BP BHEAD INT S

AN ACT Relating to agricultural safety standards review; adding a new section to chapter 49.17 RCW; creating new sections; and declaring an emergency.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds that:

(1) The state's highly productive and efficient agricultural sector is composed predominately of family-owned and managed farms and an industrious and efficient work force;

(2) The smaller but highly efficient farming operations have limited management capacity as compared to larger industrial firms;

(3) A reasonable level of safety regulations are needed to protect workers;

(4) There is a dispute regarding the appropriate level of regulation and whether additional regulations will be implementable so as to provide additional protection of workers; and

(5) Agricultural worker safety rules need to be reviewed and simplified to the extent possible so that those that are expected to comply and those that are intended to be protected are benefitted.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. (1) There is created an agricultural safety standards review task force. The task force shall be comprised of the following members:

(a) The chair and the ranking minority member from the following legislative committees:

(i) Senate committee on agriculture and agricultural trade and development;

(ii) Senate committee on labor, commerce and trade;

(iii) House of representatives committee on agriculture and ecology; and

(iv) House of representatives committee on commerce and labor;

(b) The director of the department of labor and industries or the director's designee;

(d) Two representatives of farmworker organizations appointed jointly by the speaker of the house of representatives and the president of the senate; and

(e) Two representatives of agricultural producers' organizations appointed jointly by the speaker of the house of representatives and the president of the senate.

(2) The task force shall conduct a comprehensive review of agricultural safety regulations including but not limited to:

(a) An examination of current federal agricultural safety regulations as compared to state regulations and the need for, costs, and benefits of exceeding the federal regulations;

(b) A review of the division between and duplication of regulatory roles of state agencies;

(c) A review of the need and the benefit of additional agricultural worker safety rules adopted and proposed for adoption after February 15, 1994;

(d) Proposing a means to prioritize among regulations based upon identifiable experience-based risk factors;

(e) Proposing a means to decrease the complexity of regulations to agricultural employers and employees and to ease the understandability of the regulations; and

(f) An assessment of the feasibility of placing the agricultural workers' safety regulations in a single manual and making the manual available both in English and in Spanish.

(3) The task force shall convene as soon as possible upon the appointment of its members. The task force shall elect a chair and adopt rules for conducting the business of the task force. The task force shall develop a written report containing conclusions and recommendations to the legislature by December 1, 1995. The task force shall expire on January 1, 1996.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. A new section is added to chapter 49.17 RCW to read as follows:

(1) The following rules are null and void:

(a) Agricultural safety regulations adopted under this chapter after February 1, 1993, affecting chapter 296-306 WAC; and

(b) The revocation of the agricultural exemption in WAC 296-24-12001 under WSR 94-06-068.

(2) The department may adopt the rules under subsection (1) (a) and (b) of this section again if the rules are approved by the agricultural safety standards review task force under section 2, chapter ..., Laws of 1995 (section 2 of this act).

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. This act is remedial in nature and applies to rules adopted after February 1, 1993.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. 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 shall take effect immediately.