BP BHEAD INT H

AN ACT Relating to refunding motor vehicle fuel and special fuel taxes to Indian tribes; amending RCW 82.36.010; adding new sections to chapter 82.36 RCW; and adding a new section to chapter 82.38 RCW.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. A tribe may receive a refund of the amount of motor vehicle fuel excise tax and special fuel tax that a seller, distributor, or dealer of the fuel has paid to the state and passed on to or collected in full from a tribe, an enrolled tribal member, or a tribal business. The amount of the refund is measured by the gallons of the fuel that are:

(1) Delivered into and stored at the tribe's bulk fuel storage facilities on the reservation and used solely for tribal business;

(2) Resold at a pump by a tribal business operating a tribally licensed filling station to enrolled tribal members by deposit directly into the fuel tank of a motor vehicle owned or leased by them; or

(3) Resold at the pump by a tribal business operating a tribally licensed filling station to a tribe or tribal business by deposit directly into the fuel tank of a tribal vehicle.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. Refunds under section 1 of this act must be made upon application by the tribes. The refund process must be that set out in RCW 82.36.270, 82.36.310, and 82.38.190.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. To be eligible for the refund under section 1 of this act, a tribe shall maintain records for five years. The tribe shall permit the state or its officers, agents, or designees, to inspect and copy these records. The records include:

(1) The quantity of all motor vehicle fuel and all special fuel sold, distributed to, or otherwise obtained by the tribe;

(2) The quantity of all motor fuel and all special fuel delivered to the tribe's bulk fuel storage facilities;

(3) The quantity of all motor vehicle fuel and all special fuel withdrawn from the tribe's bulk storage facilities;

(4) The identity of each vehicle for which motor vehicle fuel or special fuel is withdrawn from the tribe's bulk storage facilities;

(5) The identity of the tribal programs or tribal businesses for which all motor vehicle fuel and special fuel withdrawn from the tribe's bulk storage facilities; and

(6) The identity, tribal number, and quantity bought of each individual who purchases motor vehicle fuel or special fuel from a tribal business operating a tribally licensed filling station on the reservation.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. A tribe may only purchase fuel from persons who are properly licensed in Washington state to distribute fuel or act as a special fuel dealer or supplier in accordance with this chapter or chapter 82.38 RCW. Tribes shall cause all tribal businesses and tribally licensed filling stations to buy only from those properly licensed persons.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. Sections 1 through 4 of this act do not preclude a tribe from becoming a distributor or special fuel dealer.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. It is an unfair method of competition for a tribe, a tribal business, or a tribal member to sell motor vehicle fuel or special fuel to any nontribal member at a price below the purchase price of that fuel plus all applicable federal and state taxes.

Sec. 7. RCW 82.36.010 and 1993 c 54 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:

For the purposes of this chapter:

(1) "Motor vehicle" means every vehicle that is in itself a self-propelled unit, equipped with solid rubber, hollow-cushion rubber, or pneumatic rubber tires and capable of being moved or operated upon a public highway, except motor vehicles used as motive power for or in conjunction with farm implements and machines or implements of husbandry;

(2) "Motor vehicle fuel" means gasoline or any other inflammable gas or liquid, by whatsoever name such gasoline, gas, or liquid may be known or sold, the chief use of which is as fuel for the propulsion of motor vehicles or motorboats;

(3) "Distributor" means every person who refines, manufactures, produces, or compounds motor vehicle fuel and sells, distributes, or in any manner uses it in this state; also every person engaged in business as a bona fide wholesale merchant dealing in motor vehicle fuel who either acquires it within the state from any person refining it within or importing it into the state, on which the tax has not been paid, or imports it into this state and sells, distributes, or in any manner uses it in this state; also every person who acquires motor vehicle fuel, on which the tax has not been paid, and exports it by commercial motor vehicle as defined in RCW 82.37.020 to a location outside the state. For the purposes of liability for a county fuel tax, "distributor" has that meaning defined in the county ordinance imposing the tax;

(4) "Service station" means a place operated for the purpose of delivering motor vehicle fuel into the fuel tanks of motor vehicles;

(5) "Department" means the department of licensing;

(6) "Director" means the director of licensing;

(7) "Dealer" means any person engaged in the retail sale of liquid motor vehicle fuels;

(8) "Person" means every natural person, firm, partnership, association, or private or public corporation;

(9) "Highway" means every way or place open to the use of the public, as a matter of right, for purposes of vehicular travel;

(10) "Broker" means every person, other than a distributor, engaged in business as a broker, jobber, or wholesale merchant dealing in motor vehicle fuel or other petroleum products used or usable in propelling motor vehicles, or in other petroleum products which may be used in blending, compounding, or manufacturing of motor vehicle fuel;

(11) "Producer" means every person, other than a distributor, engaged in the business of producing motor vehicle fuel or other petroleum products used in, or which may be used in, the blending, compounding, or manufacturing of motor vehicle fuel;

(12) "Distribution" means all withdrawals of motor vehicle fuel for delivery to others, to retail service stations, or to unlicensed bulk storage plants;

(13) "Bulk storage plant" means, pursuant to the licensing provisions of RCW 82.36.070, any plant, under the control of the distributor, used for the storage of motor vehicle fuel to which no retail outlets are directly connected by pipe lines;

(14) "Marine fuel dealer" means any person engaged in the retail sale of liquid motor vehicle fuel whose place of business and or sale outlet is located upon a navigable waterway;

(15) "Alcohol" means alcohol that is produced from renewable resources;

(16) "Electronic funds transfer" means any transfer of funds, other than a transaction originated by check, draft, or similar paper instrument, which is initiated through an electronic terminal, telephonic instrument, or computer or magnetic tape so as to order, instruct, or authorize a financial institution to debit or credit an account;

(17) "Tribal business" means a business that is wholly owned and operated by a tribe;

(18) "Tribe" means an Indian tribe located within this state and recognized as a government entity by the United States department of the interior.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 8. A new section is added to chapter 82.38 RCW to read as follows:

Sections 1 through 6 of this act apply to this chapter.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 9. Sections 1 through 6 of this act are each added to chapter 82.36 RCW.