[Order 19-09—Filed January 16, 2019, 8:52 a.m., effective January 16, 2019, 8:52 a.m.]

Effective Date of Rule: Immediately upon filing.

Purpose: Amends recreational fishing rules for Grande Ronde, Snake, Touchet, Tucannon, and Walla Walla rivers.

Citation of Rules Affected by this Order: Amending WAC 220-312-050.

Statutory Authority for Adoption: RCW 77.04.012, 77.04.020, 77.12.045, and 77.12.047.

Under RCW 34.05.350 the agency for good cause finds that immediate adoption, amendment, or repeal of a rule is necessary for the preservation of the public health, safety, or general welfare, and that observing the time requirements of notice and opportunity to comment upon adoption of a permanent rule would be contrary to the public interest.

Reasons for this Finding: This emergency rule is necessary [to] reduce the steelhead daily limit for the Grande Ronde, Snake, Touchet, Tucannon, and Walla Walla rivers. The 2018 Columbia River forecasted return for upriver steelhead was one hundred ninety thousand three hundred fifty. The U.S. v. Oregon Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) met on August 26 to review the A/B-Index steelhead passage at Bonneville Dam. TAC downgraded the total expected A/B-Index steelhead run size at Bonneville to ninety-six thousand five hundred. The run was adjusted again on September 25 to a total of ninety-two thousand eight hundred A/B-Index steelhead with sixty-nine thousand five hundred clipped and twenty-eight thousand three hundred unclipped fish. With continued concerns between comanagers for A run steelhead and impacts to wild fish it is important to reduce limits to protect steelhead within these systems. There is insufficient time to adopt permanent rules.

Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Comply with Federal Statute: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Federal Rules or Standards: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Recently Enacted State Statutes: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.

Number of Sections Adopted at the Request of a Nongovernmental Entity: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.

Number of Sections Adopted on the Agency's own Initiative: New 1, Amended 0, Repealed 0.

Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Clarify, Streamline, or Reform Agency Procedures: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.

Number of Sections Adopted using Negotiated Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Pilot Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Other Alternative Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.

Date Adopted: January 15, 2019.

WAC 220-312-05000ZFreshwater exceptions to statewide rules—Eastside.

Notwithstanding the provisions of WAC 220-312-050, effective immediately through April 15, 2019:

(1) Grande Ronde River (Asotin County): from the mouth to the Washington/Oregon boundary: Steelhead daily limit is 1 hatchery steelhead, anglers must stop fishing for steelhead once their daily limit has been retained.

(2) Snake River (Franklin/Walla Wall Counties): effective immediately through March 31, 2019: from the Burbank-to-Pasco railroad bridge at river mile 1.25 upstream to the Oregon State line: Steelhead: daily limit 1 hatchery steelhead, anglers must stop fishing for steelhead once their daily limit has been retained.

(3) Touchet River (Walla Walla County): from mouth to the confluence of North and South Forks: Steelhead daily limit is 1 hatchery steelhead, anglers must stop fishing for steelhead once their daily limit has been retained.

(4) Tucannon River (Columbia/Garfield Counties): from mouth to the Tucannon Hatchery Road Bridge: Steelhead daily limit is 1 hatchery steelhead, anglers must stop fishing for steelhead once their daily limit has been retained.

(5) Walla Walla River (Walla Walla County): from mouth to the Washington/Oregon border: Steelhead daily limit is 1 hatchery steelhead, anglers must stop fishing for steelhead once their daily limit has been retained.

Reviser's note: The typographical error in the above section occurred in the copy filed by the agency and appears in the Register pursuant to the requirements of RCW 34.08.040.