5442-S

AN ACT Relating to weed control; amending RCW 17.10.240; adding a new section to chapter 17.10 RCW; creating new sections; making appropriations; providing an effective date; and declaring an emergency.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds that in Washington, the loss of state lands from productive use due to infestation by noxious weeds is a major public concern.

It is the intent of the legislature that serious and fundamental policy direction be given to state agencies to:

(1) Ensure that state lands set an example of excellence in noxious weed control and eradication on state lands;

(2) Halt the spread of noxious weeds from state to private lands;

(3) Recognize that state agencies are ultimately responsible for noxious weed control on state land, regardless of type, timing, or amount of use;

(4) Recognize that the public is not well served by the spread of noxious weeds on state lands, in part, because of the decrease in wildlife habitat and loss of land productivity.

The legislature further finds that biological control agents represent one of the only cost-effective control measures for existing, widespread noxious weed infestations. Members of the genus Centaurea, commonly referred to as knapweeds, currently infest and destroy the productivity of hundreds of thousands of acres in Washington.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. The state weed board shall develop a study to determine the cost of controlling weeds on state-owned or managed lands, included along state-owned rights of way. The state weed board may conduct the study, or may contract with either public or private agencies to conduct and complete the study. The departments of natural resources, transportation, and fish and wildlife, and the parks and recreation commission shall cooperate with the weed board or the contractor in the study.

As part of the study, the state weed board shall identify those weed species that are practical to control and should be controlled. The board shall also identify the impacts and estimate the costs of not controlling these weeds. The state weed board may exclude from the study those weeds that, due to high cost or impracticality, cannot be controlled on private lands. The board shall develop a prioritized list of weeds that are practical to control and that should be controlled on state-owned and managed lands.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. The state noxious weed control board shall study alternative funding mechanisms for Washington's noxious weed control program. The departments of natural resources, transportation, and fish and wildlife, and the parks and recreation commission shall cooperate with the weed board in the study. As part of the study, the state weed board shall identify the impacts and costs of each alternative. Funding alternatives shall address weed control needs of private citizens, local governments, county weed boards, state agencies, the state noxious weed control board, and federal agencies.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. A new section is added to chapter 17.10 RCW to read as follows:

All state agencies shall control noxious weeds on lands they own, lease, or otherwise control. Agencies shall develop plans to control noxious weeds in accordance with standards in this chapter. All state agencies' lands must comply with this chapter, regardless of noxious weed control efforts on adjacent lands. Agencies may not shift their burden of complying with this chapter to anyone else, including but not limited to lessees and permittees. County weed control board shall assist landowners to meet and exceed the standards on state lands.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. (1) The standing committee on agriculture and agricultural trade and development of the senate and the standing committee on agriculture and ecology of the house of representatives shall jointly study land leasing practices of state agencies in regard to weed control and report their findings to the legislature in 1996.

(2) State agencies shall list noxious weed control projects in their respective jurisdictions in order of priority, along with their plans to control these infestations, for the 1996 legislature.

Sec. 6. RCW 17.10.240 and 1987 c 438 s 31 are each amended to read as follows:

The activated county noxious weed control board of each county shall annually submit a budget to the county legislative authority for the operating cost of the county's weed program for the ensuing fiscal year: PROVIDED, That if the board finds the budget approved by the legislative authority is insufficient for an effective county noxious weed control program it shall petition the county legislative authority to hold a hearing as provided in RCW 17.10.890. Control of weeds is a special benefit to the lands within any such section. Funding for the budget shall be derived from ((~~either or both~~)) any or all of the following:

