a. Wellhead Protection Areas. Wellhead protection areas may be defined by the boundaries of the ten year time of ground water travel or boundaries established using alternate criteria approved by the Washington State Department of Health in those settings where ground water time of travel is not a reasonable delineation criterion, in accordance with WAC 246-290-135.

b. Sole Source Aquifers. Sole source aquifers are areas that have been designated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency pursuant to the Federal Safe Water Drinking Act.

c. Susceptible Ground Water Management Areas. Susceptible ground water management areas are areas that have been designated as moderately or highly vulnerable or susceptible in an adopted ground water management program developed pursuant to WAC 173-100.

d. Special Protection Areas. Special protection areas are those areas defined by WAC 173-200-090.

e. Moderately or Highly Vulnerable Aquifer Recharge Areas. Aquifer recharge areas that are moderately or highly vulnerable to degradation or depletion because of hydrogeologic characteristics are those areas delineated by a hydrogeologic study prepared in accordance with the state Department of Ecology guidelines.

f. Moderately or Highly Susceptible Aquifer Recharge Areas. Aquifer recharge areas moderately or highly susceptible to degradation or depletion because of hydrogeologic characteristics are those areas meeting the criteria established by the state Department of Ecology.

a. Erosion Hazard Areas. Erosion hazard areas are at least those areas identified by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service as having a “moderate to severe,” “severe,” or “very severe” rill and inter-rill erosion hazard. Erosion hazard areas are also those areas impacted by shore land and/or stream bank erosion and those areas within a river’s channel migration zone.

b. Landslide Hazard Areas. Landslide hazard areas are areas potentially subject to landslides based on a combination of geologic, topographic, and hydrologic factors. They include areas susceptible because of any combination of bedrock, soil, slope (gradient), slope aspect, structure, hydrology, or other factors.

c. Seismic Hazard Areas. Seismic hazard areas are areas subject to severe risk of damage as a result of earthquake induced ground shaking, slope failure, settlement, soil liquefaction, lateral spreading, or surface faulting. Settlement and soil liquefaction conditions occur in areas underlain by cohesionless, loose, or soft-saturated soils of low density, typically in association with a shallow ground water table.

d. Mine Hazard Areas. Mine hazard areas are those areas underlain by or affected by mine workings such as adits, gangways, tunnels, drifts, or airshafts, and those areas of probable sink holes, gas releases, or subsidence due to mine workings. Coal mining activities during the early part of this century left some areas in the Upper Kittitas County honeycombed with abandoned mine workings. Many of these abandoned workings pose a danger to collapse or sinking, especially during a seismic event. Factors that should be considered include: proximity to development, depth from ground surface to the mine working, and geologic material.

e. Volcanic Hazard Areas. Volcanic hazard areas are areas subject to pyroclastic flows, lava flows, debris avalanche, and inundation by debris flows, lahars, mudflows, or related flooding resulting from volcanic activity.

f. Other Hazard Areas. Geologically hazardous areas shall also include areas determined by the [director] to be susceptible to other geological events including mass wasting, debris flows, rock falls, and differential settlement.

a. Federally Designated Endangered, Threatened and Sensitive Species. Areas with which federally designated endangered, threatened and sensitive species have a primary association. Federally designated endangered and threatened species are those fish and wildlife species identified by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service that are in danger of extinction or threatened to become endangered. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service should be consulted for current listing status.

b. State Designated Endangered, Threatened and Sensitive Species. Areas with which state designated endangered, threatened and sensitive species have a primary association. State designated endangered, threatened, and sensitive species are those fish and wildlife species native to the state of Washington identified by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, that are in danger of extinction, threatened to become endangered, vulnerable, or declining and are likely to become endangered or threatened in a significant portion of their range within the state without cooperative management or removal of threats. State designated endangered, threatened, and sensitive species are periodically recorded in WAC 232-12-014 (state endangered species) and WAC 232-12-011 (state threatened and sensitive species). The state Department of Fish and Wildlife maintains the most current listing and should be consulted for current listing status.

c. State Priority Habitats and Areas Associated With State Priority Species. Priority habitats and species are considered to be priorities for conservation and management. Priority species require protective measures for their perpetuation due to their population status, sensitivity to habitat alteration, and/or recreational, commercial, or tribal importance. Priority habitats are those habitat types or elements with unique or significant value to a diverse assemblage of species. A priority habitat may consist of a unique vegetation type or dominant plant species, a described successional stage, or a specific structural element. Priority habitats and species are identified by the state Department of Fish and Wildlife.

d. Habitats and Species of Local Importance. Habitats and species of local importance are those identified by the [city/county], including but not limited to those habitats and species that, due to their population status or sensitivity to habitat manipulation, warrant protection. Habitats may include a seasonal range or habitat element with which a species has a primary association, and which, if altered, may reduce the likelihood that the species will maintain and reproduce over the long term.