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FSEC finalizes tribal consultation policy; councilor urges clearer language on quorum and deliberation
Summary
FSEC staff finalized a consultation and coordination policy with tribal governments and plan to post it online; Councilman Nelson urged strengthening language (citing RCW 80.50.060 and the Public Meetings Act) to make clear that council members attending government‑to‑government consultations "may not" deliberate or make commitments when a quorum attends.
FSEC staff told the Energy Facilities Site Evaluation Council on June 17 that the agency finalized and distributed a policy statement on consultation and coordination with tribal governments and will post the document to the agency website.
"We expect this to be a living document," Lisa McClain (FSEC staff) said, describing prior tribal meetings and written comments used to shape the policy and noting an annual meeting requirement to review implementation.
Councilman Nelson raised concerns about ambiguous statutory language and asked that the policy be revised to more clearly state the restriction on deliberation when a quorum attends a government‑to‑government consultation. Nelson referenced RCW 80.50.060 and the Public Meetings Act and proposed replacing phrasing such as "restricted" with a firmer "may not" or "shall not" formulation so participants understand that council members may not deliberate or offer commitments at such consultations.
Lisa McClain agreed that the language could be clarified when the document is opened for further edits: "If you see that as equivocal at all ... the next time we open this up, we should maybe make that much more ... may not, shall not, and make it clear," she said. The council discussed logistics for government‑to‑government consultations and staff said they will reach out to schedule consultation sessions with the Yakama Nation and other tribes and coordinate attendance logistics.
No formal policy vote was recorded at the meeting; staff said they will continue outreach and may reopen the document as state guidance and executive orders evolve.
