AN ACT Relating to
marine safety field operations; amending RCW 90.56.510; adding a new section to
chapter 88.46 RCW; creating a new section; providing an effective date; and
declaring an emergency.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF
WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec.
1. A new section is added
to chapter 88.46 RCW to read as follows:
(1) The office shall
establish a field operations program to enforce the provisions of this
chapter. The field operations program shall include, but is not limited to,
the following elements:
(a) Education and
public outreach;
(b) Review of
lightering and bunkering operations to prevent oil spills;
(c) Evaluation and
boarding of tank vessels for compliance with prevention plans prepared pursuant
to this chapter;
(d) Evaluation and
boarding of covered vessels that may pose a substantial risk to the public
health, safety, and the environment;
(e) Evaluation and
boarding of covered vessels for compliance with rules adopted by the office to
implement recommendations of regional marine safety committees; and
(f) Collection of
vessel information to assist in identifying vessels which pose a substantial
risk to the public health, safety, and the environment.
(2) The office shall
coordinate the field operations program with similar activities of the United
States coast guard. To the extent feasible, the office shall coordinate its
boarding schedules with those of the United States coast guard to reduce the
impact of boardings on vessel operators, to more efficiently use state and
federal resources, and to avoid duplication of United States coast guard
inspection operations.
(3) In developing and
implementing the field operations program, the office shall give priority to
activities designed to identify those vessels which pose the greatest risk to
the waters of the state. The office shall consult with the marine
transportation industry, individuals concerned with the marine environment,
other state and federal agencies, and the public in developing and implementing
the program required by this section.
Sec. 2. RCW 90.56.510 and 1992 c
73 s 41 are each amended to read as follows:
(1) The oil
spill administration account is created in the state treasury. All receipts
from RCW 82.23B.020(2) shall be deposited in the account. Moneys from the
account may be spent only after appropriation. The account is subject to
allotment procedures under chapter 43.88 RCW. On July 1 of each odd-numbered
year, if receipts deposited in the account from the tax imposed by RCW
82.23B.020(2) for the previous fiscal biennium exceed the amount appropriated
from the account for the previous fiscal biennium, the state treasurer shall
transfer the amount of receipts exceeding the appropriation to the oil spill
response account. If, on the first day of any calendar month, the balance of
the oil spill response account is greater than twenty-five million dollars and
the balance of the oil spill administration account exceeds the unexpended
appropriation for the current biennium, then the tax under RCW 82.23B.020(2)
shall be suspended on the first day of the next calendar month until the
beginning of the following biennium, provided that the tax shall not be
suspended during the last six months of the biennium. If the tax imposed under
RCW 82.23B.020(2) is suspended during two consecutive biennia, the department
shall by November 1st after the end of the second biennium, recommend to the
appropriate standing committees an adjustment in the tax rate. For the period
1991‑93 the state treasurer may transfer funds from the oil spill
response account to the oil spill administration account in amounts necessary
to support appropriations made from the oil spill administration account in the
omnibus appropriations act.
(2) Expenditures
from the oil spill administration account shall be used exclusively for the
administrative costs related to the purposes of this chapter, and chapters
90.48, 88.40, and 88.46 RCW. Starting with the 1995-1997 biennium, the
legislature shall give activities of state agencies related to prevention of
oil spills priority in funding from the oil spill administration account.
Costs of administration include the costs of:
(((1))) (a)
Routine responses not covered under RCW 90.56.500;
(((2))) (b)
Management and staff development activities;
(((3))) (c)
Development of rules and policies and the state-wide plan provided for in RCW
90.56.060;
(((4))) (d)
Facility and vessel plan review and approval, drills, inspections,
investigations, enforcement, and litigation;
(((5))) (e)
Interagency coordination and public outreach and education;
(((6))) (f)
Collection and administration of the tax provided for in chapter 82.23B RCW;
and
(((7))) (g)
Appropriate travel, goods and services, contracts, and equipment.
NEW SECTION. Sec.
3. The legislature
recognizes that by directing the establishment of a field operations program, there
may not be sufficient funds in future biennia to continue funding all
activities currently paid for out of the oil spill administration account. In
order to assure that sufficient funds will be available for spill prevention
and response activities in future biennia, the marine oversight board shall:
Study the expenditures from the oil spill administration account and recommend
to the governor and the appropriate standing committees priority activities for
funding with an emphasis on prevention of oil spills; and study the need for
additional sources of funding for the account. The marine oversight board
shall report its findings not later than November 1, 1993.
NEW SECTION. Sec.
4. If any provision of this
act or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the
remainder of the act or the application of the provision to other persons or
circumstances is not affected.
NEW
SECTION. Sec. 5. This act is necessary for
the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety, or support
of the state government and its existing public institutions, and shall take
effect July 1, 1993.
