S-3003

AN ACT Relating to the environmental hearings office; amending RCW 43.21B.005, 43.21B.010, 43.21B.020, 43.21B.030, 43.21B.040, 43.21B.180, and 43.21B.230; and amending 1987 c 109 s 1 (uncodified).

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

Sec. 1. 1987 c 109 s 1 (uncodified) is amended to read as follows:

The purposes of ((~~this act~~)) chapter 109, Laws of 1987 are to:

(1) Simplify and clarify existing statutory and administrative procedures for appealing decisions of the department of ecology and air pollution control authorities in order to (a) expedite those appeals, (b) insure that those appeals are conducted with a minimum of expense to save state and private resources, and (c) ((~~allow~~)) require the appellate authorities to decide cases on their merits rather than on procedural technicalities.

(2) Clarify existing statutes relating to the environment but which refer to numerous agencies no longer in existence.

(3) Eliminate provisions no longer effective or meaningful and abbreviate statutory provisions which are unnecessarily long and confusing.

Sec. 2. RCW 43.21B.005 and 1990 c 65 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:

There is created an environmental hearings office of the state of Washington. The environmental hearings office shall consist of the pollution control hearings board created in RCW 43.21B.010, the forest practices appeals board created in RCW 76.09.210, the shorelines hearings board created in RCW 90.58.170, and the hydraulic appeals board created in RCW 75.20.130. The chairman of the pollution control hearings board shall be the chief executive officer of the environmental hearings office. Membership, powers, functions, and duties of the pollution control hearings board, the forest practices appeals board, the shorelines hearings board, and the hydraulic appeals board shall be as provided by law.

The chief executive officer of the environmental hearings office may appoint with advice and consent of the senate committee on environment and natural resources an administrative appeals judge who shall possess the powers and duties conferred by the administrative procedure act, chapter 34.05 RCW, in cases before the boards comprising the office. The administrative appeals judge shall have a demonstrated knowledge of environmental law and chemical engineering, and shall be admitted to the practice of law in the state of Washington. Additional administrative appeals judges may also be appointed by the chief executive officer on the same terms. Administrative appeals judges shall not be subject to chapter 41.06 RCW.

The chief executive officer may appoint, discharge, and fix the compensation of such administrative judges and administrative or clerical staff as may be necessary, with the advice and consent of the senate committee on environment and natural resources.

The chief executive officer may also contract for required services on the same terms as under this section.

Sec. 3. RCW 43.21B.010 and 1979 ex.s. c 47 s 3 are each amended to read as follows:

There is hereby created within the environmental hearings office a pollution control hearings board of the state of Washington.

The purpose of the pollution control hearings board is to provide for a ((~~more expeditious and efficient~~)) fair and equitable disposition of appeals with respect to the decisions and orders of the department and director and with respect to all decisions of air pollution control boards or authorities established pursuant to chapter 70.94 RCW.

Sec. 4. RCW 43.21B.020 and 1970 ex.s. c 62 s 32 are each amended to read as follows:

The hearings board shall consist of three members ((~~qualified by experience or training in pertinent matters pertaining to the environment, and at least~~)). At least two of the three members shall be chemical engineers or equivalent in general technology, with industrial experience. One member of the ((~~hearings~~)) board shall have been admitted to practice law in this state ((~~and engaged in the legal profession at the time of his appointment~~)). The hearings board shall be appointed by the governor with the advice and consent of the senate((~~, and no more than two of whom at the time of appointment or during their term shall be members of the same political party~~)).

Sec. 5. RCW 43.21B.030 and 1970 ex.s. c 62 s 33 are each amended to read as follows:

((Members of the hearings board shall be appointed for a term of six years and until their successors are appointed and have qualified. In case of a vacancy, it shall be filled by appointment by the governor for the unexpired portion of the term in which said vacancy occurs: PROVIDED, That the terms of the first three members of the hearings board shall be staggered so that one member shall be appointed to serve until July 1, 1972, one member until July 1, 1974, and one member until July 1, 1976.)) Within ninety days after the effective date of this act, the term of the current members of the board shall end. The governor shall appoint, with the advice and consent of the senate, three new persons to the board. The initial terms shall be one each for six months, twelve months, and eighteen months, respectively. New board members whose terms expire may be reappointed for eighteen-month terms, and vacancies may be filled by appointment by the governor, with the advice and consent of the senate. In the event the senate is not in session at the time of appointment, advice and consent of the senate committee on the environment and natural resources shall suffice until the full senate can act.

Sec. 6. RCW 43.21B.040 and 1970 ex.s. c 62 s 34 are each amended to read as follows:

Any member of the hearings board may be removed for inefficiency, malfeasance and misfeasance in office, under specific written charges filed by the governor or by petition of twelve members of the legislature, who shall transmit such written charges to the member accused and to the chief justice of the supreme court. The chief justice shall thereupon designate a tribunal composed of three judges of the superior court to hear and adjudicate the charges, allowing the admission to the hearing of amicus briefs from any citizen of the state. Such tribunal shall fix the time of the hearing which shall be public, and the procedure for the hearing, and the decision of such tribunal shall be final and not subject to review by the supreme court. Removal of any member of the hearings board by the tribunal shall disqualify such member for reappointment.

Sec. 7. RCW 43.21B.180 and 1989 c 175 s 104 are each amended to read as follows:

Judicial review of a decision of the hearings board shall be de novo ((except when the decision has been rendered pursuant to a formal hearing elected under the provisions of this chapter, in which event judicial review may be obtained only pursuant to RCW 34.05.510 through 34.05.598)). The decision of the hearings board is stayed for the duration of any appeal and thirty days thereafter. The director shall have the same right of review from a decision made pursuant to RCW 43.21B.110 as does any person.

Sec. 8. RCW 43.21B.230 and 1990 c 65 s 6 are each amended to read as follows:

Any person having received notice of a denial of a petition, a notice of determination, notice of or an order made by the department may appeal, within thirty days from the date of the notice of such denial, order, or determination to the hearings board. The appeal shall be perfected by serving a copy of the notice of appeal upon the department or air pollution authority established pursuant to chapter 70.94 RCW, as the case may be, within the time specified herein and by filing the original thereof with proof of service with the clerk of the hearings board. If the person intends that the hearing before the hearings board be a formal one, the notice of appeal shall so state. In the event that the notice of appeal does not so state, the hearing shall be an informal one((: PROVIDED, HOWEVER, That nothing shall prevent the department or the air pollution authority, as the case may be, within ten days from the date of its receipt of the notice of appeal, from filing with the clerk of the hearings board notice of its intention that the hearing be a formal one)).