The Comprehensive Plan, adopted on August 28, 1998, included critical areas maps and goals and policies related to the protection of critical areas.

The Interim CAO remained in effect until January 16, 2001, the effective date of the Unified Development Code (UDC), adopted through Ordinance No. 11-1218-00 on December 18, 2000.   The provisions to protect critical areas are found in Article VI-D of the Jefferson County Code (JCC), beginning at JCC 18.15.185.  There have been amendments to some critical areas provisions since initial adoption of the UDC.

The GMA was amended in 1995 to include the requirement that local jurisdictions consider "best available science" (BAS) when establishing protection measures for critical areas.  [See Part Nine of Chapter 365-190 WAC.]  Jefferson County considered BAS during the review and adoption process for the UDC in the year 2000.

As part of the BAS review in 2000, the following "white paper" was drafted, with a focus on riparian buffers for protecting the habitat of anadromous fish (which spawn in freshwaters and live part of their life cycles in marine waters):

• Best Available Science Review  October 2000

Amendments made to the UDC since initial adoption have included BAS.  Amendments concerned wetland mitigation ratios, designating zones vulnerable to seawater intrusion as critical aquifer recharge areas, and modifying exemptions to standard stream and wetland buffers for existing and ongoing agriculture.

The County has also been party to a pair of East Jefferson County-specific studies since adoption of the UDC.

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