H-1312.1
_______________________________________________
HOUSE BILL 1680
_______________________________________________
State of Washington
56th Legislature
1999 Regular Session
By Representatives Ericksen, Constantine, Mastin, Romero, Linville,
Anderson, Mitchell, Murray and Barlean
Read first time 02/02/1999. Referred to Committee on NaturalResources.
AN ACT Relating to funding Puget Sound
salmon recovery; adding a
new chapter to Title 75 RCW; and providing an expiration date.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
{+ NEW SECTION. +} Sec. 1.
FINDINGS. (1) The legislature finds
that salmon recovery in Washington state requires a state-wide
strategy
and actions that are tailored to the unique characteristics of
each
major watershed in the state. (2) The legislature
finds that:
(a) The Puget Sound region contributes
significantly to the
economic vitality and the natural resources of the state of Washington.
The health and economic prosperity of the region depends on a high
quality environment;
(b) Several species of salmon in Puget
Sound are, or expected to
be, listed as threatened or endangered under the federal endangered
species act. At present, these species include chinook, chum,
bull
trout, and coho;
(c) One or more listings under the federal
endangered species act
have the potential to adversely affect nearly all aspects of the
Puget
Sound economy, and a comprehensive solution will require significant
involvement of the private and public sectors; and
(d) The legislature recognizes that a
critical pathways mechanism
was established in 1998 to fund salmon habitat restoration.
The
legislature also recognizes that there is an extensive network
of
federal, state, local, and tribal rules and regulations to protect
salmon habitat. In 1998, the legislature also established
a
comprehensive approach to setting priorities for individual watersheds
through water resource inventory area planning.
(3) The legislature further finds that:
(a) Healthy salmon populations require
a series of connected, high
quality habitats to support their unique life cycle;
(b) An intensive, short-term effort to
preserve quality habitat in
Puget Sound is an essential next step if the region is to realize
the
benefits of the substantial ongoing investments made to protect
and
restore salmon habitat;
(c) Highly productive salmon habitat still
exists in Puget Sound
but is increasingly threatened by development and the manner in
which
land is managed. There is a high degree of agreement among
scientists
that preserving this remaining habitat is an essential action to
protect salmon populations over the long term;
(d) While there are a number of public,
nonprofit, and business
entities involved in acquiring land or easements to preserve habitat,
the lack of dedicated funding and a coordinated approach cause
this
effort to occur on a piecemeal basis;
(e) A private nongovernmental approach
to preservation and
restoration is necessary to increase business and landowner
participation, garner public support, and increase the efficiency
and
effectiveness of habitat investments;
(f) Adding a focused preservation and
restoration strategy to the
state's current effort of regulatory protection will provide the
Puget
Sound region with the tools and flexibility it needs to develop
a
comprehensive, regionally based strategy that implements watershed
planning and conservation priorities and effectively responds to
the
federal endangered species act listings of salmon.
(4) The legislature declares that habitat
preservation is an
essential tool that must be used in concert with protection and
restoration if salmon populations are to survive and thrive in
Puget
Sound. The legislature also declares that it is in the public
interest
to create a nonprofit foundation to guide public and private
investments for preservation and restoration of high quality salmon
habitat in Puget Sound.
{+ NEW SECTION. +} Sec. 2.
PURPOSE. The purpose of the Puget
Sound salmon and river conservation program is to establish a network
of key habitats that, in combination with existing regulatory and
nonregulatory efforts, provides a stable base to support the long-term
survival of salmon in Puget Sound. The purpose of the Puget
Sound
foundation is to guide public and private investments in the
preservation and restoration of the remaining high quality salmon
habitat throughout Puget Sound.
{+ NEW SECTION. +} Sec. 3.
DEFINITIONS. The definitions in this
section apply throughout this chapter, unless the context clearly
requires otherwise.
(1) "Puget Sound" means the twelve counties
bordering Puget Sound.
(2) "Foundation" means the entity created
in section 4 of this act.
(3) "Critical salmon habitat" means aquatic
systems and surrounding
land that meet the criteria in section 7 of this act and any
supplementary criteria developed by the foundation.
(4) "Eligible grant recipients" includes
tribes, local governments,
state agencies, and nonprofit organizations.
(5) "Governor's salmon office" means the
office established in RCW
75.46.040.