(1) The county legislative authority may, in lieu of a tax, levy an assessment against the land for this purpose. Prior to the levying of an assessment the county noxious weed control board shall hold a public hearing at which it shall gather information to serve as a basis for classification and shall then classify the lands into suitable classifications, including but not limited to dry lands, range lands, irrigated lands, nonuse lands, forest lands, or federal lands. The board shall develop and forward to the county legislative authority, as a proposed level of assessment for each class, such an amount as shall seem just. The assessment rate shall be either uniform per acre in its respective class or a flat rate per parcel rate plus a uniform rate per acre: PROVIDED, That if no special benefits should be found to accrue to a class of land, a zero assessment may be levied. The legislative authority, upon receipt of the proposed levels of assessment from the board, after a hearing, shall accept, modify, or refer back to the board for its reconsideration all or any portion of the proposed levels of assessment. The findings by the county legislative authority of such special benefits, when so declared by resolution and spread upon the minutes of said authority shall be conclusive as to whether or not the same constitutes a special benefit to the lands within the section. The amount of such assessment shall constitute a lien against the property. The county legislative authority may by resolution or ordinance require that notice of the lien be sent to each owner of property for which the assessment has not been paid by the date it was due and that each such lien created shall be collected by the treasurer in the same manner as delinquent real property tax, if within thirty days from the date the owner is sent notice of the lien, including the amount thereof, the lien remains unpaid and an appeal has not been made pursuant to RCW 17.10.180. Liens treated as delinquent taxes shall bear interest at the rate of twelve percent per annum and such interest shall accrue as of the date notice of the lien is sent to the owner: PROVIDED FURTHER, That any collections for such lien shall not be considered as tax; or

(2) The county legislative authority may appropriate money from the county general fund necessary for the administration of the county noxious weed control program. In addition the county legislative authority may make emergency appropriations as it deems necessary for the implementation of this chapter.

(3) Forest lands used solely for the planting, growing, or harvesting of trees and which are typified, except during a single period of five years following clear-cut logging, by canopies so dense as to prohibit growth of an understory may be subject to an annual noxious weed assessment levied by a county legislative authority that shall not exceed one-tenth of the weighted average per acre noxious weed assessment levied on all other lands in unincorporated areas within the county that are subject to the weed assessment. This assessment shall be computed in accordance with the formula in subsection (4) of this section.

(4) The calculation of the "weighted average per acre noxious weed assessment" shall be a ratio expressed as follows: (a) The numerator shall be the total amount of funds estimated to be collected from the per acre assessment on all lands except (i) forest lands as identified in subsection (3) of this section, (ii) lands exempt from the noxious weed assessment, and (iii) lands located in an incorporated area. (b) The denominator shall be the total acreage from which funds in (a) of this subsection are collected. For lands of less than one acre in size, the denominator calculation may be based on the following assumptions: (i) Unimproved lands shall be calculated as being one-half acre in size on the average, and (ii) improved lands shall be calculated as being one-third acre in size on the average. The county legislative authority may choose to calculate the denominator for lands of less than one acre in size using other assumptions about average parcel size based on local information.

(5) For those counties that levy a per parcel assessment to help fund noxious weed control programs, the per parcel assessment on forest lands as defined in subsection (3) of this section shall not exceed one-tenth of the per parcel assessment on nonforest lands.

(6) Counties choosing to not activate noxious weed control boards shall provide payment to the department of agriculture for the expense of carrying out the functions of a county noxious weed control board in that county. This payment shall be equal to the number of parcels in the county multiplied by no more than three dollars, as set by rule of the department of agriculture. The county legislative authority may levy an assessment against the land for this purpose, consistent with subsection (1) of this section, or the county may appropriate money from its general fund for this purpose.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. The sum of thirty thousand dollars, or as much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated from the general fund for the biennium ending June 30, 1997, to Washington State University for the use of the cooperative extension service in the selection, testing, and production of biological control agents for knapweed species on the state noxious weed list adopted under RCW 17.10.080, with the intent of improving field availability of these agents.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 8. The sum of twenty thousand dollars, or as much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated from the general fund for the biennium ending June 30, 1997, to the state weed board to study, or contract for a study, on the cost of controlling weeds on state-owned or managed lands.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 9. 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 July 1, 1995.