Seattle plans to remove SEPA Review Hurdle
The Seattle City Council has advanced legislation to make those exemptions permanent and significantly limit SEPA for commercial development. The legislation passed out of the council’s Land Use and Sustainability Committee with a “do pass” recommendation on Feb. 4, 2026, several months after the expiration of a two-year environmental review holiday for residential and mixed-use projects under the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA).
“This ordinance provides a clear, predictable framework to advance housing production while still meeting Seattle’s long standing growth and environmental goals,” said Logan Schmidt speaking on behalf of the Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish Counties. “Streamlining SEPA is not a rollback of environmental standards. It’s an acknowledgement that those standards are already embedded throughout the city’s planning and regulatory framework.”
