Whitman County readies revised solid waste management plan for Ecology's 45-day review

Whitman County staff said the county's revised solid waste management plan is ready to be resubmitted to the Washington State Department of Ecology after the contractor addressed review comments.

"We've been able to address all of the comments," Addie (Great West Engineering) told the committee, and the firm will send an updated document and a tracked-comment matrix so the county can review before Ecology's next 45-day review. Department of Ecology staff explained that the 45-day window is intended to confirm whether prior comments were addressed rather than to open new issues: "I can only look at did my 1st comments get addressed or not? I cannot find any new comments," Steven Gimple said.

The resubmission is intended to trigger a second 45-day review; if Ecology does not respond within that window, the draft is effectively approved, Steven said. County staff and Great West also noted that interlocal agreements among jurisdictions and formal adoption resolutions are needed before final sign-off, and that missing signatories often delay the process.

Committee members and Ecology staff discussed options to reduce adoption delays, including population-based approval or timeline-deadline clauses that treat lack of an objection as approval. David Nails (Whitman County staff) said the county would receive the updated document and comment matrix "very, very soon," and the county will determine whether to seek Ecology's quick informal review before formal resubmission.

Next steps: Great West will deliver the revised plan and comment matrix to the county; staff will pursue required interlocal agreements and adoption resolutions and then resubmit for Ecology's 45-day review.