CERTIFICATION OF ENROLLMENT
SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 1483
Chapter
151, Laws of 1995
54th
Legislature
1995
Regular Session
FOREST WILD FIRE
PREVENTION AND SUPPRESSION
EFFECTIVE
DATE: 7/23/95
|
Passed by
the House March 9, 1995
Yeas 96 Nays 0
CLYDE BALLARD
Speaker
of the
House
of Representatives
Passed by
the Senate April 12, 1995
Yeas 48 Nays 0
|
CERTIFICATE
I, Timothy
A. Martin, Chief Clerk of the House of Representatives of the State of
Washington, do hereby certify that the attached is SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL
1483 as passed by the House of Representatives and the Senate on the
dates hereon set forth.
|
|
JOEL PRITCHARD
President
of the Senate
|
TIMOTHY A. MARTIN
Chief
Clerk
|
|
Approved
April 27, 1995 Place Style On Codes above, and
Style Off Codes below.
|
FILED
April
27, 1995 - 1:18 p.m.
|
|
|
|
|
MIKE LOWRY
Governor
of the State of Washington
|
Secretary
of State
State
of Washington
|
_______________________________________________
SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 1483
_______________________________________________
Passed Legislature - 1995 Regular Session
State of Washington 54th Legislature 1995
Regular Session
By
Read first time 02/27/95.
Revising
provisions on the prevention and suppression of forest wild fires.
AN ACT Relating to the
prevention and suppression of forest wild fires; amending RCW 76.04.165; and
adding a new section to chapter 76.04 RCW.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE
LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec.
1. A new section is added
to chapter 76.04 RCW to read as follows:
(1) The legislature
hereby finds and declares that forest wild fires are a threat to public health
and safety and can cause catastrophic damage to public and private resources,
including clean air, clean water, fish and wildlife habitat, timber resources, forest
soils, scenic beauty, recreational opportunities, structures, and other
improvements; and that it is in the public interest to protect forests and
forest resources by preventing and suppressing forest wild fires.
(2) The legislature
hereby finds and declares that it is in the public interest to establish and
maintain a complete, cooperative, and coordinated forest fire protection and
suppression program for the state; that, second only to saving lives, the
primary mission of the department is protecting forest resources and
suppressing forest wild fires; that a primary mission of rural fire districts
and municipal fire departments is protecting improved property and suppressing
structural fires; and that the most effective way to protect structures is for
the department to focus its efforts and resources on aggressively suppressing
forest wild fires.
(3) The legislature
also acknowledges the natural role of fire in forest ecosystems, and finds and
declares it in the public interest to use fire under controlled conditions to
prevent wild fires by maintaining healthy forests and eliminating sources of
fuel.
Sec. 2. RCW 76.04.165 and 1988 c
273 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
(1) The legislature
finds and declares that forest lands within the state are increasingly being
used for residential purposes; that the risk to life and property is increasing
from forest fires which may destroy developed property; ((that the
department's primary mission is to protect forest land and suppress forest
fires; that a primary mission of the rural fire districts and municipal fire
departments is to protect improved property and suppress structural fires;))
that, based on the primary missions for the respective fire control agencies
established in this chapter, adjustment of the geographic areas of
responsibility ((for the respective fire control agencies)) has not kept
pace with the increasing use of forest lands for residential purposes; and that
the department should work with the state's other fire control agencies to
define geographic areas of responsibility that are more consistent with their
respective primary missions.
(2) To accomplish the
purposes of subsection (1) of this section, the department shall establish a
procedure to clarify its geographic areas of responsibility. The areas of
department protection shall be called forest protection zones. The forest
protection zones shall include all forest land which the department is
obligated to protect but shall not include forest land within rural fire
districts or municipal fire districts which affected local fire control
agencies agree, by mutual consent with the department, is not appropriate for
department protection. Forest land not included within a forest protection zone
established by mutual agreement of the department and a rural fire district or
a municipal fire district shall not be assessed under RCW 76.04.610 or
76.04.630.
(3) After the
department and any affected local fire protection agencies have agreed on the boundary
of a forest protection zone, the department shall establish the boundary by
rule under chapter 34.05 RCW.
(4) Except by agreement
of the affected parties, the establishment of forest protection zones shall not
alter any mutual aid agreement.
Passed
the House March 9, 1995.
Passed
the Senate April 12, 1995.
Approved by the Governor April 27, 1995.
Filed in Office of
Secretary of State April 27, 1995.