HOUSE BILL REPORT
SSB 5209
As Passed House - Amended:
April 5, 1995
Title: An act relating to the extension of water or sewer systems outside of existing corporate boundaries.
Brief Description: Authorizing the extension of water or sewer service within an approved coordinated water system plan service area.
Sponsors: Senate Committee on Government Operations (originally sponsored by Senators McCaslin, Haugen, Swecker, Drew, Schow, Heavey and Winsley).
Brief History:
Committee Activity:
Government Operations: 3/21/95, 3/24/95 [DPA].
Floor Activity:
Amended.
Passed House: 4/5/95, 95-0.
HOUSE COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS
Majority Report: Do pass as amended. Signed by 15 members: Representatives Reams, Chairman; Goldsmith, Vice Chairman; L. Thomas, Vice Chairman; Rust, Ranking Minority Member; Scott, Assistant Ranking Minority Member; Chopp; R. Fisher; Hargrove; Honeyford; Hymes; Mulliken; D. Schmidt; Sommers; Van Luven and Wolfe.
Staff: Bill Lynch (786-7092).
Background: A county boundary review board may review, approve, disapprove, or modify a proposal to extend sewer or water service outside of the existing boundaries of a city, town, or special purpose district. The jurisdiction of the boundary review board may be invoked if three members of a five-member board, or five members of a board in a county with a population of one million or more, file a request for review.
Review by the boundary review board may also be triggered by the request of any governmental unit affected by the proposed action or by a petition signed by either 5 percent of the registered voters in the affected area, or by the owners of 5 percent of the assessed valuation of real property in the affected area.
The boundary review board may not invoke its own jurisdiction if the extension of water or sewer service involves water mains of six inches or less in diameter; sewer mains of eight inches or less in diameter; or the county is planning under the Growth Management Act and the county legislative authority, by majority vote, has waived the authority of the boundary review board to initiate review of such extensions.
Summary of Bill: A boundary review board has no jurisdiction to review an extension of water service or sewer service by a city, town, or special purpose district if the extension is within the jurisdiction's service area.
The service area for water service includes the corporate boundaries of the jurisdiction and those areas outside the corporate boundaries which it has been designated to serve pursuant to an approved coordinated water system plan. The service area for sewer service includes the corporate boundaries of the jurisdiction and the area outside the corporate boundaries it is designated to serve pursuant to an approved comprehensive sewerage plan.
Appropriation: None.
Fiscal Note: Not requested.
Effective Date of Bill: The bill contains an emergency clause and takes effect immediately.
Testimony For: Boundary review board review of these extensions are not necessary because the coordinated water system plans and the comprehensive sewerage plans provide sufficient process. The county acts as the lead agency for both plans. A school district in Spokane is experiencing difficulty building a school because of delay before a boundary review board.
Testimony Against: Boundary review boards serve an important role in handling contested cases. This bill is in reaction to a single incident in which jurisdiction of the boundary review board was invoked by the county and not the board.
Testified: Joe Daniels, Washington State Water/Wastewater Association; Barbara Mertens, Washington Association of School Administrators; Jim McDivatt and Susan Eldore, Whitworth Water District; and Alda Wilkinson, Washington State Association of Boundary Review Boards.