WSR 07-07-047

PROPOSED RULES

HORSE RACING COMMISSION


[ Filed March 13, 2007, 12:04 p.m. ]

     Supplemental Notice to WSR 06-05-075.

     Preproposal statement of inquiry was filed as WSR 05-14-069.

     Title of Rule and Other Identifying Information: Chapter 260-20 WAC, Association grounds.

     Hearing Location(s): Marcus Whitman Hotel and Conference Center, 6 West Rose Street, Walla Walla, WA 99362, on May 18, 2007, at 1:00 p.m.

     Date of Intended Adoption: May 18, 2007.

     Submit Written Comments to: Robert J. Lopez, 6326 Martin Way, Suite 209, Olympia, WA 98516-5578, e-mail rlopez@whrc.state.wa.us, fax (360) 459-6461, by May 14, 2007.

     Assistance for Persons with Disabilities: Contact Patty Sorby by May 14, 2007, TTY (360) 459-6462.

     Purpose of the Proposal and Its Anticipated Effects, Including Any Changes in Existing Rules: By amending chapter 260-20 WAC the agency intends to modernize our rules as part of our regulatory reform effort and to also write and organize our rules in a more clear and concise manner so they are more easily understood by those to whom they apply.

     Reasons Supporting Proposal: The current effort will modernize our rules and repeal a number of rules that have not been updated since 1961.

     Statutory Authority for Adoption: RCW 67.16.020.

     Rule is not necessitated by federal law, federal or state court decision.

     Name of Proponent: Washington horse racing commission, governmental.

     Name of Agency Personnel Responsible for Drafting: Robert J. Lopez, 6326 Martin Way, Suite 209, Olympia, WA 98516-5578, (360) 459-6462; Implementation and Enforcement: Robert M. Leichner, 6326 Martin Way, Suite 209, Olympia, WA 98516-5578, (360) 459-6462.

     No small business economic impact statement has been prepared under chapter 19.85 RCW. Not applicable.

     A cost-benefit analysis is not required under RCW 34.05.328. Not applicable.

March 13, 2007

R. J. Lopez

Deputy Secretary

OTS-8634.3


NEW SECTION
WAC 260-20-005   General duty of a racing association.   A racing association, its officers, directors, officials and employees will abide by and enforce the rules of racing and the orders of the commission and stewards. A racing association may request an exemption from a requirement in this chapter to utilize new technology or innovative construction in the design of the racetrack facilities. The commission may grant an exemption if the commission determines that the racing association's proposal substantially satisfies the purpose of the requirement, and the exemption is in the best interests of horse racing.

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AMENDATORY SECTION(Amending Rules of racing, filed 4/21/61)

WAC 260-20-010   Duty to maintain ((race track)) racetrack.   ((Racing associations shall at all times maintain their race tracks in good condition and with a special consideration for the comfort and safety of the public, of the horses stabled, exercising or entered to race thereat, and of all whose business requires their attendance thereat; and to this end shall have available adequate and proper implements to maintain a uniform track, weather conditions permitting.)) Weather conditions permitting, the racing association must:

     (1) Maintain their racetrack in a condition that is safe for the riders and horses; and

     (2) Have implements available to maintain a uniform track.

[Rules of racing, § 335, filed 4/21/61.]


NEW SECTION
WAC 260-20-012   Audio and visual equipment.   (1) A racing association must provide and maintain a working communication system between the stewards' stand, race office, tote room, jockeys' quarters, paddock, test barn, starting gate, weigh-in scale, video camera locations, clockers' stand, track announcer, location of the aid vehicle and equine ambulance, and other locations and persons designated by the commission or designee.

     (2) A racing association must have a public address system capable of clearly transmitting announcements to the patrons and to the stable area.

     (3) If the commission does not provide photo finish service, a racing association is required to:

     (a) Provide two electronic photo finish devices with mirror image to photograph the finish of each race. The commission, or designee will approve the location and operation of the photo finish devices before their first use in a race.

     (b) Promptly post a photograph or digital image of each photo finish for win, place or show in an area accessible to the public.

     (c) Ensure the photo finish devices are calibrated before the first day of each race meet and at other times as required by the commission, or designee.

     (d) Provide, when requested, and without cost, a print of a photo finish to the commission, or designee.

     (4) A racing association must provide an electronic timing system that records the time of each race in at least fifths of a second. The association will maintain this system and all split time marker sensors in good working order.

     (5) A racing association must provide a videotaping system approved by the commission, or designee. Cameras must be located to provide clear panoramic and head-on views of each race. Separate monitors, which simultaneously display the images received from each camera and are capable of simultaneously displaying a synchronized view of the recordings of each race for review, will be provided in the stewards' stand. The commission, or designee will approve the location and construction of video towers.

