It has two statutorily set components: a flat parcel charge (currently $17.50 per parcel) and an acreage charge (currently 27¢ per acre). The acreage charge is assessed only on parcels more than fifty acres — meaning the first fifty acres of a parcel are not assessed in the acreage charge. (see RCW 76.04.610(1)(a))
Forest fire protection costs are statutorily required to be equitably shared between state contributions and forest landowners (see RCW 76.04.167). The FFPA is the landowner’s share of the preparedness costs for fighting forest fires. These preparedness costs (protection) represent the costs necessary to be prepared to fight future forest fires, such as purchasing fire engines, training crews, staging fire cache etc., as opposed to the costs of fighting active forest fires (suppression). The FFPA is used, along with funding provided by the State Legislature, to ensure that DNR is adequately prepared and equipped to respond to forest fires on, or threatening lands protected by the agency. Landowners who have paid their FFPA fees are entitled to DNR wildfire suppression services.
The state’s contributions toward forest fire protection have significantly increased over the last 21 years, while the flat parcel charge (currently $17.50) and acreage charge ( currently 27¢ per acre) for FFPA have not changed since 2005. Since passage of HB 1168 in 2021, the State’s contributions toward protection costs have significantly increased while roughly $10.5 million is raised through the FFPA on public and private lands. The revenue generated from the FFPA does not adequately cover the costs for protection.
DNR is pursuing Agency Request Legislation to adjust the FFPA rates to provide a dedicated source of revenue to fund DNR's forest fire protection priorities including training wildland firefighters, equipping wildland firefighters through the DNR fire cache, keeping wildland firefighters safe, and preventing forest fires with wildfire prevention programming. This proposal will also align the FFPA with statutory requirements for the State and private forestland owners to cover an equitable share of the forest fire protection costs in the state. Accordingly, DNR is proposing to increase the FFPA flat parcel charge for parcels under 50 acres to $31 (from $17.50 per parcel) and the acreage charge to 49¢ cents per acre (from 27¢ per acre). While this proposal would result in a roughly 80% increase to the FFPA rates— this represents an annualized compounded rate of increase of 2.6% from 2005 to present. As a reference, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) over that same period was 3.12%.
This proposal will make more resources available to enhance forest fire protection across the state and better position DNR to implement the Washington State Wildland Fire Protection 10-Year Strategic Plan. Wildfire disasters and poor air quality often hit marginalized populations the hardest. This proposal will better ensure protection resources are available, helping to reduce wildfire related health impacts for overburdened communities, vulnerable populations, and all Washingtonians.
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The Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is pursuing Agency Request Legislation make adjustments to the Forest Fire Protection Assessment (FFPA).
Under Washington’s Environmental Justice Law, also known as the Healthy Environment for All (HEAL) Act (see Chapter 70A.02 RCW) an environmental justice assessment (EJA) is required of DNR, as a “covered agency” for a Significant Agency Action (SAA) (including Agency Request Legislation) and is an opportunity to assess the potential environmental justice impacts of the action. "Environmental justice" is defined in the RCW 70A.02.010, as “the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, rules, and policies. Environmental justice includes addressing disproportionate environmental and health impacts in all laws, rules, and policies with environmental impacts by prioritizing vulnerable populations and overburdened communities, the equitable distribution of resources and benefits, and eliminating harm.” The EJA informs and supports consideration of tribes, overburdened communities, and vulnerable populations when making decisions.
We welcome public comments to assist DNR with considerations for the equitable distribution of environmental benefits, the reduction of environmental harms, and the identification and reduction of health disparities related to this proposal.
As provided under RCW 76.04.610, the FFPA is an annual fee paid by owners of private and state “forest land” as defined in RCW 76.04.005 (9), including “unimproved lands” as defined in RCW 76.04.005 (17). The FFPA provides a crucial source of revenue for DNR, paid by private forest landowners and certain exempt entities, to cover the costs of preparing to fight forest fires rather than the actual suppression costs.
The FFPA is an assessment on forest landowners collected by the county treasurers through the property tax statement (see RCW 76.04.610). It has two statutorily set components: a flat parcel charge (currently $17.50 per parcel) and an acreage charge (currently 27¢ per acre). The acreage charge is assessed only on parcels more than fifty acres — meaning the first fifty acres of a parcel are not assessed in the acreage charge. (see RCW 76.04.610(1)(a))
Forest fire protection costs are statutorily required to be equitably shared between state contributions and forest landowners (see RCW 76.04.167). The FFPA is the landowner’s share of the preparedness costs for fighting forest fires. These preparedness costs (protection) represent the costs necessary to be prepared to fight future forest fires, such as purchasing fire engines, training crews, staging fire cache etc., as opposed to the costs of fighting active forest fires (suppression). The FFPA is used, along with funding provided by the State Legislature, to ensure that DNR is adequately prepared and equipped to respond to forest fires on, or threatening lands protected by the agency. Landowners who have paid their FFPA fees are entitled to DNR wildfire suppression services.
The state’s contributions toward forest fire protection have significantly increased over the last 21 years, while the flat parcel charge (currently $17.50) and acreage charge ( currently 27¢ per acre) for FFPA have not changed since 2005. Since passage of HB 1168 in 2021, the State’s contributions toward protection costs have significantly increased while roughly $10.5 million is raised through the FFPA on public and private lands. The revenue generated from the FFPA does not adequately cover the costs for protection.
DNR is pursuing Agency Request Legislation to adjust the FFPA rates to provide a dedicated source of revenue to fund DNR's forest fire protection priorities including training wildland firefighters, equipping wildland firefighters through the DNR fire cache, keeping wildland firefighters safe, and preventing forest fires with wildfire prevention programming. This proposal will also align the FFPA with statutory requirements for the State and private forestland owners to cover an equitable share of the forest fire protection costs in the state. Accordingly, DNR is proposing to increase the FFPA flat parcel charge for parcels under 50 acres to $31 (from $17.50 per parcel) and the acreage charge to 49¢ cents per acre (from 27¢ per acre). While this proposal would result in a roughly 80% increase to the FFPA rates— this represents an annualized compounded rate of increase of 2.6% from 2005 to present. As a reference, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) over that same period was 3.12%.
This proposal will make more resources available to enhance forest fire protection across the state and better position DNR to implement the Washington State Wildland Fire Protection 10-Year Strategic Plan. Wildfire disasters and poor air quality often hit marginalized populations the hardest. This proposal will better ensure protection resources are available, helping to reduce wildfire related health impacts for overburdened communities, vulnerable populations, and all Washingtonians.
Contact Information
*Indicates Required Fields