H-1697.1

HOUSE BILL 2126


State of Washington	64th Legislature	2015 Regular Session

By Representatives Holy, Blake, Kretz, Buys, Schmick, and Condotta

Read first time 02/16/15. Referred to Committee on Agriculture & Natural Resources.

AN ACT Relating to initiating the adaptive management program within the forests and fish law to ensure that no proposed timber harvest is negatively affected solely due to its proximity to a stream that is not a fish bearing stream; creating a new section; and providing an expiration date.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. (1) The forest practices board must direct and engage the adaptive management process outlined in WAC 222-12-045, and prioritize a work plan for the cooperative monitoring evaluation and research committee and the timber/fish/wildlife policy committee created in the same rule, to evaluate the stream typing system in the forest practices rules and ensure that no proposed timber harvest is denied, delayed, or conditioned solely on its proximity to a stream that is not a fish bearing stream. For the purposes of this section and the required adaptive management process, a "fish bearing stream" is a stream segment with any surface location where a measureable flow of water of one cubic foot per second or more exists for at least one period of thirty continuous days during the previous sixty months.

(2) By October 31, 2016, the forest practices board must issue a report to the legislature, consistent with RCW 43.01.036, that details the adaptive management process required to be initiated under this section and the resulting changes to the forest practices rules that ensures no proposed timber harvest is denied, delayed, or conditioned solely on its proximity to a stream that is not a fish bearing stream. If no changes to the forest practices rules are completed by October 31, 2016, then the report required under this section must explain why a rule change was not necessary to accomplish the goals of this section.