     (a) One camera will videotape the prerace loading of all horses into the starting gate and will continue to videotape them until the starter dispatches the field.

     (b) One camera will videotape the apparent winner of each race from the finish line until the horse has returned, the jockey has dismounted, and the equipment has been removed from the horse.

     (c) The board of stewards may, at their discretion, direct the video camera operators to videotape the activities of any horses or persons handling horses prior to, during or following a race.

     (6) Races run at a Class A or B track must be recorded by at least three video cameras. Races run at a Class C track must be recorded by at least two video cameras.

     (7) A racing association must, upon request, provide to the commission, without cost, a copy of a videotape of a race.

     (8) Videotapes recorded prior to, during and following each race will be maintained by the association for not less than six months after the end of the race meet, or such other period as is directed by the stewards, the commission, or designee.

     (9) A racing association must provide an area where an owner, trainer, jockey, or other interested individual may view a videotape recording of a race.

     (10) Following any race in which there is an inquiry or objection, the association will display to the public the videotaped replays of the incident in question, which were utilized by the stewards in making their decision.

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NEW SECTION
WAC 260-20-013   Racetrack, rails and starting gate.   (1) The surface of a racetrack, including the cushion, subsurface and base, must be designed, constructed and maintained to provide for the safety of the riders and horses.

     (2) Prior to the first race meet at an association racetrack, a licensed surveyor may be required to provide to the commission a certified report of the grade and measurement of the distances to be run. If required, the surveyor's report must be submitted to the commission for approval prior to the first race day of the meet.

     (3) Distances to be run will be measured from the starting line at a distance three feet out from the inside rail.

     (4) A racing association will provide a drainage system for the racetrack.

     (5) A racing association will provide backup equipment for maintaining the track surface. An association that conducts races on a turf track will:

     (a) Maintain an adequate stockpile of growing medium; and

     (b) Provide a system capable of adequately watering the entire turf course evenly.

     (6) Racetracks, including turf tracks, will have inside and outside rails, including gap rails, designed, constructed and maintained to provide for the safety of riders and horses.

     The top of the rail must be at least thirty-eight inches but not more than forty-two inches above the top of the cushion. The commission, or designee must approve the design and construction of rails prior to the first race at the track.

     (7) During racing hours, Class A and B associations must provide at least two operable padded starting gates. Class C associations must provide at least one operable padded starting gate. The stewards will approve all starting gates.

     (8) A racing association must make at least one starting gate and qualified starting gate personnel available for schooling during designated training hours.

     (9) A racing association will ensure that an adequate amount of assistant starters are available for each horse in an official race.

     (10) If a race is started at a place other than in a chute, the association will provide backup equipment for moving the starting gate. The backup equipment must be immediately available to replace the primary moving equipment in the event of failure.

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NEW SECTION
WAC 260-20-015   Lighting.   (1) A racing association will provide lighting for the racetrack and the patron facilities to ensure the safety and security of the patrons, licensees and horses.

     (2) A racing association will provide additional lighting in the stable area.

     (3) If a racing association conducts racing at night, the association will maintain a backup lighting system that is sufficient to ensure the safety of race participants and patrons.

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NEW SECTION
WAC 260-20-016   Barns.   (1) All racing associations will ensure that the barns are kept clean and in good repair. At Class A and B racing associations, each barn, including the receiving and test barns, must have a hot and cold water supply available, be well-ventilated, and have proper drainage.

     (2) All racing associations will ensure that each horse is stabled in an individual box stall with minimum dimensions of ten by ten feet.

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NEW SECTION
WAC 260-20-017   Test barn.   (1) All racing associations must provide a test barn for taking specimens for testing. The test barn must be equipped with:

     (a) A walk ring that is large enough to accommodate four horses;

     (b) An approved amount of enclosed stalls that permit observation of the collection process and provide for the protection of collection personnel;

     (c) Facilities for the collection, identification and storage of samples;

     (d) A wash-rack that is large enough to accommodate an adequate number of horses at the same time;

     (e) Hot and cold running water at Class A and B racing associations.

     (2) A racing association will limit access to the test barn to persons authorized by the official veterinarian.

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AMENDATORY SECTION(Amending Order 79-05, filed 12/17/79)

WAC 260-20-030   Fire prevention.   ((Associations shall make reasonable provisions for fire prevention, protection against fire, and fire suppression within the enclosure. Smoking is prohibited in barns (except tackrooms), stables, shedrows, hay sheds, and any area prohibited by state or local law.)) (1) A racing association will develop and implement a program for fire prevention on association grounds. An association will instruct employees working on association grounds of the procedures for fire prevention. The racing association must retain inspection reports for three years and upon request make them available to the commission, or designee.

