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Shoreline Master Program Grants

SMP Grants as of October 1, 2009 (PDF)

In December, 2003, the Department of Ecology adopted new Shoreline Master Program Guidelines. Over the next decade, cities and counties across the state (about 250 in all) must update their Shoreline Master Programs (SMPs) to be consistent with the new guidelines. Local master programs regulate new development and use of shorelines along rivers and larger streams, lakes over 20 acres and marine waterfronts within their jurisdictions. Ecology provides grants to cities, towns and counties to fund the development of comprehensive SMP updates.

The 2009-2011 SMP Grants Program award process is currently underway. The legislature’s final approved budget includes an appropriation of funds sufficient to award grants to all jurisdictions required to adopt updated SMPs by December 2011 as well as all Puget Sound jurisdictions required to adopt updated SMPs by December 2012.

SMP Grants Program staff has recently completed an assessment of relevant factors (shoreline length, shoreline complexity, population, growth rate, etc.) and have made funding decisions for the 2009-2011 biennium. We will be contacting individual jurisdictions to inform them of grant fund amounts and availability. Because of the large number of jurisdictions that are required to update their SMPs in the upcoming biennium, there will not be funds available for additional jurisdictions to voluntarily apply for grant funds in order to begin their SMP updates ahead of required deadlines.

Ecology anticipates that each local Shoreline Master Program update will require three years to complete. Grants awarded in the 2009-2011 grants program will therefore fund the first two years of work, with the final year to be funded in the subsequent biennium.

We have prepared a Standard Scope of Work that provides more specific information on anticipated project sequencing and a graphic that illustrates the overall Shoreline Master Program update process established by the SMP Guidelines. Download the following:

• Standard Scope of Work (Word file)
• Standard Scope of Work (PDF file)
• Shoreline Master Program Planning Process graphic (PDF file)

If you have any questions or would like assistance, please contact the Ecology shoreline planner in your region or contact Bev Huether.