Designation of sending areas—Inclusion of rural zoned lands under certain circumstances

(1) Subject to the requirements of this section, an eligible county may designate a portion of its rural zoned lands as sending areas for conservation under the eligible county's program for transfer of development rights available for transfer to receiving cities under this chapter. (2) An eligible county may designate rural zoned lands as available for transfer to receiving cities under this chapter only if, and at such time as, fifty percent or more of the total acreage of land classified as agricultural and forestland of long-term commercial significance in the county, as of January 1, 2011, has been protected through either a permanent conservation easement, ownership in fee by the county for land protection or conservation purposes, or ownership in fee by a nongovernmental land conservation organization. (3) To be designated as available for transfer to receiving cities under this chapter, rural zoned lands must either: (a) Be identified by the county as top conservation priorities because they: (i) Provide ecological effectiveness in achieving water resource inventory area goals; (ii) Provide contiguous habitat protection, are adjacent to already protected habitat areas, or improve ecological function; (iii) Are of sufficient size and location in the landscape to yield strategic growth management benefits; (iv) Provide improved access for regional recreational opportunity; (v) Prevent forest fragmentation or are appropriate for forest management; (vi) Provide flood protection or reduce flood risk; or(vii) Have other attributes that meet natural resource preservation program priorities; or(b) Be identified by the state or in regional conservation plans as highly important to the water quality of Puget Sound. (4) The portion of rural zoned lands in an eligible county designated as sending areas for conservation under the eligible county's program for transfer of development rights available for transfer to receiving cities under this chapter must not exceed one thousand five hundred development rights.