This chapter establishes a cooperative program of shoreline management between local government and the state. Local government shall have the primary responsibility for initiating the planning required by this chapter and administering the regulatory program consistent with the policy and provisions of this chapter. The department shall act primarily in a supportive and review capacity with an emphasis on providing assistance to local government and on insuring compliance with the policy and provisions of this chapter.
RCW 90.58.050
Program as cooperative between local government and state—Responsibilities differentiated.
Known as the Shoreline Management Act
The act spans §§ 90–90 (59 sections).
Applied in 21 court decisions — leading case 118 Wash. 2d 801 - Cowiche Canyon Conservancy v. Bosley (1992)
Most recently applied in Olympic Stewardship Foundation v. Environmental & Land Use Hearings Office Ex Rel. Western Washington Growth Management Hearings Board (June 2017)
1995 c 347 s 303; 1971 ex.s. c 286 s 5.
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
Official source: Washington State Legislature. Reproduced from public-domain Washington statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.