AN ACT Relating to the
definition of public works projects; and amending RCW 43.155.010, 43.155.020,
43.155.070, 43.160.212, and 43.131.386.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF
WASHINGTON:
Sec. 1. RCW 43.155.010 and 1985
c 446 s 7 are each amended to read as follows:
The legislature finds
that there exists in the state of Washington over four billion dollars worth of
critical projects for the planning, acquisition, construction, repair,
replacement, rehabilitation, or improvement of streets and roads, bridges,
water systems, and storm and sanitary sewage systems. The December, 1983
Washington state public works report prepared by the planning and community
affairs agency documented that local governments expect to be capable of
financing over two billion dollars worth of the costs of those critical
projects but will not be able to fund nearly half of the documented needs.
The legislature
further finds that Washington's local governments have unmet financial needs
for solid waste disposal, including recycling, and encourages the board to make
an equitable geographic distribution of the funds.
It is the policy of the
state of Washington to encourage self-reliance by local governments in meeting
their public works needs and to assist in the financing of critical public works
projects by making loans, financing guarantees, and technical assistance
available to local governments for these projects.
Sec. 2. RCW 43.155.020 and 1995
c 399 s 85 are each amended to read as follows:
Unless the context
clearly requires otherwise, the definitions in this section shall apply
throughout this chapter.
(1) "Board"
means the public works board created in RCW 43.155.030.
(2)
"Department" means the department of community, trade, and economic
development.
(3) "Financing
guarantees" means the pledge of money in the public works assistance
account, or money to be received by the public works assistance account, to the
repayment of all or a portion of the principal of or interest on obligations
issued by local governments to finance public works projects.
(4) "Local
governments" means cities, towns, counties, special purpose districts, and
any other municipal corporations or quasi-municipal corporations in the state
excluding school districts and port districts.
(5) "Public works
project" means a project of a local government for the planning,
acquisition, construction, repair, reconstruction, replacement, rehabilitation,
or improvement of streets and roads, bridges, water systems, or storm and
sanitary sewage systems and solid waste facilities, including recycling
facilities.
(6) "Solid
waste or recycling project" means remedial actions necessary to bring
abandoned or closed landfills into compliance with regulatory requirements and
the repair, restoration, and replacement of existing solid waste transfer,
recycling facilities, and landfill projects limited to the opening of landfill
cells that are in existing and permitted landfills.
(7)
"Technical assistance" means training and other services provided to
local governments to: (a) Help such local governments plan, apply, and qualify
for loans and financing guarantees from the board, and (b) help local
governments improve their ability to plan for, finance, acquire, construct,
repair, replace, rehabilitate, and maintain public facilities.
Sec. 3. RCW 43.155.070 and 1995
c 363 s 3 are each amended to read as follows:
(1) To qualify for
loans or pledges under this chapter the board must determine that a local
government meets all of the following conditions:
(a) The city or county
must be imposing a tax under chapter 82.46 RCW at a rate of at least
one-quarter of one percent;
(b) The local
government must have developed a long-term plan for financing public works
needs;
(c) The local
government must be using all local revenue sources which are reasonably
available for funding public works, taking into consideration local employment
and economic factors; and
(d) A county, city, or
town that is required or chooses to plan under RCW 36.70A.040 must have adopted
a comprehensive plan in conformance with the requirements of chapter 36.70A
RCW, after it is required that the comprehensive plan be adopted, and must have
adopted development regulations in conformance with the requirements of chapter
36.70A RCW, after it is required that development regulations be adopted.
(2) The board shall
develop a priority process for public works projects as provided in this
section. The intent of the priority process is to maximize the value of public
works projects accomplished with assistance under this chapter. The board
shall attempt to assure a geographical balance in assigning priorities to
projects. The board shall consider at least the following factors in assigning
a priority to a project:
(a) Whether the local
government receiving assistance has experienced severe fiscal distress
resulting from natural disaster or emergency public works needs;
(b) Whether the project
is critical in nature and would affect the health and safety of a great number
of citizens;
(c) The cost of the
project compared to the size of the local government and amount of loan money
available;
(d) The number of
communities served by or funding the project;
(e) Whether the project
is located in an area of high unemployment, compared to the average state
unemployment;
(f) Whether the project
is the acquisition, expansion, improvement, or renovation by a local government
of a public water system that is in violation of health and safety standards,
including the cost of extending existing service to such a system;
(g) The relative
benefit of the project to the community, considering the present level of
economic activity in the community and the existing local capacity to increase
local economic activity in communities that have low economic growth; and
(h) Other criteria that
the board considers advisable.
