HOUSE BILL REPORT

                  HB 1553

             As Reported By House Committee on:

               Capital Facilities & Financing

Title:  An act relating to public works projects.

Brief Description:  Allowing counties to meet solid waste disposal standards.

Sponsor(s):  Representatives Haugen, Ferguson, H. Sommers, Sprenkle, Morris, Zellinsky, Holland, Wood and Kremen.

Brief History:

  Reported by House Committee on:

Capital Facilities & Financing, February 15, 1991, DP.

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON

CAPITAL FACILITIES & FINANCING

Majority Report:  Do pass.  Signed by 10 members:  Representatives H. Sommers, Chair; Rasmussen, Vice Chair; Schmidt, Ranking Minority Member; Neher, Assistant Ranking Minority Member; Beck; Casada; Fraser; Jacobsen; Ogden; and Wang. 

Staff:  Susan Kavanaugh (786-7130).

Background:  The Public Works Trust Fund makes low-interest loans to local governments for the repair, improvement or replacement of roads, bridges, water systems and storm or sanitary sewers. 

When the Public Works Trust Fund was begun seven years ago,  solid waste was not as pressing a concern to local governments as it is now.  Today, compliance with standards for solid waste disposal strains the financial capacity of many counties and cities. 

Revenues to the fund have grown dramatically in recent years.

Summary of Bill:  This bill adds repair, replacement or improvement of existing solid waste systems to the list of public works projects that may be financed with loans from the Public Works Trust Fund.

Fiscal Note:  Not requested.

Effective Date:  Ninety days after adjournment of session in which bill is passed.

Testimony For:  New standards strain local resources.  This bill will help counties and cities.  The board intends to limit solid waste loans to 25 percent of total and projects to $2.5 million.

Testimony Against:  None.

Witnesses:  In favor:  Pete Butkus, Public Works Board Staff; John Horsley, Kitsap County Commissioner; and Jim Justin, Association of Washington Cities.