AN ACT Relating to cleaning up toxic substances from Washington's marine waters; amending RCW 70.105D.030, 70.105D.070, and 70.105D.120; and creating new sections.

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

In addition to the critical role that the marine nearshore environment plays in the ecological health of the Salish Sea, many of these areas are also critical to the state's economy as a center of industry, marine transport, and urban development. Delays in cleanup of the historical legacy of improper management of hazardous substances may impede advancing new development as well as redevelopment in these urbanized areas, to the detriment of the region's economy.

For these reasons, the legislature finds it necessary to direct that a higher priority be placed upon the cleanup of toxic substances in the marine areas. In doing so, the department of ecology and other state and local authorities should design and implement cleanup in a manner that incorporates projected climate change impacts.

(a) An assessment of the effectiveness of the remedial action framework and funding priorities established under the model toxics control act, chapter 70.105D RCW, and its implementing rules, in providing for effective and timely cleanup of hazardous waste sites in nearshore areas;

(b) A review of the effectiveness of the coordination among potentially liable parties and state, federal, tribal, and local governments in developing and timely implementing remedial actions in the Puget Sound nearshore;

(c) A review of the projected impacts of climate change on the health of Puget Sound, including sea level rise, ocean acidification, peak runoff events, and other impacts, and how those impacts are being considered in the design of remedial actions; and

(d) Recommendations to improve and speed up remedial actions in the nearshore, including legislative or administrative actions.

(2) The report must be provided to the appropriate committees of the senate and house of representatives by December 1, 2018.

Sec. 3.  RCW 70.105D.030 and 2013 2nd sp.s. c 1 s 6 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) The department may exercise the following powers in addition to any other powers granted by law:

(a) Investigate, provide for investigating, or require potentially liable persons to investigate any releases or threatened releases of hazardous substances, including but not limited to inspecting, sampling, or testing to determine the nature or extent of any release or threatened release. If there is a reasonable basis to believe that a release or threatened release of a hazardous substance may exist, the department's authorized employees, agents, or contractors may enter upon any property and conduct investigations. The department shall give reasonable notice before entering property unless an emergency prevents such notice. The department may by subpoena require the attendance or testimony of witnesses and the production of documents or other information that the department deems necessary;

(b) Conduct, provide for conducting, or require potentially liable persons to conduct remedial actions (including investigations under (a) of this subsection) to remedy releases or threatened releases of hazardous substances. In carrying out such powers, the department's authorized employees, agents, or contractors may enter upon property. The department shall give reasonable notice before entering property unless an emergency prevents such notice. In conducting, providing for, or requiring remedial action, the department shall: (i) Give preference to permanent solutions to the maximum extent practicable; (ii) consider the potential impacts from climate change on the long-term effectiveness of the remedial action; and ((shall)) (iii) provide for or require adequate monitoring to ensure the effectiveness of the remedial action;

(c) Indemnify contractors retained by the department for carrying out investigations and remedial actions, but not for any contractor's reckless or willful misconduct;

(d) Carry out all state programs authorized under the federal cleanup law and the federal resource, conservation, and recovery act, 42 U.S.C. Sec. 6901 et seq., as amended;

(e) Classify substances as hazardous substances for purposes of RCW 70.105D.020 and classify substances and products as hazardous substances for purposes of RCW 82.21.020(1);

(f) Issue orders or enter into consent decrees or agreed orders that include, or issue written opinions under (i) of this subsection that may be conditioned upon, environmental covenants where necessary to protect human health and the environment from a release or threatened release of a hazardous substance from a facility. Prior to establishing an environmental covenant under this subsection, the department shall consult with and seek comment from a city or county department with land use planning authority for real property subject to the environmental covenant;

(g) Enforce the application of permanent and effective institutional controls that are necessary for a remedial action to be protective of human health and the environment and the notification requirements established in RCW 70.105D.110, and impose penalties for violations of that section consistent with RCW 70.105D.050;

(h) Require holders to conduct remedial actions necessary to abate an imminent or substantial endangerment pursuant to RCW 70.105D.020(22)(b)(ii)(C);

