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ENGROSSED SUBSTITUTE SENATE BILL NO. 5533
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AS AMENDED BY THE HOUSE
C 408 L 87
State of Washington 50th Legislature 1987 Regular Session
By Senate Committee on Natural Resources (originally sponsored by Senators DeJarnatt, Bluechel, Owen, Zimmerman, Bottiger, Kiskaddon, Conner, Nelson, Tanner, Moore, Rinehart, Williams and Garrett)
Read first time 3/5/87.
AN ACT Relating to the preparation of an ocean resources assessment; and creating new sections.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds that:
(1) The marine waters off Washington's coast and the shorelands in proximity to the Pacific Ocean contain human, environmental, and natural resource values which are important to Washington citizens and businesses, and which should receive full consideration prior to any decision to lease portions of the outer continental shelf for oil and gas exploration and development;
(2) These resources include those related to recreational development, commercial fisheries development and management, effective use of coastal communities, ports and harbors, and the beneficial use and protection of shorelands and marine waters;
(3) The United States department of the interior, mineral management service, is planning to conduct a sale of oil and gas lease tracts off Washington's coast in 1991;
(4) The mineral management service will sponsor studies beginning in 1989 to gather human, environmental, and resource information for their environmental impact statement and they will ask Washington state for guidance and suggestions on particular topics of study;
(5) In other offshore regions of the United States, the lack of scientific information has impaired the ability of coastal states to direct oil and gas activity to those areas where the potential benefits are greatest and the environmental risks the least significant. A comprehensive scientific understanding of coastal and marine resources will enhance efforts to protect vital state interests;
(6) The state of Washington must begin in 1987 to conduct a review of existing data, studies and expertise about the marine waters off Washington's coast and the shorelands in proximity to the Pacific Ocean in order to select the best topics for study to be sponsored by the mineral management service; and
(7) The information collected and analyzed will be useful to the economic development and marine resource protection interests of the state.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. The director of the Washington state sea grant program shall administer the ocean resources assessment for Washington to conduct a comprehensive synthesis and analysis of existing data, studies, and expertise about human, environmental, and natural resource values that are associated with and potentially affected by an oil and gas lease sale on the outer continental shelf adjacent to the coast of Washington; and, to identify gaps in knowledge, and research plans to fill those gaps, that should occur before leasing takes place. To assist the director of the Washington state sea grant program in establishing priorities for the ocean resources assessment, an advisory group consisting of representatives of the Senate and the House of Representatives, the state departments of ecology, agriculture, natural resources, parks and recreation, fisheries, game, trade and economic development, community development and tribal authorities, as well as a citizens' group, is created.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. The director of the Washington sea grant program shall select particular investigators to perform the assessment through submission of proposals and a peer-review selection process that will be open to any qualified individual. The tasks to be undertaken and the criteria for proposal submission and review shall be determined by the provisions of this act and by the director of the Washington sea grant program in consultation with tribal nations and the state departments of ecology, agriculture, parks and recreation, trade and economic development, natural resources, fisheries, game, and community development.
The synthesis and analysis shall result in maps and technical reports summarizing relevant information and synthesizing existing data, and it shall result in a detailed plan for studies to address human, environmental, and natural resources issues related to outer continental shelf leasing.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. The director of the Washington sea grant program shall submit the assessment to the 1989 legislature on the results of the information gathered by the investigators.
The assessment shall consider topics of potential use in the minerals management service environmental impact statement and shall include, as a minimum, the following:
(1) Socioeconomic studies such as recreational and fisheries development, use of ports and shorelands, Indian treaty rights, fishing patterns and management plans, oil-spill contingency planning, and multiple-use conflicts;
(2) Water column and biological studies such as primary productivity, circulation, hydrography and nutrients, plankton and benthos, crabs, shrimp, groundfish, pelagic and anadromous fish, seabirds, and mammals; and
(3) Environmental quality studies assessing issues such as biogeochemistry, pollutants, transport of drilling muds and oil, and fish behavior.
The director of the Washington sea grant program may issue periodic reports to the governor and the legislature.