Mike Hamilton, V Pollution Control Hrgs Bd

426 P.3d 281
CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedSeptember 5, 2018
Docket50567-3
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 426 P.3d 281 (Mike Hamilton, V Pollution Control Hrgs Bd) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Washington primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Mike Hamilton, V Pollution Control Hrgs Bd, 426 P.3d 281 (Wash. Ct. App. 2018).

Opinion

Filed Washington State Court of Appeals Division Two

September 5, 2018

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON

DIVISION II MIKE HAMILTON; HAMILTON CORNER I, No. 50567-3-II LLC,

Appellants, vs. PUBLISHED OPINION

POLLUTION CONTROL HEARINGS BOARD; WASHINGTON STATE DEPARTMENT OF ECOLOGY; CITY OF NAPAVINE,

Respondents.

MAXA, C.J. – This appeal arises out of the Department of Ecology’s (Ecology) approval

in 2012 of the City of Napavine’s (the City) application to change the purpose and place of use

of groundwater rights it had purchased from Betty Hamilton. Mike Hamilton, Betty’s1 nephew,

claims that he also has an ownership interest in the groundwater rights and that Ecology made

errors in processing the application without accounting for his interest.

Hamilton learned of Ecology’s approval of the City’s application for the change of

groundwater rights in 2015. He contacted Ecology and claimed that the application had

mistakenly identified Betty as the sole owner of the groundwater rights and that those rights had

been transferred erroneously to the City. Ecology sent Hamilton a letter dated February 5, 2016

noting that Hamilton had not protested the application despite public notice and had not appealed

1 For purposes of clarity, we refer to Mike Hamilton as Hamilton and to Betty Hamilton as Betty. We intend no disrespect. No. 50567-3-II

Ecology’s approval of the application. Therefore, Ecology stated that its decision to approve the

application was final and would not be changed.

Hamilton filed a petition for review of Ecology’s February 2016 letter with the Pollution

Control Hearings Board (the PCHB). The PCHB granted summary judgment in favor of

Ecology, ruling that it lacked jurisdiction to hear Hamilton’s petition because the letter was not

an appealable agency decision. Hamilton then filed a petition for judicial review of the PCHB’s

summary judgment order with the superior court under RCW 34.05.570(3). He also asserted a

claim under RCW 34.05.570(4)(b), asserting that Ecology failed to perform a legally required

duty by not returning the City’s allegedly defective application for correction. The superior

court affirmed the PCHB’s order and denied Hamilton’s RCW 34.05.570(4)(b) claim.

We hold that (1) the PCHB did not err in ruling that it lacked jurisdiction to hear

Hamilton’s appeal because the February 2016 letter was not a reviewable agency decision under

RCW 43.21B.110(1)(d), and (2) the superior court did not err in rejecting Hamilton’s RCW

34.05.570(4)(b) claim that RCW 90.03.270 required Ecology to return the City’s allegedly

defective application because RCW 90.03.270 does not apply after an application is approved.

Accordingly, we affirm the PCHB’s summary judgment dismissal of Hamilton’s petition

for review of the February 2016 letter and affirm the superior court’s dismissal of Hamilton’s

RCW 34.05.570(4)(b) claim regarding Ecology’s decision not to return the City’s allegedly

defective application for correction.

FACTS

In 1954, Ecology issued Certificate of Ground Water Right No. 1726 (GWC 1726) to

Frank and Edith Hamilton. GWC 1726 authorized the use of groundwater from three wells on

specified property for the purpose of irrigation, stock, and domestic supply. The quantity of

2 No. 50567-3-II

groundwater used was limited to an amount actually beneficially used, not to exceed an annual

quantity of 114 acre-feet of groundwater per year for the irrigation of 57 acres.2

GWC 1726 provided a legal description of the property to which the groundwater right

was appurtenant and the place where the water was put to beneficial use. However, the

construction of Interstate 5 bisected Frank and Edith Hamilton’s property. Hamilton claims that

he and other heirs, operating as Hamilton Corner I LLC, ultimately inherited the property on the

east side of I-5. Hamilton claims that Betty ultimately inherited the property on the west side of

I-5.

In 2003, the City agreed to purchase GWC 1726 from Betty. Hamilton was not involved

with that transaction.

Application for Change of Water Rights

In November 2004, the City filed applications for change/transfer of GWC 1726 with

Ecology. The application sought to change the purpose of use to municipal and the place of use

to the City’s urban growth area. The application also sought to change the point of withdrawal

from wells on Betty’s property to wells on the City’s property. Betty signed the application as

the water right holder and the owner of the existing place of use.

The City’s application included detailed records of the historical use of GWC 1726 on

and around Betty’s property. These records did not show any ownership interest in or any use of

GWC 1726 by Hamilton or Hamilton Corner I LLC.

2 In 1954, Ecology also issued a Certificate of Surface Water Right No. 5605 (SWC 5605) to Frank Hamilton. The City agreed to purchase SWC 5605 from Betty at the same time that it agreed to purchase GWC 1726. Hamilton challenged Ecology’s approval of a transfer of SWC 5605. No notice was published regarding SWC 5605. On that basis, Ecology conceded error below and stated that it would voluntarily rescind the change application for SWC 5605. Therefore, we do not address SWC 5605.

3 No. 50567-3-II

The City published notice of the change application for GWC 1726 in The Chronicle, a

Lewis County newspaper, on December 14 and 21, 2007. The notice omitted the township and

range of the legal description of the property to which GWC 1726 was proposed to be

transferred. The notice also erroneously stated that 27 irrigated acres were the subject of the

application rather than 57 acres.

Ecology received five letters from area citizens regarding the application. Hamilton did

not submit any comments on the application.

Ecology determined that the City needed to conduct well testing to determine whether

changing the location of use for GWC 1726 would impair other water rights in the area. As a

result, in April 2008 Ecology issued a preliminary permit authorizing the City to drill a well and

perform well testing with regard to GWC 1726. The preliminary permit allowed the City to

withdraw water until 2011. In April 2010, the City’s engineering consultant notified Ecology

that well testing was complete and transmitted the well testing results. In May 2011, Ecology

sent the City a letter stating that the preliminary permit had expired and had been cancelled.

In March 2012, Ecology prepared a draft decision approving the City’s application, in the

form of a Report of Examination (ROE). Ecology posted the draft ROE on its website for 30

days.

In April 2012, Ecology issued a final ROE approving the change of GWC 1726. The

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