Tom will be speaking on the subject of “GMA and Water” on a panel with Sharon Haensly, attorney for the Squaxin Island Tribe, at 9:00 a.m. on Friday, November 15, 2019. The 2-day seminar starts on November 14th at the Seattle Hilton Hotel. Tom’s specific topic will include an update on ESSB 6091 remedies to the Hirst and Foster decisions and…
Tag: ESSB 6091
New Speaking Engagement at LSI Water Law Conference in Seattle on June 14, 2018
Tom has accepted a law seminar teaching assignment at Law Seminars International’s June 14-15, 2018 “Water Law in Washington” conference in Seattle, Washington. Tom will be on a panel discussing “Mitigation under the Foster Legislative Task Force and Pilot Projects,” at 1:30 p.m. on Thursday, June 14th. On-line registration for this seminar is open at www.lawseminars.com. Tom represents two of…
ESSB 6091 – Part 3: The Potential for Mitigation Flexibility in Water Rights Permitting After Foster v. Yelm
On October 8, 2005, the Washington Supreme Court reversed a water right permit issued by the Department of Ecology (Ecology) to the City of Yelm.1 The decision dramatically impacted the State’s water rights permitting program by denying authority to Ecology to allow any type of mitigation for potential impacts to adopted minimum instream flows (MIFs) other than 100% in-kind, in-time,…
Legislature Passes Hirst and Foster Fix, Authorizes $300 Million for Streamflow Restoration
After last year’s legislative deadlock that failed to adopt either a fix to rural water availability or a capital budget, the Washington State Legislature made quick work of a compromise bill, ESSB 6091,[1] which was the first bill signed into law in the 2018 session. The bill has many features, including: It requires updates to several watershed plans and new…
Tom Pors will be Speaking at the WSBA ELUL Section Mid-Year on May 11
Tom has been invited by the Washington State Bar Association’s Environmental & Land Use Law Section to speak at its mid-year meeting about the newly passed Hirst fix and streamflow enhancement bill, ESSB 6091. He will be on a panel with Yakama Indian Nation tribal attorneys Shona Voelchers and Kate Marckworth. The title for this one-hour seminar is “ESSB 6091: Hirst…