(i) Provide informal advice and assistance to persons regarding the administrative and technical requirements of this chapter. This may include site-specific advice to persons who are conducting or otherwise interested in independent remedial actions. Any such advice or assistance shall be advisory only, and shall not be binding on the department. As a part of providing this advice and assistance for independent remedial actions, the department may prepare written opinions regarding whether the independent remedial actions or proposals for those actions meet the substantive requirements of this chapter or whether the department believes further remedial action is necessary at the facility. Nothing in this chapter may be construed to preclude the department from issuing a written opinion on whether further remedial action is necessary at any portion of the real property located within a facility, even if further remedial action is still necessary elsewhere at the same facility. Such a written opinion on a portion of a facility must also provide an opinion on the status of the facility as a whole. The department may collect, from persons requesting advice and assistance, the costs incurred by the department in providing such advice and assistance; however, the department shall, where appropriate, waive collection of costs in order to provide an appropriate level of technical assistance in support of public participation. The state, the department, and officers and employees of the state are immune from all liability, and no cause of action of any nature may arise from any act or omission in providing, or failing to provide, informal advice and assistance. The department must track the number of requests for reviews of planned or completed independent remedial actions and establish performance measures to track how quickly the department is able to respond to those requests. By November 1, 2015, the department must submit to the governor and the appropriate legislative fiscal and policy committees a report on achieving the performance measures and provide recommendations for improving performance, including staffing needs;

(j) In fulfilling the objectives of this chapter, the department shall allocate staffing and financial assistance in a manner that considers both the reduction of human and environmental risks and the land reuse potential and planning for the facilities to be cleaned up. This does not preclude the department from allocating resources to a facility based solely on human or environmental risks;

(k) Establish model remedies for common categories of facilities, types of hazardous substances, types of media, or geographic areas to streamline and accelerate the selection of remedies for routine types of cleanups at facilities;

(i) When establishing a model remedy, the department shall:

(A) Identify the requirements for characterizing a facility to select a model remedy, the applicability of the model remedy for use at a facility, and monitoring requirements;

(B) Describe how the model remedy meets clean-up standards and the requirements for selecting a remedy established by the department under this chapter; and

(C) Provide public notice and an opportunity to comment on the proposed model remedy and the conditions under which it may be used at a facility;

(ii) When developing model remedies, the department shall solicit and consider proposals from qualified persons. The proposals must, in addition to describing the model remedy, provide the information required under (k)(i)(A) and (B) of this subsection;

(iii) If a facility meets the requirements for use of a model remedy, an analysis of the feasibility of alternative remedies is not required under this chapter. For department-conducted and department-supervised remedial actions, the department must provide public notice and consider public comments on the proposed use of a model remedy at a facility. The department may waive collection of its costs for providing a written opinion under (i) of this subsection on a cleanup that qualifies for and appropriately uses a model remedy; and

(l) Take any other actions necessary to carry out the provisions of this chapter, including the power to adopt rules under chapter 34.05 RCW.

(2) The department shall immediately implement all provisions of this chapter to the maximum extent practicable, including investigative and remedial actions where appropriate. The department shall adopt, and thereafter enforce, rules under chapter 34.05 RCW to:

(a) Provide for public participation, including at least (i) public notice of the development of investigative plans or remedial plans for releases or threatened releases and (ii) concurrent public notice of all compliance orders, agreed orders, enforcement orders, or notices of violation;

(b) Establish a hazard ranking system for hazardous waste sites;

(c) Provide for requiring the reporting by an owner or operator of releases of hazardous substances to the environment that may be a threat to human health or the environment within ninety days of discovery, including such exemptions from reporting as the department deems appropriate, however this requirement shall not modify any existing requirements provided for under other laws;

(d) Establish reasonable deadlines not to exceed ninety days for initiating an investigation of a hazardous waste site after the department receives notice or otherwise receives information that the site may pose a threat to human health or the environment and other reasonable deadlines for remedying releases or threatened releases at the site;

(e) Publish and periodically update minimum clean-up standards for remedial actions at least as stringent as the clean-up standards under section 121 of the federal cleanup law, 42 U.S.C. Sec. 9621, and at least as stringent as all applicable state and federal laws, including health-based standards under state and federal law; and

(f) Apply industrial clean-up standards at industrial properties. Rules adopted under this subsection shall ensure that industrial properties cleaned up to industrial standards cannot be converted to nonindustrial uses without approval from the department. The department may require that a property cleaned up to industrial standards is cleaned up to a more stringent applicable standard as a condition of conversion to a nonindustrial use. Industrial clean-up standards may not be applied to industrial properties where hazardous substances remaining at the property after remedial action pose a threat to human health or the environment in adjacent nonindustrial areas.

