H-2892.1
HOUSE BILL 2273
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State of Washington | 64th Legislature | 2015 2nd Special Session |
By Representatives Buys, Blake, Johnson, and Haler
Read first time 06/26/15. Referred to Committee on Agriculture & Natural Resources.
AN ACT Relating to developing a preemptive plan to guide the state's response to any potential outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza; creating a new section; and providing an expiration date.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. (1) The department of agriculture shall develop a preemptive plan to guide the state's response to any potential outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza, or HPAI, in the state of Washington. The plan developed under this section must represent the total proposed response should HPAI be detected in Washington and identify the planned responses by all state and local agencies during all phases of the response, including detection, control, communication, and carcass disposal.
(2) The department of agriculture must develop the plan required under this section in partnership with:
(a) All other state agencies potentially involved in responding to HPAI, including the department of health, the state board of health, the department of ecology, and the department of fish and wildlife;
(b) Representatives of local government and local health districts;
(c) Representatives of any interested and willing federal agencies, including the United States department of agriculture and the centers for disease control and prevention; and
(d) Representatives of the poultry, egg, and other potentially affected industries.
(3) The plan developed under this section may be based on national response plans but must be tailored to the unique aspects of Washington's avian population, industry structures, physical geography, and economic markets. Examples of state-specific elements include:
(a) Strategies for communicating to, and accessing the flocks of, the owners of small scale, or backyard, avian flocks that do not actively participate in traditional industry structures; and
(b) Strategies for disposing of a large number of avian carcasses in a manner that is safe, sanitary, feasible, and acceptable under all relevant environmental laws, public health laws, and regulations implemented by state agencies, local governments, and public health districts.
(4) The plan developed under this section must be completed no later than September 30, 2015. The department of agriculture must report to the legislature, consistent with RCW
43.01.036, if the implementation of this section uncovers any impediments in state statute that limits the state's ability to effectively respond to an HPAI outbreak.
(5) This section expires June 30, 2016.
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