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                            SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 1437

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State of Washington              54th Legislature             1995 Regular Session

By House Committee on Natural Resources (originally sponsored by Representatives Foreman, Chandler, Mastin and B. Thomas)

Read first time 02/20/95.

Revising lease rates for amateur radio electronic repeater sites.

     AN ACT Relating to lease rates for amateur radio repeater sites; and amending RCW 79.12.025.

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

     Sec. 1.  RCW 79.12.025 and 1988 c 209 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:

     The department of natural resources shall determine the lease rate for amateur radio electronic repeater sites and units available for public service communication.  ((For the first repeater unit placed at a department communication site by an amateur radio lessee eligible for a reduced rate under this section, the lessee shall pay fifty percent of the amateur radio rental established by the department.  For any subsequent repeater unit placed at the same facility by an eligible amateur radio lessee, the lessee shall pay twenty-five percent of the rental established by the department)) For the amateur operator to qualify for a rent of one hundred dollars per year per site, the amateur operator shall do one of the following:  (1) Register and remain in good standing with the state's radio amateur civil emergency services and amateur radio emergency services organizations, or (2) if an amateur group, sign a statement of public service developed by the department.

The legislature's biennial appropriations shall account for the estimated difference between the one hundred dollar per year, per site, per lessee paid by the qualified amateur operators and the fair market amateur rent, as established by the department.

     The amateur radio regulatory authority approved by the federal communication commission shall assign the radio frequencies used by amateur radio lessees.  The department shall develop guidelines to determine which lessees are to receive reduced rental fees as moneys are available by legislative appropriation to pay a portion of the rent for electronic repeaters operated by amateur radio operators.

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