(3) To achieve and protect the state's long-term ecological health, the department shall plan to clean up hazardous waste sites and prevent the creation of future hazards due to improper disposal of toxic wastes at a pace that matches the estimated cash resources in the state and local toxics control accounts and the environmental legacy stewardship account created in RCW 70.105D.170. Estimated cash resources must consider the annual cash flow requirements of major projects that receive appropriations expected to cross multiple biennia. To effectively monitor toxic accounts expenditures, the department shall develop a comprehensive ten-year financing report that identifies long-term remedial action project costs, tracks expenses, and projects future needs.

(4) By November 1, 2016, the department must submit to the governor and the appropriate legislative committees a report on the status of developing model remedies and their use under this chapter. The report must include: The number and types of model remedies identified by the department under subsection (1)(k) of this section; the number and types of model remedy proposals prepared by qualified private sector engineers, consultants, or contractors that were accepted or rejected under subsection (1)(k) of this section and the reasons for rejection; and the success of model remedies in accelerating the cleanup as measured by the number of jobs created by the cleanup, where this information is available to the department, acres of land restored, and the number and types of hazardous waste sites successfully remediated using model remedies.

(5) Before September 20th of each even-numbered year, the department shall:

(a) Develop a comprehensive ten-year financing report in coordination with all local governments with clean-up responsibilities that identifies the projected biennial hazardous waste site remedial action needs that are eligible for funding from the state and local toxics control account and the environmental legacy stewardship account;

(b) Work with local governments to develop working capital reserves to be incorporated in the ten-year financing report;

(c) Identify the projected remedial action needs for orphaned, abandoned, and other clean-up sites that are eligible for funding from the state toxics control account;

(d) Project the remedial action need, cost, revenue, and any recommended working capital reserve estimate to the next biennium's long-term remedial action needs from both the local and state toxics control account and the environmental legacy stewardship account, and submit this information to the appropriate standing fiscal and environmental committees of the senate and house of representatives. This submittal must also include a ranked list of such remedial action projects for both accounts. The submittal must also identify separate budget estimates for large, multibiennia clean-up projects that exceed ten million dollars. The department shall prepare its ten-year capital budget plan that is submitted to the office of financial management to reflect the separate budget estimates for these large clean-up projects and include information on the anticipated private and public funding obligations for completion of the relevant projects.

(6) By December 1st of each odd-numbered year, the department must provide the legislature and the public a report of the department's activities supported by appropriations from the state and local toxics control accounts and the environmental legacy stewardship account. The report must be prepared and displayed in a manner that allows the legislature and the public to easily determine the statewide and local progress made in cleaning up hazardous waste sites under this chapter. The report must include, at a minimum:

(a) The name, location, hazardous waste ranking, and a short description of each site on the hazardous sites list, and the date the site was placed on the hazardous waste sites list; and

(b) For sites where there are state contracts, grants, loans, or direct investments by the state:

(i) The amount of money from the state and local toxics control accounts and the environmental legacy stewardship account used to conduct remedial actions at the site and the amount of that money recovered from potentially liable persons;

(ii) The actual or estimated start and end dates and the actual or estimated expenditures of funds authorized under this chapter for the following project phases:

(A) Emergency or interim actions, if needed;

(B) Remedial investigation;

(C) Feasibility study and selection of a remedy;

(D) Engineering design and construction of the selected remedy;

(E) Operation and maintenance or monitoring of the constructed remedy; and

(F) The final completion date.

(7) The department shall establish a program to identify potential hazardous waste sites and to encourage persons to provide information about hazardous waste sites.

(8) For all facilities where an environmental covenant has been required under subsection (1)(f) of this section, including all facilities where the department has required an environmental covenant under an order, agreed order, or consent decree, or as a condition of a written opinion issued under the authority of subsection (1)(i) of this section, the department shall periodically review the environmental covenant for effectiveness. Except as otherwise provided in (c) of this subsection, the department shall conduct a review at least once every five years after an environmental covenant is recorded.

(a) The review shall consist of, at a minimum:

(i) A review of the title of the real property subject to the environmental covenant to determine whether the environmental covenant was properly recorded and, if applicable, amended or terminated;

(ii) A physical inspection of the real property subject to the environmental covenant to determine compliance with the environmental covenant, including whether any development or redevelopment of the real property has violated the terms of the environmental covenant; and

(iii) A review of the effectiveness of the environmental covenant in limiting or prohibiting activities that may interfere with the integrity of the remedial action or that may result in exposure to or migration of hazardous substances. This shall include a review of available monitoring data.

