• An environmental impact statement (EIS) provides an objective analysis of the likely environmental impacts, feasible alternatives, and measures that would avoid or minimize adverse environmental impacts.
• An “impact” is a change in consequence that results from an activity. Impacts can be positive, negative or both. An EIS describes impacts and may identify ways to mitigate them.
• There are three major milestones in an EIS – Scoping, Draft EIS, and Final EIS.

Scoping is the first step in the EIS process. During scoping, we invited agencies, tribes, and the general public to comment on the likely range of project alternatives and areas of impact that should be evaluated. These comments will be used to narrow the focus of the EIS to the likely significant environmental issues, eliminate insignificant impacts from study, and identify alternatives for analysis in the EIS.

The project team has preliminarily identified the following environmental elements for analysis in the EIS. For each environmental element, we will evaluate the probable impacts associated with the proposed action and operations:

See this document for more information on our SEPA Environmental Checklist. To access publicly available materials, please visit Pierce County PALS Online and search permit ID numbers 792206 and 792210.

All public comments will be documented and presented to the project team. In some cases, direct quotes from public comments may be included in the EIS Report and project webpage. The project team will use information from public comments to make decisions throughout the EIS process.

All email and comments become public records and, if requested, will be disclosed as required by the Public Records Act 42.56.RCW.

Your input is essential! Please join our email list to receive project updates and a reminder when the Draft EIS public comment period opens. The public comment period for the Draft EIS is anticipated for Fall 2021.

The project team is moving into phase 2 of the project, which will include an in-depth analysis of the project impacts. The City of Puyallup (City) has hired a team of environmental consultants to conduct a rigorous and independent review of the project in an environmental impact statement (EIS) prepared pursuant to the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA). The City currently anticipates that analysis of project impacts will take 8-10 months. Given this timeline, a Draft EIS is expected in the Fall of 2021.

Learn more about environmental review.

The 162-acre property is located in Pierce County, just outside of Puyallup’s corporate limits. However, the project area is within the City’s Urban Growth Area (UGA). According to the Washington State Growth Management Act and the City’s Comprehensive Plan, property located within a jurisdiction’s UGA is anticipated to someday be annexed into that jurisdiction.

The original development proposal was submitted to Pierce County by the landowner in 2014. The seven-building warehouse project raised several questions and concerns for the City of Puyallup about traffic impacts, utility needs, floodplain and wetlands management, and impacts to nearby parks among other areas of the natural and built environment. The City proposed in June 2016 that Pierce County and the City jointly prepare a full EIS, but this proposal was rejected. Given the number of unaddressed concerns about the proposal and location within the City’s UGA, the City therefore pursued legal challenges to the County’s environmental review. After Pierce County Hearing Examiner and court proceedings, in 2019 the Washington Court of Appeals issued a decision upholding the City of Puyallup’s right to act as the lead SEPA agency for the project and to require preparation of an EIS on it. The Washington Supreme Court subsequently dismissed Pierce County’s petition that the Court review (and potentially overturn) the Court of Appeals decision.

An EIS is prepared when the lead SEPA agency determines a proposal is likely to have significant adverse environmental impacts. The EIS process is a tool for identifying and analyzing:

• Probable adverse environmental impacts
• Reasonable alternatives
• Possible mitigation

The Final EIS will include objective ways that environmental impacts can be avoided or minimized and provides a basis for decision making about the project application.

In some cases, an EIS looks at several alternatives, or options, for a proposed development. The EIS will consider different scenarios:

• Build the proposed development as planned.
• Consider other build alternatives.
• Do not build the proposed development as planned.

The project team reviewed all comments submitted during the EIS scoping comment period (November 17, 2020 through December 17, 2020). The City of Puyallup released an EIS scoping summary report, which summarized the comments received. Further, all comments received during the scoping comment period are now available on this website Your comments helped determine the environmental factors to study. In some instances, factors that were not already planned for analysis were added to the scope based on your comments.

Scoping, the first step in developing the EIS, defines which environmental factors to study and the extent of analysis for each factor. As noted above, the scoping public comment period helped informed which factors to include in this EIS. The environmental factors for the EIS analysis include:

• Transportation, particularly transportation systems and traffic.
• Public services and utilities, including stormwater, sanitary sewer and fire flow, and fire protection services.
• Water, plants, and animals.
• Cultural resources.
• Noise.
• Air quality, including greenhouse gases.
• Land and shoreline use, including aesthetics, recreation, agricultural crops, and the project’s relationship to existing land use plans.
• Alternatives.
• Mitigation measures.

SEPA also requires consideration of the cumulative impacts (WAC 197-11-060) of a proposal. Cumulative impacts are those impacts that occur when considered with the impacts from other past, present, or future actions or projects.

A Draft EIS is anticipated to be released in Fall 2021. The public comment period will open upon its issuance.

The Draft EIS is an opportunity to comment on the alternatives being studied and comment on the environmental impact analysis of the project. We will ask tribes, agencies, and the public for the following comments on the Draft EIS, including the following:

• Comments or questions on the technical analysis in the Draft EIS.
• Comments that help us select a preferred alternative.
• Comments related to the environmental topics that were studied.

Note, all comments received become part of public record and may be publicly displayed, including your name. Other personal details will not be published.

The City of Puyallup will consider all feedback from tribes, agencies, and the public before drafting the Final EIS. We will respond to timely comments in the Final EIS. Substantive comments are comments that help us refine the EIS analysis or select a preferred alternative