PREPROPOSAL STATEMENT OF INQUIRY
Subject of Possible Rule Making: Amending the rules governing the conduct and use within state highway safety rest areas.
Statutes Authorizing the Agency to Adopt Rules on this Subject: RCW 43.38.010 authorizes the department of transportation and the Washington state patrol (WSP) to jointly adopt rules governing the conduct and use at safety rest areas.
Reasons Why Rules on this Subject may be Needed and What They Might Accomplish: At safety rest areas throughout the state, people are parking their vehicles and leaving for the day, returning at night to pick up their cars, or they park at the safety rest area each night, spending multiple nights, living in their vehicle on state property. This activity ties up space for weary travelers in need of a place to stop and rest, and it effectively reduces the capacity of the facility. A change in the WAC is necessary to provide WSP a better tool to enforce parking time restrictions, especially at those rest areas being used as a park and ride.
Other Federal and State Agencies that Regulate this Subject and the Process Coordinating the Rule with These Agencies: The WSP and the Federal Highway Administration also regulate this subject, and have been included in the rule discussions.
Process for Developing New Rule: Agency study.
Interested parties can participate in the decision to adopt the new rule and formulation of the proposed rule before publication by contacting Judy M. Hockett, Safety Rest Area Operations Coordinator, Transportation Building, P.O. Box 47358, Olympia, WA 98504-7358, phone (360) 705-7849, fax (360) 705-6823.
February 27, 2008
Stephen T. Reinmuth
Chief of Staff