(b) If an environmental covenant has been amended or terminated without proper authority, or if the terms of an environmental covenant have been violated, or if the environmental covenant is no longer effective in limiting or prohibiting activities that may interfere with the integrity of the remedial action or that may result in exposure to or migration of hazardous substances, then the department shall take any and all appropriate actions necessary to ensure compliance with the environmental covenant and the policies and requirements of this chapter.

(c) For facilities where an environmental covenant required by the department under subsection (1)(f) of this section was required before July 1, 2007, the department shall:

(i) Enter all required information about the environmental covenant into the registry established under RCW 64.70.120 by June 30, 2008;

(ii) For those facilities where more than five years has elapsed since the environmental covenant was required and the department has yet to conduct a review, conduct an initial review according to the following schedule:

(A) By December 30, 2008, fifty facilities;

(B) By June 30, 2009, fifty additional facilities; and

(C) By June 30, 2010, the remainder of the facilities;

(iii) Once this initial review has been completed, conduct subsequent reviews at least once every five years.

Sec. 4.  RCW 70.105D.070 and 2017 3rd sp.s. c 1 s 980 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) The state toxics control account and the local toxics control account are hereby created in the state treasury.

(2)(a) Moneys collected under RCW 82.21.030 must be deposited as follows: Fifty-six percent to the state toxics control account under subsection (3) of this section and forty-four percent to the local toxics control account under subsection (4) of this section. When the cumulative amount of deposits made to the state and local toxics control accounts under this section reaches the limit during a fiscal year as established in (b) of this subsection, the remainder of the moneys collected under RCW 82.21.030 during that fiscal year must be deposited into the environmental legacy stewardship account created in RCW 70.105D.170.

(b) The limit on distributions of moneys collected under RCW 82.21.030 to the state and local toxics control accounts for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2013, is one hundred forty million dollars.

(c) In addition to the funds required under (a) of this subsection, the following moneys must be deposited into the state toxics control account: (i) The costs of remedial actions recovered under this chapter ((or chapter 70.105A RCW)); (ii) penalties collected or recovered under this chapter; and (iii) any other money appropriated or transferred to the account by the legislature.

(3) Moneys in the state toxics control account must be used only to carry out the purposes of this chapter, including but not limited to the following activities:

(a) The state's responsibility for hazardous waste planning, management, regulation, enforcement, technical assistance, and public education required under chapter 70.105 RCW;

(b) The state's responsibility for solid waste planning, management, regulation, enforcement, technical assistance, and public education required under chapter 70.95 RCW;

(c) The hazardous waste clean-up program required under this chapter;

(d) State matching funds required under federal cleanup law;

(e) Financial assistance for local programs in accordance with chapters 70.95, 70.95C, 70.95I, and 70.105 RCW;

(f) State government programs for the safe reduction, recycling, or disposal of paint and hazardous wastes from households, small businesses, and agriculture;

(g) Oil and hazardous materials spill prevention, preparedness, training, and response activities;

(h) Water and environmental health protection and monitoring programs;

(i) Programs authorized under chapter 70.146 RCW;

(j) A public participation program;

(k) Public funding to assist potentially liable persons to pay for the costs of remedial action in compliance with clean-up standards under RCW 70.105D.030(2)(e) but only when the amount and terms of such funding are established under a settlement agreement under RCW 70.105D.040(4) and when the director has found that the funding will achieve both: (i) A substantially more expeditious or enhanced cleanup than would otherwise occur; and (ii) the prevention or mitigation of unfair economic hardship;

(l) Development and demonstration of alternative management technologies designed to carry out the hazardous waste management priorities of RCW 70.105.150;

(m) State agriculture and health programs for the safe use, reduction, recycling, or disposal of pesticides;

(n) Stormwater pollution control projects and activities that protect or preserve existing remedial actions or prevent hazardous clean-up sites;

(o) Funding requirements to maintain receipt of federal funds under the federal solid waste disposal act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 6901 et seq.);

(p) Air quality programs and actions for reducing public exposure to toxic air pollution;

(q) Public funding to assist prospective purchasers to pay for the costs of remedial action in compliance with clean-up standards under RCW 70.105D.030(2)(e) if:

(i) The facility is located within a redevelopment opportunity zone designated under RCW 70.105D.150;

(ii) The amount and terms of the funding are established under a settlement agreement under RCW 70.105D.040(5); and