     (2) No person may:

     (a) Smoke in stalls, feed rooms, dormitory rooms, stable offices, or under shed rows;

     (b) Tamper with a fire protection, prevention or suppression system or device;

     (c) Burn open fires or oil and gas lamps in the stable area;

     (d) Leave unattended any electrical appliance that is plugged in to an electrical outlet;

     (e) Permit horses to come within reach of electrical outlets or cords;

     (f) Store flammable materials such as cleaning fluids or solvents in the stable area; or

     (g) Lock a stall that is occupied by a horse.

     (3) A racing association must post a notice in the stable area that lists the prohibitions outlined above.

[Statutory Authority: RCW 67.16.020 and 67.16.040. 80-01-033 (Order 79-05), § 260-20-030, filed 12/17/79; Rules of racing, § 26, filed 4/21/61.]


AMENDATORY SECTION(Amending Rules of racing, filed 4/21/61)

WAC 260-20-040   ((Credentials for)) Admission to grounds((, stables, and enclosures)) -- Restricted areas.   ((No one shall)) (1) A person may only be permitted to enter ((in or about the grounds, stables or stable enclosures who does not have in his possession)) the restricted areas of the racing association grounds under the following conditions:

     (a) The person possesses a license or credentials issued by the commission ((as owner, trainer, jockey, apprentice, agent, stable foreman, groom, exercise boy, plater, valet or veterinarian, or proper credentials)).

     (b) The person possesses a pass issued by the association((, and a full record of these credentials shall [be] compiled and open to inspection at all times)).

     (c) The person has been signed-in by a person licensed by the commission.

     (2) The restricted areas of a racing association will include, but not be limited to the stable area, and the jockey's quarters.

     (3) Children may be granted access to the stable areas as long as they are in the company of a parent or guardian who has a properly issued license, credential, or pass.

     (4) Persons escorted by a licensee must remain in the company of the licensee who signed them in.

     (5) At a Class C racing association, the stable areas will not be considered a restricted area, except that the racing association may limit access to this area.

     (6) Passes must be displayed while in a restricted area.

[Rules of racing, § 339, filed 4/21/61.]


AMENDATORY SECTION(Amending Rules of racing, filed 4/21/61)

WAC 260-20-050   ((Badges and)) Passes.   ((No tax free badge or pass may be issued to any horseman, in any capacity, without the approval of the commission; all badges or passes so approved must be recorded in a book kept by the racing secretary and each badge or pass must be numbered and kept in numerical order in the records; the commission shall have the right at all times to inspect such records.)) The racing association may issue passes to allow access to restricted areas of the grounds. Each pass must be numbered and kept in numerical order in the association's records. The commission may inspect these records at any time.

[Rules of racing, § 244, filed 4/21/61.]


AMENDATORY SECTION(Amending Order 81-01, filed 3/24/81)

WAC 260-20-075   Firearms prohibited on association grounds.   ((Each racing association shall exclude from its grounds any person found to have firearms in his possession, except security personnel employed by the association or commission and law enforcement officers. Any licensee or permit holder who brings firearms onto the grounds of any racing association, except security personnel and law enforcement officers, may be subject to revocation or suspension of such license or permit, and any other authorized penalty the stewards may deem necessary.)) Firearms are not permitted on the grounds of any racing association, except by security personnel employed by the association and law enforcement officers. Any person who brings or possesses firearms on the grounds may be suspended and/or ejected from the grounds.

[Statutory Authority: RCW 67.16.020 and 67.16.040. 81-08-013 (Order 81-01), § 260-20-075, filed 3/24/81.]


AMENDATORY SECTION(Amending Rules of racing, filed 4/21/61)

WAC 260-20-090   Association((s to maintain police and watchman service -- List)) security.   ((Each association shall maintain and furnish complete police and watchman service night and day in and about all stable enclosures and furnish to the commission each day a complete tabulation list thereof, showing name, duty, place stationed and portions of enclosures supervised by such policeman and watchman.)) (1) A racing association conducting a race meet must maintain security controls over its grounds.

     (2) An association will prevent access to, and will remove or cause to be removed from its restricted areas any person who is unlicensed, or who has not been issued a visitor's pass or other identifying credential, or whose presence in such restricted area is unauthorized.

     (3) Class A or B racing associations must provide continuous security in the stable area during all times that horses are stabled on the grounds. An association will require any person entering the stable area to display a valid license or credential issued by the commission or a pass issued by the association.

     (4) Class A or B racing associations must provide fencing around the stable area in a manner that is approved by the commission.

