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ENGROSSED SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 1922
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State of Washington 54th Legislature 1995 Regular Session
By House Committee on Transportation (originally sponsored by Representatives K. Schmidt and R. Fisher)
Read first time 02/22/95.
AN ACT Relating to vessels providing excursion services; adding new sections to chapter 81.84 RCW; 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 81.84 RCW to read as follows:
As used in this chapter:
(1) "Excursion service" means the carriage or conveyance of persons for compensation over the waters of this state from a point of origin and returning to the point of origin with an intermediate stop or stops at which passengers leave the vessel and reboard before the vessel returns to its point of origin.
(2) "Charter service" means the hiring of a vessel, with captain and crew, by a person or group for carriage or conveyance of persons or property.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. A new section is added to chapter 81.84 RCW to read as follows:
(1) Unless expressly exempted in section 3 of this act, no vessel may provide excursion service over the waters of this state without first having obtained a certificate of public convenience and necessity as provided in RCW 81.84.010.
(2) Vessels providing excursion service must comply with all provisions of this chapter and rules of the commission adopted under this chapter.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. A new section is added to chapter 81.84 RCW to read as follows:
This chapter does not apply to the following vessels or operations:
(1) Charter services;
(2) Vessels that depart and return to the point of origin without stopping at another location within the state where passengers leave the vessel;
(3) Vessels operated by not-for-profit or governmental entities that are replicas of historic vessels or that are recognized by the United States department of the interior as national historical landmarks;
(4) Excursion services that:
(a) Originate from a point of origin in the San Juan Islands and make one or more stops, all within the San Juan Islands, before returning to the point of origin;
(b) Do not depart from the point of origin on a regular published schedule;
(c) Do not operate between the same point of origin and the same intermediate stop more than four times in any month or more than fifteen times during any twelve-month period;
(d) Use vessels that do not return to the point of origin on the day of departure; or
(e) Use vessels less than sixty-five feet in length with a United States Coast Guard certificate that limits them to thirty-five passengers or less.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. 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 takes effect immediately.
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