(iii) The director has found the funding meets any additional criteria established in rule by the department, will achieve a substantially more expeditious or enhanced cleanup than would otherwise occur, and will provide a public benefit in addition to cleanup commensurate with the scope of the public funding;

(r) Petroleum-based plastic or expanded polystyrene foam debris cleanup activities in fresh or marine waters;

(s) Appropriations to the local toxics control account or the environmental legacy stewardship account created in RCW 70.105D.170, if the legislature determines that priorities for spending exceed available funds in those accounts;

(t) During the 2015-2017 and 2017-2019 fiscal biennia, the department of ecology's water quality, shorelands, environmental assessment, administration, and air quality programs;

(u) During the 2013-2015 fiscal biennium, actions at the state conservation commission to improve water quality for shellfish;

(v) During the 2013-2015 and 2015-2017 fiscal biennia, actions at the University of Washington for reducing ocean acidification;

(w) During the 2015-2017 and 2017-2019 fiscal biennia, for the University of Washington Tacoma soil remediation project;

(x) For the 2013-2015 fiscal biennium, moneys in the state toxics control account may be spent on projects in section 3160, chapter 19, Laws of 2013 2nd sp. sess. and for transfer to the local toxics control account;

(y) For the 2013-2015 fiscal biennium, moneys in the state toxics control account may be transferred to the radioactive mixed waste account; and

(z) For the 2015-2017 and 2017-2019 fiscal biennia, forest practices regulation at the department of natural resources.

(4)(a) The department shall use moneys deposited in the local toxics control account for grants or loans to local governments for the following purposes in descending order of priority:

(i) Extended grant agreements entered into under (e)(i) of this subsection;

(ii) Remedial actions, including planning for adaptive reuse of properties as provided for under (e)(iv) of this subsection. The department must prioritize funding of remedial actions at:

(A) Facilities on the department's hazardous sites list with a high hazard ranking for which there is an approved remedial action work plan or an equivalent document under federal cleanup law;

(B) Brownfield properties within a redevelopment opportunity zone if the local government is a prospective purchaser of the property and there is a department-approved remedial action work plan or equivalent document under the federal cleanup law;

(iii) Stormwater pollution source projects that: (A) Work in conjunction with a remedial action; (B) protect completed remedial actions against recontamination; ((or)) (C) prevent hazardous clean-up sites; or (D) hasten the recovery of Puget Sound;

(iv) Hazardous waste plans and programs under chapter 70.105 RCW;

(v) Solid waste plans and programs under chapters 70.95, 70.95C, 70.95I, and 70.105 RCW;

(vi) Petroleum-based plastic or expanded polystyrene foam debris cleanup activities in fresh or marine waters; and

(vii) Appropriations to the state toxics control account or the environmental legacy stewardship account created in RCW 70.105D.170, if the legislature determines that priorities for spending exceed available funds in those accounts.

(b) Funds for plans and programs must be allocated consistent with the priorities and matching requirements established in chapters 70.105, 70.95C, 70.95I, and 70.95 RCW.

(c) During the 2013-2015 fiscal biennium, the local toxics control account may also be used for local government stormwater planning and implementation activities.

(d) During the 2013-2015 fiscal biennium, the legislature may transfer from the local toxics control account to the state general fund, such amounts as reflect the excess fund balance in the account.

(e) To expedite cleanups throughout the state, the department may use the following strategies when providing grants to local governments under this subsection:

(i) Enter into an extended grant agreement with a local government conducting remedial actions at a facility where those actions extend over multiple biennia and the total eligible cost of those actions exceeds twenty million dollars. The agreement is subject to the following limitations:

(A) The initial duration of such an agreement may not exceed ten years. The department may extend the duration of such an agreement upon finding substantial progress has been made on remedial actions at the facility;

(B) Extended grant agreements may not exceed fifty percent of the total eligible remedial action costs at the facility; and

(C) The department may not allocate future funding to an extended grant agreement unless the local government has demonstrated to the department that funds awarded under the agreement during the previous biennium have been substantially expended or contracts have been entered into to substantially expend the funds;

(ii) Enter into a grant agreement with a local government conducting a remedial action that provides for periodic reimbursement of remedial action costs as they are incurred as established in the agreement;

(iii) Enter into a grant agreement with a local government prior to it acquiring a property or obtaining necessary access to conduct remedial actions, provided the agreement is conditioned upon the local government acquiring the property or obtaining the access in accordance with a schedule specified in the agreement;