(3) Existing debt or
financial obligations of local governments shall not be refinanced under this
chapter. Each local government applicant shall provide documentation of
attempts to secure additional local or other sources of funding for each public
works project for which financial assistance is sought under this chapter.
(4) Before November 1
of each year, the board shall develop and submit to the appropriate fiscal
committees of the senate and house of representatives a description of the
loans made under RCW 43.155.065, 43.155.068, and subsection (7) of this section
during the preceding fiscal year and a prioritized list of projects which are
recommended for funding by the legislature, including one copy to the staff of
each of the committees. The list shall include, but not be limited to, a
description of each project and recommended financing, the terms and conditions
of the loan or financial guarantee, the local government jurisdiction and
unemployment rate, demonstration of the jurisdiction's critical need for the
project and documentation of local funds being used to finance the public works
project. The list shall also include measures of fiscal capacity for each
jurisdiction recommended for financial assistance, compared to authorized
limits and state averages, including local government sales taxes; real estate
excise taxes; property taxes; and charges for or taxes on sewerage, water,
garbage, and other utilities.
(5) The board shall not
sign contracts or otherwise financially obligate funds from the public works
assistance account before the legislature has appropriated funds for a specific
list of public works projects. The legislature may remove projects from the
list recommended by the board. The legislature shall not change the order of
the priorities recommended for funding by the board.
(6) Subsection (5) of
this section does not apply to loans made under RCW 43.155.065, 43.155.068, and
subsection (7) of this section.
(7)(a) Loans made for
the purpose of capital facilities plans shall be exempted from subsection (5)
of this section. In no case shall the total amount of funds utilized for
capital facilities plans and emergency loans exceed the limitation in RCW
43.155.065.
(b) For the purposes of
this section "capital facilities plans" means those plans required by
the growth management act, chapter 36.70A RCW, and plans required by the public
works board for local governments not subject to the growth management act.
(8) To qualify for
loans or pledges for solid waste or recycling facilities under this chapter, a
city or county must demonstrate that the solid waste or recycling facility is
consistent with and necessary to implement the comprehensive solid waste
management plan adopted by the city or county under chapter 70.95 RCW.
Sec. 4. RCW 43.160.212 and 1995
c 226 s 6 are each amended to read as follows:
(1) For the period
beginning July 1, 1991, and ending June 30, 1997, in rural natural resources
impact areas the public works board may award low-interest or interest-free
loans to local governments for construction of new or expanded public works
facilities that stimulate economic growth or diversification.
(2) For the period
beginning on the effective date of this act and ending June 30, 1997, areas in
zip codes immediately adjacent and contiguous to rural natural resource impact
areas within the same county are eligible for loans under this section if a
significant benefit can be shown for underemployed or unemployed workers living
in rural natural resource impact areas, and there is projected to be at least
eight hundred million dollars in private sector investment within six years in
a project benefitting from such loans.
(3) For the
purposes of this section and section 27, chapter 314, Laws of 1991:
(a) "Public
facilities" means bridge, road and street, domestic water, sanitary sewer,
and storm sewer systems.
(b) "Rural natural
resources impact area" means:
(i) A nonmetropolitan
county, as defined by the 1990 decennial census, that meets two of the five
criteria set forth in subsection (((3))) (4) of this section; or
(ii) A nonurbanized
area, as defined by the 1990 decennial census, that is located in a metropolitan
county that meets two of the five criteria set forth in subsection (((3)))
(4) of this section.
