SENATE BILL REPORT

                   HB 2611

              As Reported By Senate Committee On:

           Government Operations, February 23, 1996

Title:  An act relating to significant historic places.

Brief Description:  Designating significant historic places.

Sponsors:  Representatives Skinner, Romero and Jacobsen.

Brief History:

Committee Activity:  Government Operations:  2/15/96, 2/23/96 [DP].

SENATE COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS

Majority Report:  Do pass.

  Signed by Senators Haugen, Chair; Sheldon, Vice Chair; Goings, Hale, Heavey and Winsley.

Staff:  Diane Smith (786-7410)

Background:  The director of the Department of Community, Trade, and Economic Development, or the director's designee, is authorized to prepare comprehensive statewide surveys and plans, and to research and evaluate surveyed resources for the preparation of nominations to the State and National Registers of Historic Places.  The director maintains the state register which is composed of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects significant in American or Washington State history, architecture, archaeology, and culture.

The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation is composed of nine members appointed by the Governor.  The advisory council is responsible for advising the Governor and the Department of Community, Trade, and Economic Development on matters relating to historic preservation, recommending measures to coordinate activities relating to historic preservation, and advising on the dissemination of materials pertaining to historic preservation.  Nominations to the State and National Registers of Historic Places must be in accordance with criteria approved by the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation.

The advisory council also reviews and recommends nominations for the State and National Register of Historic Places to the State Historic Preservation Officer and the director of the Department of Community, Trade, and Economic Development.

Summary of Bill:  The State Register of Historic Places is renamed the Washington Heritage Register.  Language is added to clarify that nominations to the Washington Heritage Register must comply with rules adopted by the Department of Community, Trade, and Economic Development instead of the standards and rules adopted by the United States Secretary of the Interior.  

The authority for the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation to review and recommend nominations for the state register is deleted.  The criteria approved by the advisory council for nominations to the heritage register must still be followed.

Appropriation:  None.

Fiscal Note:  Not requested.

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

Testimony For:  This bill makes the process of preparing and submitting a nomination accessible to the average individual.  It reduces the need for hiring expensive consultants and doing extensive research.  It allows many sites that don't meet national standards to be eligible for the State Register.

Testimony Against:  None.

Testified:  Mary Thompson, Office of Archaeology and Historic Preservation.