BILL REQ. #:  S-3696.1 

Read first time 01/12/12.   Referred to Committee on Agriculture, Water & Rural Economic Development.

     AN ACT Relating to modifying the definition of certain agricultural terms to be consistent with other state laws; and amending RCW 90.48.450.

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

Sec. 1   RCW 90.48.450 and 1981 c 297 s 31 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) Prior to issuing a notice of violation related to discharges from agricultural activity on agricultural land, the department shall consider whether an enforcement action would contribute to the conversion of agricultural land to nonagricultural uses. Any enforcement action shall attempt to minimize the possibility of such conversion.
     (2) As used in this section:
     (a) "Agricultural activity" means ((the growing, raising, or production of horticultural or viticultural crops, berries, poultry, livestock, grain, mint, hay and dairy products)) an agricultural use and practice, including but not limited to: Producing, breeding, or increasing agricultural products; rotating and changing agricultural crops; allowing land used for agricultural activities to lie fallow in which it is plowed and tilled but left unseeded; allowing land used for agricultural activities to lie dormant as a result of adverse agricultural market conditions; allowing land used for agricultural activities to lie dormant because the land is enrolled in a local, state, or federal conservation program, or the land is subject to a conservation easement; conducting agricultural operations; maintaining, repairing, and replacing agricultural equipment; maintaining, repairing, and replacing agricultural facilities; and maintaining agricultural lands under production or cultivation.
     (b) "Agricultural land" means ((at least five acres of land devoted primarily to the commercial production of livestock or agricultural commodities)) those specific land areas on which agriculture activities are conducted.