(iv) Provide integrated planning grants to local governments to fund studies necessary to facilitate remedial actions at brownfield properties and adaptive reuse of properties following remediation. Eligible activities include, but are not limited to: Environmental site assessments; remedial investigations; health assessments; feasibility studies; site planning; community involvement; land use and regulatory analyses; building and infrastructure assessments; economic and fiscal analyses; and any environmental analyses under chapter 43.21C RCW;

(v) Provide grants to local governments for remedial actions related to area-wide groundwater contamination. To receive the funding, the local government does not need to be a potentially liable person or be required to seek reimbursement of grant funds from a potentially liable person;

(vi) The director may alter grant matching requirements to create incentives for local governments to expedite cleanups when one of the following conditions exists:

(A) Funding would prevent or mitigate unfair economic hardship imposed by the clean-up liability;

(B) Funding would create new substantial economic development, public recreational opportunities, or habitat restoration opportunities that would not otherwise occur; or

(C) Funding would create an opportunity for acquisition and redevelopment of brownfield property under RCW 70.105D.040(5) that would not otherwise occur;

(vii) When pending grant applications under (e)(iv) and (v) of this subsection (4) exceed the amount of funds available, designated redevelopment opportunity zones must receive priority for distribution of available funds.

(f) To expedite multiparty clean-up efforts, the department may purchase remedial action cost-cap insurance. For the 2013-2015 fiscal biennium, moneys in the local toxics control account may be spent on projects in sections 3024, 3035, 3036, and 3059, chapter 19, Laws of 2013 2nd sp. sess.

(5) Except for unanticipated receipts under RCW 43.79.260 through 43.79.282, moneys in the state and local toxics control accounts may be spent only after appropriation by statute.

(6) No moneys deposited into either the state or local toxics control account may be used for: Natural disasters where there is no hazardous substance contamination; high performance buildings; solid waste incinerator facility feasibility studies, construction, maintenance, or operation; or after January 1, 2010, for projects designed to address the restoration of Puget Sound, funded in a competitive grant process, that are in conflict with the action agenda developed by the Puget Sound partnership under RCW 90.71.310. However, this subsection does not prevent an appropriation from the state toxics control account to the department of revenue to enforce compliance with the hazardous substance tax imposed in chapter 82.21 RCW.

(7) Except during the 2011-2013 and the 2015-2017 fiscal biennia, one percent of the moneys collected under RCW 82.21.030 shall be allocated only for public participation grants to persons who may be adversely affected by a release or threatened release of a hazardous substance and to not-for-profit public interest organizations. The primary purpose of these grants is to facilitate the participation by persons and organizations in the investigation and remedying of releases or threatened releases of hazardous substances and to implement the state's solid and hazardous waste management priorities. No grant may exceed sixty thousand dollars. Grants may be renewed annually. Moneys appropriated for public participation that are not expended at the close of any biennium revert to the state toxics control account.

(8) The department shall adopt rules for grant or loan issuance and performance. To accelerate both remedial action and economic recovery, the department may expedite the adoption of rules necessary to implement chapter 1, Laws of 2013 2nd sp. sess. using the expedited procedures in RCW 34.05.353. The department shall initiate the award of financial assistance by August 1, 2013. To ensure the adoption of rules will not delay financial assistance, the department may administer the award of financial assistance through interpretive guidance pending the adoption of rules through July 1, 2014.

(9) Except as provided under subsection (3)(k) and (q) of this section, nothing in chapter 1, Laws of 2013 2nd sp. sess. affects the ability of a potentially liable person to receive public funding.

(10) During the 2015-2017 fiscal biennium the local toxics control account may also be used for the centennial clean water program and for the stormwater financial assistance program administered by the department of ecology.

(11) During the 2017-2019 biennium the state toxics control account, the local toxics control account, and the environmental legacy stewardship account may be used for interchangeable purposes and funds may be transferred between accounts to accomplish those purposes.

Sec. 5.  RCW 70.105D.120 and 2007 c 341 s 31 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) When administering funds under this chapter, the department shall give preference only to Puget Sound partners, as defined in RCW 90.71.010, in comparison to other entities that are eligible to be included in the definition of Puget Sound partner. Entities that are not eligible to be a Puget Sound partner due to geographic location, composition, exclusion from the scope of the Puget Sound action agenda developed by the Puget Sound partnership under RCW 90.71.310, or for any other reason, shall not be given less preferential treatment than Puget Sound partners.

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