(((3))) (4)
For the purposes of designating rural natural resources impact areas, the
following criteria shall be considered:
(a) A lumber and wood
products employment location quotient at or above the state average;
(b) A commercial salmon
fishing employment location quotient at or above the state average;
(c) Projected or actual
direct lumber and wood products job losses of one hundred positions or more;
(d) Projected or actual
direct commercial salmon fishing job losses of one hundred positions or more;
and
(e) An unemployment
rate twenty percent or more above the state average. The counties that meet
these criteria shall be determined by the employment security department for
the most recent year for which data is available. For the purposes of
administration of programs under this chapter, the United States post office
five-digit zip code delivery areas will be used to determine residence status
for eligibility purposes. For the purpose of this definition, a zip code
delivery area that is located wholly or partially in an urbanized area or
within two miles of an urbanized area is considered urbanized. The office of
financial management shall make available a zip code listing of the areas to
all agencies and organizations providing services under this chapter.
(((4))) (5)
The loans may have a deferred payment of up to five years but shall be repaid
within twenty years. The public works board may require other terms and
conditions and may charge such rates of interest on its loans as it deems
appropriate to carry out the purposes of this section. Repayments shall be
made to the public works assistance account.
(((5))) (6)
The board may make such loans irrespective of the annual loan cycle and
reporting required in RCW 43.155.070.
Sec. 5. RCW 43.131.386 and 1995
c 226 s 35 are each amended to read as follows:
The following acts or
parts of acts are each repealed, effective June 30, 1999:
(1) RCW 43.31.601 and
1995 c 226 s 1, 1992 c 21 s 2, & 1991 c 314 s 2;
(2) RCW 43.31.641 and
1995 c 226 s 4, 1993 c 280 s 50, & 1991 c 314 s 7;
(3) RCW 50.22.090 and
1995 c 226 s 5, 1993 c 316 s 10, 1992 c 47 s 2, & 1991 c 315 s 4;
(4) RCW 43.160.212 and 1996
c . . . s 4 (section 4 of this act), 1995 c 226 s 6, &
1993 c 316 s 5;
(5) RCW 43.31.651 and
1995 c 226 s 10, 1993 c 280 s 51, & 1991 c 314 s 9;
(6) RCW 43.63A.021 and
1995 c 226 s 11;
(7) RCW 43.63A.600 and
1995 c 226 s 12, 1994 c 114 s 1, 1993 c 280 s 77, & 1991 c 315 s 23;
(8) RCW 43.63A.440 and
1995 c 226 s 13, 1993 c 280 s 74, & 1989 c 424 s 7;
(9) RCW 43.160.200 and
1995 c 226 s 16, 1993 c 320 s 7, 1993 c 316 s 4, & 1991 c 314 s 23;
(10) RCW 28B.50.258 and
1995 c 226 s 18 & 1991 c 315 s 16;
(11) RCW 28B.50.262 and
1995 c 226 s 19 & 1994 c 282 s 3;
(12) RCW 28B.80.570 and
1995 c 226 s 20, 1992 c 21 s 6, & 1991 c 315 s 18;
(13) RCW 28B.80.575 and
1995 c 226 s 21 & 1991 c 315 s 19;
(14) RCW 28B.80.580 and
1995 c 226 s 22, 1993 sp.s. c 18 s 34, 1992 c 231 s 31, & 1991 c 315 s 20;
(15) RCW 28B.80.585 and
1995 c 226 s 23 & 1991 c 315 s 21;
(16) RCW 43.17.065 and
1995 c 226 s 24, 1993 c 280 s 37, 1991 c 314 s 28, & 1990 1st ex.s. c 17 s
77;
(17) RCW 43.20A.750 and
1995 c 226 s 25, 1993 c 280 s 38, 1992 c 21 s 4, & 1991 c 153 s 28;
(18) RCW 43.168.140 and
1995 c 226 s 28 & 1991 c 314 s 20;
(19) RCW 50.12.270 and
1995 c 226 s 30 & 1991 c 315 s 3;
(20) RCW 50.70.010 and
1995 c 226 s 31, 1992 c 21 s 1, & 1991 c 315 s 5; and
(21) RCW
50.70.020 and 1995 c 226 s 32 & 1991 c 315 s 6.
