WSR 16-07-094
PERMANENT RULES
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH
[Filed March 18, 2016, 10:10 a.m., effective April 18, 2016]
Effective Date of Rule: Thirty-one days after filing.
Purpose: The purpose of the rule making is to equitably assess the costs of commercial geoduck paralytic shellfish poison (PSP) testing. The cost assessment will follow the annual redistribution formula which is based on the number of tests done in the previous year. The testing is essential to public health as it is the only way to determine if dangerous levels of PSP exist in commercial geoduck and ensure toxic shellfish do not reach consumers.
Citation of Existing Rules Affected by this Order: Amending WAC 246-282-990.
Statutory Authority for Adoption: RCW 43.70.250.
Other Authority: RCW 60.30.005.
Adopted under notice filed as WSR 16-04-041 on January 27, 2016.
Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Comply with Federal Statute: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Federal Rules or Standards: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Recently Enacted State Statutes: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted at Request of a Nongovernmental Entity: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted on the Agency's Own Initiative: New 0, Amended 1, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Clarify, Streamline, or Reform Agency Procedures: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted Using Negotiated Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Pilot Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Other Alternative Rule Making: New 0, Amended 1, Repealed 0.
Date Adopted: March 9, 2016.
Clark Halvorson
Assistant Secretary
AMENDATORY SECTION (Amending WSR 16-01-041, filed 12/9/15, effective 1/9/16)
WAC 246-282-990 Fees.
(1) The required annual shellfish operation license fees for shellstock shippers and shucker-packers due October 1, 2011, shall be reduced by twenty-five percent of the annual shellfish operation license fees in subsection (2) of this section. Beginning July 1, 2012, and for every subsequent year, the full annual shellfish operation license fees in subsection (2) of this section shall be assessed.
(2) Annual shellfish operation license fees are:
Type of Operation
Annual Fee
 
Harvester
$263
 
Shellstock Shipper
 
 
 
0 - 49 Acres
$297
 
 
50 or greater Acres
$476
 
Scallop Shellstock Shipper
$297
 
Shucker-Packer
 
 
Plants with floor space < 2000 sq. ft.
$542
 
 
 
 
Plants with floor space 2000 sq. ft. to 5000 sq. ft.
$656
 
 
Plants with floor space ˃ 5000 sq. ft.
 
$1,210
(3) The fee for each export certificate is $55.00.
(4) Annual biotoxin testing fees for companies harvesting species other than geoduck intertidally (between the extremes of high and low tide) are as follows:
Fee Category
 
 
Type of Operation
Number of
Harvest Sites
Fee
Harvester
≤ 2
 
$353
Harvester
3 or more
 
$535
Shellstock Shipper
 
 
$198
 
Wholesale
 
Company
 
 
 
Shellstock Shipper
≤ 2
 
$393
 
0 - 49 acres
Shellstock Shipper
3 or more
 
$610
 
0 - 49 acres
Shellstock Shipper
N/A
 
$961
 
50 or greater acres
Shucker-Packer
≤ 2
 
$752
 
(plants < 2000 ft2)
Shucker-Packer
3 or more
 
$1,076
 
(plants < 2000 ft2)
Shucker-Packer
≤ 2
 
$882
 
(plants 2000 - 5000 ft2)
Shucker-Packer
3 or more
 
$1,297
 
(plants 2000 - 5000 ft2)
Shucker-Packer
N/A
 
$2,412
 
(plants ˃ 5000 ft2)
(a) The number of harvest sites will be the total number of harvest sites on the licensed company's harvest site certificate:
(i) At the time of first licensure; or
(ii) January 1st of each year for companies licensed as harvesters; or
(iii) July 1st of each year for companies licensed as shellstock shippers and shucker packers.
(b) Two or more contiguous parcels with a total acreage of one acre or less is considered one harvest site.
(5) Annual PSP testing fees for companies harvesting geoduck are as follows:
Harvester
Fee
Baywater, Inc.
$655
Department of natural resources (quota tracts harvested by DNR contract holders)
$((10,670))
11,305
Discovery Bay Shellfish
$((1,135))
492
Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe
$((1,589))
1,802
Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe
$((2,384))
3,932
Lummi Nation
$((227))
492
Nisqually Tribe
$((5,902))
328
Port Gamble S'Klallam Tribe
$((1,362))
1,802
Puyallup Tribe of Indians
$((8,286))
7,537
Skokomish Indian Tribe
$((114))
2,294
Squaxin Island Tribe
$((3,292))
328
Suquamish Tribe
$((15,093))
20,644
Swinomish Tribe
$((1,022))
819
Tulalip Tribe
$((6,924))
5,571
(6) Fees must be paid in full to department of health before a commercial shellfish license is issued or renewed.
(7) Refunds for fees will be given only if the applicant withdraws a new or renewal license application prior to the effective date of the new or renewed license.