(6) "Eligible projects" means any project
or action that serves to
preserve, restore, or steward critical salmon habitat.
(7) "Preserve" means a nonregulatory action
that facilitates
permanent protection of critical salmon habitat and may include
the
purchase of development or timber rights, conservation easements,
or
fee simple title.
(8) "Restore" means an action to reestablish
ecological conditions
of critical salmon habitat, including but not limited to actions
that
restore key processes, functions, or structures that support salmonhabitat.
(9) "Stewardship" means activities necessary
to maintain the
quality of habitat that has been acquired or restored for its benefitsto
salmon.
{+ NEW SECTION. +} Sec. 4.
THE PUGET SOUND FOUNDATION. (1) By
September 1, 1999, the governor shall file articles of incorporation
in
accordance with the Washington nonprofit corporation act, chapter
24.03
RCW, to establish the Puget Sound foundation. The foundation
shall not
be an agency, instrumentality, or political subdivision of the
state.
(2) The foundation shall have a board
of directors consisting of
eighteen members. Fourteen nonlegislative members shall be
appointed
by the governor and collectively have experience in business,
conservation, tribal interests, or government. Initial appointments
shall be made by September 30, 1999, and shall provide geographic
representation from northern, central, southern, and the Hood canal
areas of the Puget Sound region. The remaining four members
shall be
legislators representing each of the two major caucuses in both
the
house of representatives and the senate. The two members
of the house
of representatives shall be appointed by the speaker of the house
of
representatives and the two senate members shall be appointed by
the
president of the senate.
(3) Members other than legislative members
shall serve three-year
terms, except for the initial terms, which shall be staggered by
the
governor to achieve a balanced mix of terms on the board.
Members may
serve up to a maximum of three terms. At the end of a term,
a member
may continue to serve until a successor has been appointed.
Terms for
legislative members shall be two years.
(4) The foundation shall meet at least
four times per year.
{+ NEW SECTION. +} Sec. 5.
POWERS AND DUTIES. (1) By December 1,
1999, the foundation shall establish a science panel.
(a) The science panel shall be composed
of scientists from the
Puget Sound region employed by or otherwise affiliated with
universities, private industry, environmental organizations, local
and
state governments, and tribes.
(b) The science panel shall advise the
foundation on the
development of criteria to guide salmon habitat investments and
evaluate grant requests to preserve and restore salmon habitat
in PugetSound.
(2) The foundation shall identify high
quality salmon habitats for
preservation and associated opportunities for restoration generally
asfollows:
(a) Before February 1, 2000, the foundation
shall compile an
inventory of the remaining high quality habitats in Puget Sound.
In
preparing the inventory, the foundation shall consult the governor's
salmon office, the independent science panel created under RCW
75.46.050, the national marine fisheries service, water resource
inventory area committees, tribes, and local governments.
The
inventory shall be depicted in map form.
(b) A draft of the inventory shall be
prepared by the foundation by
February 1, 2000. No sooner than thirty days after the inventory
is
made publicly available, the foundation shall hold at least two
public
meetings to solicit comments.
(3) The foundation shall actively seek
funding and contributions
from federal, state, and private sources to fund the preservation
and
restoration of Puget Sound salmon habitat as provided in this chapter
and in accordance with the applicable laws.
(4) The foundation shall develop supplemental
criteria for guiding
investments in the preservation and restoration of salmon habitat
consistent with section 7 of this act.
(5) A competitive grant process shall
be conducted at least
annually by the foundation to award funds for preservation and
restoration of high quality habitats in each water resource inventory
area of Puget Sound.
(6) The results of preservation and restoration
actions shall be
monitored by the foundation to ensure long-term benefits to salmon
and
the preservation of a habitat network necessary for long-term survival
of salmon. The foundation shall frequently publicize the
Puget Sound
salmon and river conservation program to the public and interested
parties as well as the identified needs for further action.
{+ NEW SECTION. +} Sec. 6.
PUGET SOUND SALMON AND STREAM
CONSERVATION ACCOUNTS. The Puget Sound salmon and stream
conservation
account is created in the state treasury. Moneys in the account
may be
spent only after appropriation. Funds deposited in this account
shall
be transferred to the Puget Sound foundation for purposes including
but
not limited to grants for preservation, restoration, and stewardship,
reasonable foundation administrative expenses, and other purposes
consistent with this chapter.
