AN ACT
Relating to dam safety inspections; amending RCW 43.21A.064, 86.16.025, and
90.03.350; reenacting and amending RCW 86.16.035; adding a new section to
chapter 43.21A RCW; and creating a new section.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE
OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec.
1. The
legislature finds and declares:
(1)
The federal energy regulatory commission, under the federal power act, licenses
hydropower projects in navigable waters and regularly and extensively inspects
facilities for safety; and
(2)
Nothing in this act alters or affects the department of ecology's authority
to: (a) Participate in the federal process of licensing hydropower projects;
or (b) ensure that hydropower projects comply with federal statutes such as the
coastal zone management act and the clean water act and, subject to section 2
of this act, all applicable state law.
NEW SECTION. Sec.
2. A new section is added to
chapter 43.21A RCW to read as follows:
(1)
With respect to the safety of any dam, canal, ditch, hydraulic power plant,
reservoir, project, or other work, system, or plant that requires a license
under the federal power act, no licensee shall be required to:
(a)
Submit proposals, plans, specifications, or other documents for approval by the
department;
(b)
Seek a permit, license, or other form, permission, or authorization from the
department;
(c)
Submit to inspection by the department; or
(d)
Change the design, construction, modification, maintenance, or operation of
such facilities at the demand of the department.
(2)
For the purposes of this section, "licensee" means an owner or
operator, or any employee thereof, of a dam, canal, ditch, hydraulic power
plant, reservoir, project, or other work, system, or plant that requires a
license under the federal power act.
Sec.
3. RCW
43.21A.064 and 1977 c 75 s 46 are each amended to read as follows:
Subject
to section 2 of this act, the director of the department of ecology shall
have the following powers and duties:
(1)
The supervision of public waters within the state and their appropriation,
diversion, and use, and of the various officers connected therewith;
(2)
Insofar as may be necessary to assure safety to life or property, he shall
inspect the construction of all dams, canals, ditches, irrigation systems,
hydraulic power plants, and all other works, systems, and plants pertaining to
the use of water, and he may require such necessary changes in the construction
or maintenance of said works, to be made from time to time, as will reasonably
secure safety to life and property;
(3) He
shall regulate and control the diversion of water in accordance with the rights
thereto;
(4) He
shall determine the discharge of streams and springs and other sources of water
supply, and the capacities of lakes and of reservoirs whose waters are being or
may be utilized for beneficial purposes;
(5) He
shall keep such records as may be necessary for the recording of the financial
transactions and statistical data thereof, and shall procure all necessary
documents, forms, and blanks. He shall keep a seal of the office, and all
certificates by him covering any of his acts or the acts of his office, or the
records and files of his office, under such seal, shall be taken as evidence
thereof in all courts;
(6) He
shall render when required by the governor, a full written report of the work
of his office with such recommendations for legislation as he may deem
advisable for the better control and development of the water resources of the
state;
(7)
The director and duly authorized deputies may administer oaths;
(8) He
shall establish and promulgate rules governing the administration of chapter
90.03 RCW;
(9) He
shall perform such other duties as may be prescribed by law.
Sec.
4. RCW
86.16.025 and 1989 c 64 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
Subject
to section 2 of this act, with respect to such features as may affect flood
conditions, the department shall have authority to examine, approve or reject
designs and plans for any structure or works, public or private, to be erected
or built or to be reconstructed or modified upon the banks or in or over the
channel or over and across the floodway of any stream or body of water in this
state.
Sec.
5. RCW
86.16.035 and 1987 c 523 s 9 and 1987 c 109 s 53 are each reenacted and amended
to read as follows:
Subject
to section 2 of this act, the department of ecology shall have supervision
and control over all dams and obstructions in streams, and may make reasonable
regulations with respect thereto concerning the flow of water which he deems
necessary for the protection to life and property below such works from flood
waters.
Sec.
6. RCW
90.03.350 and 1994 c 232 s 20 are each amended to read as follows:
Except
as provided in section 2 of this act, any person, corporation or
association intending to construct or modify any dam or controlling works for
the storage of ten acre feet or more of water, shall before beginning said
construction or modification, submit plans and specifications of the same to
the department for examination and approval as to its safety. Such plans and
specifications shall be submitted in duplicate, one copy of which shall be
retained as a public record, by the department, and the other returned with its
approval or rejection endorsed thereon. No such dam or controlling works shall
be constructed or modified until the same or any modification thereof shall
have been approved as to its safety by the department. Any such dam or
controlling works constructed or modified in any manner other than in
accordance with plans and specifications approved by the department or which
shall not be maintained in accordance with the order of the department shall be
presumed to be a public nuisance and may be abated in the manner provided by
law, and it shall be the duty of the attorney general or prosecuting attorney of
the county wherein such dam or controlling works, or the major portion thereof,
is situated to institute abatement proceedings against the owner or owners of
such dam or controlling works, whenever he or she is requested to do so by the
department.
A
metals mining and milling operation regulated under chapter 232, Laws of 1994
is subject to additional dam safety inspection requirements due to the special
hazards associated with failure of a tailings pond impoundment. The department
shall inspect these impoundments at least quarterly during the project's
operation and at least annually thereafter for the postclosure monitoring
period in order to ensure the safety of the dam or controlling works. The
department shall conduct additional inspections as needed during the
construction phase of the mining operation in order to ensure the safe
construction of the tailings impoundment.
