AN ACT Relating to the sale of deficit timber volume from public lands; adding a new chapter to Title 79 RCW; providing an effective date; and declaring an emergency.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds that:

(1) The even-flow sustained harvest of timber from state lands provides a beneficial, regular flow of revenue to the trust beneficiaries of lands administered by the department of natural resources;

(2) The well-being of the state depends upon the stability of jobs for its citizens in harvesting, manufacturing, and marketing of forest products;

(3) A reduction in the volume of timber harvested from lands administered by the department of natural resources has resulted in a decline in revenue to schools, universities, counties, and other trust beneficiaries;

(4) A deficit exists in the volume of timber sold by the department of natural resources compared to the sustainable harvest level;

(5) The forest products industry faces severe and increasing economic difficulties as a result of the shortage of supply of logs from public lands; and

(6) The state has been deprived of employment in an industry which has traditionally been a major economic contributor to the welfare of the state's economy.

Therefore, the legislature deems it essential to the health, safety, and welfare of the state's citizens to enact legislation which assures the regular sale and harvest of timber from public lands in the state at rates commensurate with the sustainable harvest capacity of state lands to produce continuous crops of timber.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter.

(1) "Board" means the board of natural resources.

(2) "Commissioner" means the commissioner of public lands.

(3) "Department" means the department of natural resources.

(4) "Public lands" means all lands owned or administered by the state or a political subdivision of the state administered by the department of natural resources on the effective date of this act and are not devoted to or reserved for a particular use by law, other than timber production.

(5) "Sustainable harvest" means the amount of timber which can be harvested on a continuing basis without prolonged curtailment or succession of harvest from lands which are primarily valuable for the purpose of growing forest crops.

(6) "Sustainable harvest level" means the volume of timber sold for harvest from public lands for any period as calculated by the department of natural resources and adopted by the board of natural resources.

(7) "Defaulted" means the volume remaining when a contractor fails to meet the terms of the sales contract at the completion date of the contract or any extension thereof and timber returned to the state under RCW 79.01.1331 through 79.01.1339.

(8) "Deficit" means all timber defaulted or otherwise terminated and returned to the department unharvested from July 1, 1979, until June 30, 1985, plus any difference between the sustainable harvest level and the actual board sales level during the period from July 1, 1980, through June 30, 1984.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. (1) The department shall sell the sustainable harvest level during the period of fiscal year 1984 through fiscal year 1993 as adopted by the board of natural resources, plus the deficit.

(2) In eliminating the deficit in selling the sustainable harvest level by the end of fiscal year 1993, the total volume of timber sold each year shall not vary by more than twenty-five percent from the average necessary to eliminate the deficit by the end of fiscal year 1993.

(3) At least fifty percent of the additional volume offered for sale to make up the deficit during fiscal years 1985 through 1989 shall be sold on a payment schedule basis of equal monthly or quarterly payments due over the period of the sale, which shall not exceed two years. In no case shall the value of the timber removed exceed the value of the timber payments made.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. The commissioner shall adopt rules as are needed for the administration of this chapter.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. Sections 1 through 4 of this act shall constitute a new chapter in Title 79 RCW.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. If any provision of this act or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the act or the application of the provision to other persons or circumstances is not affected.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. This act is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, and safety, the support of the state government and its existing public institutions, and shall take effect July 1, 1985. The commissioner of public lands is authorized to immediately take such steps as are necessary to insure that this act is implemented on its effective date.