     (5) Not later than twenty-four hours after an incident occurs requiring the attention of security personnel, the chief of security must deliver to commission security a written report describing the incident, which may be forwarded to the stewards for disciplinary action. The report must include the name of each individual involved in the incident and the circumstances of the incident.

[Rules of racing, § 336, filed 4/21/61.]


AMENDATORY SECTION(Amending Rules of racing, filed 4/21/61)

WAC 260-20-160   ((Ambulances.)) Medical aid.   ((Racing associations shall furnish and maintain both a man ambulance and a horse ambulance each day that their tracks may be opened for racing or exercising horses, equipped and ready for immediate duty.)) (1) A racing association must provide a vehicle properly equipped and staffed with two emergency medical technicians for each day that the track is open for racing, and one emergency medical technician during the hours the track is open for training.

     (2) A Class A or B racing association must also provide a first-aid room equipped with at least two beds and other appropriate equipment.

[Rules of racing, § 329, filed 4/21/61.]


NEW SECTION
WAC 260-20-165   Equine ambulance.   (1) A racing association must provide an equine ambulance staffed by trained personnel on association grounds each day that the racetrack is open for racing or training. The ambulance must be properly ventilated and kept at an entrance to the racing strip when not in use. The ambulance must be a vehicle that restricts view of the injured horse and large enough to accommodate a horse in distress. The ambulance must be able to navigate on the racetrack during all weather conditions and transport a horse off the racing surface. The ambulance must be equipped with:

     (a) Large, portable screens to shield a horse from public view;

     (b) A system to facilitate loading an injured horse;

     (c) Adequate means of loading a horse that is down;

     (d) A rear door and a door on each side;

     (e) A shielded area for the person who is attending to the horse; and

     (f) An adequate area for the storage of water and veterinary drugs and equipment.

     (2) A racing association may not conduct a race unless an equine ambulance or an official veterinarian approved substitute is available.

     (3) The official veterinarian, its supplies and attendants and the operating procedures for the equine ambulance are subject to review and approval by the official veterinarian.

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AMENDATORY SECTION(Amending Rules of racing, filed 4/21/61)

WAC 260-20-180   ((Sanitary)) Facilities for jockeys.   Each racing association ((shall make such sanitary arrangements as baths, toilets, etc., for the use of jockeys, as may be reasonably required by the commission, the same to be conveniently located on the grounds)) will provide facilities for the use of jockeys separate from the public areas.

[Rules of racing, § 331, filed 4/21/61.]


AMENDATORY SECTION(Amending Rules of racing, filed 4/21/61)

WAC 260-20-190   Living quarters for stable employees.   ((Each)) Class A and B racing associations ((shall)) will provide ((adequate and)) sanitary living quarters((, with proper sanitary arrangements pertaining thereto, for stable employees)) for grooms and other stable employees.

[Rules of racing, § 332, filed 4/21/61.]


AMENDATORY SECTION(Amending Rules of racing, filed 4/21/61)

WAC 260-20-210   Manure and refuse disposal.   Each racing association ((shall)) will provide ((proper and well located boxes or pits for separately receiving stable manure and other refuse, situated well distant from living quarters, and such boxes and pits shall be emptied and their contents entirely removed from the premises of the association daily, and the area sprayed or dusted for insects each day)) an adequate area for the placement of manure removed from the stalls. All manure must be removed from the stable area in a timely manner.

[Rules of racing, § 334, filed 4/21/61.]


AMENDATORY SECTION(Amending Rules of racing, filed 3/11/65)

WAC 260-20-220   Standard color designations for distance poles.   ((The distance poles shall be)) A racing association must provide starting point markers and distance poles in a size and position that is clearly seen from the stewards' stand. The starting point markers and distance poles must be marked as follows:

1/4 Poles Red and White Horizontal Stripes
1/8 Poles Green and White Horizontal Stripes
1/16 Poles Black and White Horizontal Stripes

[Rules of racing, § 424, filed 3/11/65.]


REPEALER

     The following sections of the Washington Administrative Code are repealed:
WAC 260-20-020 Duty of commission employees relative to health, safety, and order.
WAC 260-20-060 Unauthorized persons -- Exclusion from stables.
WAC 260-20-070 Unauthorized persons -- Exclusion from paddock.
WAC 260-20-100 Responsibility of police and watchmen -- Letter of instructions.
WAC 260-20-110 Stable enclosures -- Fencing -- Admission to.
WAC 260-20-120 Report by bureau or security officer of arrests and bookings.
WAC 260-20-130 Report by officer in charge of night force.
WAC 260-20-140 Electric timing apparatus.
WAC 260-20-150 Patron gates.
WAC 260-20-170 First-aid equipment and personnel.
WAC 260-20-200 Drinking water, toilets, for patrons and invitees.

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