Published on Mar 01, 2019

SEPA exemption bill for temporary shelters and encampments continues to move

Contact: Carl Schroeder, Shannon McClelland

SB 5946, sponsored by Sen. Joe Nguyen (D–Seattle), is a City of Seattle priority bill to provide an exemption from State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) review for permit actions to site temporary or transitional shelters or encampments.

This bill applies the SEPA exemption to facilities:

  • That are used by people experiencing homelessness;
  • With less than two hundred beds;
  • That do not require permanent structures; and
  • That are not to be used for more than three years.

The bill moved out of committee before cutoff and now awaits further action in the Rules committee.

  • Land use & planning
  • Homelessness
  • Advocacy
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