OLYMPIA — Skagit County officials are asking legislators to excuse their county from a bill that would allow planners of fish projects to bypass county environmental reviews, arguing it would sideline local leaders responsible for delicately balancing restoring salmon, protecting property and preserving farming.

Senate Bill 5155 would make nonprofits, ports, tribes and others get state and federal permits to restore habitat, but not local permits. Counties could block projects on public safety grounds, but fish projects would escape county scrutiny that other projects in environmentally sensitive areas undergo.

The state has tested the streamlined approach for some fish projects over the past three years. SB 5155 would make the exemption from local reviews permanent. The streamlined process expires at the end of June if lawmakers don’t act.

The Puget Sound Partnership and Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife say the pilot project has worked, saving fish-enhancement organizations time and money.

The speedy process may work elsewhere, but Skagit County has a special blend of demands, particularly the Skagit Delta, lowland prized for salmon and farming, according to county officials and organizations.

The bill will undermine the county’s effort to coordinate projects and make sure roads, bridges, dikes and tidegates aren’t damaged, according to county commissioners.

“In the Skagit, this bill will hurt a lot more than it helps,” county Commissioner Peter Browning told the Senate Local Government Committee on Jan. 24.

“This bill would allow non-governmental organizations to make plans for salmon recovery and our infrastructure without communicating with us in advance,” he said.

The bill’s sponsor, Sen. Jesse Salomon, D-Shoreline, read the section of the bill stating local governments can stop projects for safety concerns. “What is not sufficient about that?” he asked.

Skagit County Chief Civil Attorney Will Hornea said the bill gets the county involved at the “back end.” The county should lead on fish restoration, he said.

“Virtually all the big projects in the Skagit involve major infrastructure we own. We’re responsible for the outcomes. It’s a governmental function,” he said.

Skagitonians to Preserve Farmland, the Skagit Drainage and Irrigation Districts Consortium, Friends of Skagit County and the Upper Skagit Indian tribe supported exempting Skagit County from the bill.

Fish and Wildlife habitat biologist Matt Curtis said 45 projects have been approved without local permits statewide and 26 have been completed.

Most of the projects were completed in a year — “super fast” for fish projects, he said. “I think that’s a highlight of our success,” he said.