{+ NEW SECTION. +} Sec. 7.
GRANT PROCESS AND SELECTION CRITERIA.
(1) The foundation shall conduct a grant process at least annually
beginning in February 2000. Grants shall be awarded consistent
with
the criteria developed by the foundation and shall be available
for
acquisition of development or timber rights, conservation easements,
fee simple title, or other property interests. Grants shall
also be
available for restoration projects where the land is held in the
public
interest, there is a dedicated conservation easement, or the project
is
consistent with a long-term preservation, restoration, or stewardship
agreement between affected private property owners and the grantee.
(2) The foundation shall award funds to
eligible applicants for
acquisition of habitat that best meet these criteria:
(a) The habitat is critical or has high
potential to support
important salmon runs;
(b) The habitat is likely to be degraded
or threatened by
conversion within the next ten years;
(c) The environmental conditions and protection
programs in the
surrounding watershed support the long-term quality of the habitat.
(3) In evaluating the importance of a
salmon habitat the foundation
shall consider:
(a) The size and cultural importance of
the salmon run that the
habitat supports or could reasonably support;
(b) The degree to which it provides key
functions or processes that
support the life cycle of the salmon in the fresh water or in estuarine
environments;
(c) The size of the watershed and whether
it is large enough to
support the range and variability of conditions necessary to support
freshwater life cycle needs for salmon; and
(d) The benefits to other wildlife and
fish species.
(4) In evaluating the extent and immediacy
of threat to habitat
degradation, the foundation shall consider the extent to which:
(a) Current land use plans and zoning
allow for alteration of the
habitat or key watershed function;
(b) Current rules and regulations or approved
habitat conservation
plans allow for significant timber harvest, or modifications to
the
habitat or surrounding drainage area;
(c) The amount and pace of surrounding
development as well as
increasing property values; and
(d) Any pending development proposal consistent
with local and
state law has the potential to compromise the long-term quality
of thehabitat.
(5) In evaluating benefit of existing
environmental conditions and
protection programs in the surrounding watershed to provide long-term
support for critical habitat, the foundation shall consider:
(a) The health of the watershed to provide
sustainable populations
of salmon; (b) The ability of local regulations
to prevent or significantly
limit the degradation of the habitat from upland or upstream humandisturbances;
(c) The existence of a watershed plan
or approved habitat
conservation plan that recognizes the functional importance of
the
habitat and how it is connected to key processes within the watershed
that benefit salmon;
(d) The commitment of local community
organizations to promote
habitat preservation and restoration; and
(e) Local commitment for the long-term
stewardship of the habitat.
{+ NEW SECTION. +} Sec. 8.
GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION OF FUNDS. In
awarding grants over the ten-year period of the foundation, the
foundation shall ensure to the maximum extent practicable that
each
water resource inventory area in the Puget Sound region receives
grant
funding for important preservation and restoration actions.
{+ NEW SECTION. +} Sec. 9.
REPORTING REQUIREMENTS. (1) By July
1, 2000, the foundation shall establish performance measures to
evaluate its progress toward its goal of establishing a network
of high
quality habitats capable of supporting healthy populations of salmon
in
Puget Sound.
(2) Beginning November 1, 2000, and every
two years thereafter, the
foundation shall submit a report to the governor's office and the
appropriate standing committees of the legislature summarizing
thefoundation's:
(a) Progress to date based on the performance
measures established
under subsection (1) of this section;
(b) Success in leveraging federal funds,
state funds other than
those under section 6 of this act, and local, private, and in-kindfunds;
(c) Remaining preservation and stewardship
needs; and
(d) Expected results for the next two
years.
{+ NEW SECTION. +} Sec. 10.
ANNUAL CONFERENCE. The foundation
shall convene and host an annual conference, in consultation with
the
independent science team, to create an ongoing forum to ensure
that the
best available science is used to preserve high quality salmon
habitats
in Puget Sound.
{+ NEW SECTION. +} Sec. 11.
EXPIRATION OF CHAPTER. This chapter
expires June 30, 2009.
{+ NEW SECTION. +} Sec. 12.
CAPTIONS NOT LAW. Captions used in
this act are not any part of the law.
{+ NEW SECTION. +} Sec. 13.
Sections 1 through 12 of this act
constitute a new chapter in Title 75 RCW.
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