Passed by the Senate March 10, 2008 YEAS 29 NAYS 17 BRAD OWEN ________________________________________ President of the Senate Passed by the House March 7, 2008 YEAS 51 NAYS 41 FRANK CHOPP ________________________________________ Speaker of the House of Representatives		CERTIFICATE I, Thomas Hoemann, Secretary of the Senate of the State of Washington, do hereby certify that the attached is ENGROSSED SENATE BILL 5751 as passed by the Senate and the House of Representatives on the dates hereon set forth. THOMAS HOEMANN ________________________________________ Secretary
Approved April 1, 2008, 3:34 p.m. CHRISTINE GREGOIRE ________________________________________ Governor of the State of Washington		FILED April 2, 2008 Secretary of State State of Washington

Read first time 01/31/2007. Referred to Committee on Labor, Commerce, Research & Development.

AN ACT Relating to wine and beer tasting; creating a new section; and providing an expiration date.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   (1) The liquor control board shall establish a pilot project to allow beer and wine tasting in grocery stores licensed under RCW 66.24.360.
     (a) The pilot project shall consist of thirty locations with at least six tastings to be conducted at each location between October 1, 2008, and September 30, 2009. However, no licensee may hold more than one tasting per month during the project period.
     (b) The pilot project locations shall be determined by the board and must be equally allocated between independently owned grocery stores and national chain grocery stores.
     (c) Licensees chosen to participate in the pilot project must meet the following criteria:
     (i) Their primary activity is the retail sale of grocery products for off-premises consumption; and
     (ii) They operate a fully enclosed retail area encompassing at least nine thousand square feet.
     (d) Tasting activities of licensees under this section are subject to RCW 66.28.010 and 66.28.040 and the cost of sampling may not be borne, directly or indirectly, by any liquor manufacturer, importer, or distributor.
     (e) A "tasting" may be conducted under the following conditions:
     (i) Each sample must be two ounces or less, up to a total of four ounces, per customer;
     (ii) No more than one sample of any single brand and type of beer or wine may be provided to a customer during any one visit to the premises; and
     (iii) The licensee must have food available for the tasting participants.
     (f) The service area and facilities must be located within the licensee's fully enclosed retail area, and must be of a size and design such that the licensee can observe and control persons in the area to ensure that persons under twenty-one years of age and apparently intoxicated persons cannot possess or consume alcohol. Customers must remain in the service area while consuming samples.
     (g) The licensee may only advertise the tasting event within the store.
     (h) The board may prohibit tasting at a pilot project location that is within the boundaries of an alcohol impact area recognized by resolution of the board if the board finds that the tasting activities at the location are having an adverse effect on the reduction of chronic public inebriation in the area.
     (i) All other criteria needed to establish and monitor the pilot project shall be determined by the board.
     (j) The board shall report on the pilot project to the appropriate committees of the legislature by December 1, 2009.
     (2) The liquor control board shall adopt rules to implement this section. The rules must include a requirement that employees of licensees under RCW 66.24.360 and 66.24.371 who are involved in tasting activities complete a board-approved limited alcohol server training program that addresses only those subjects reasonably related to the licensees' tasting activities.