FINAL BILL REPORT

                   SB 6441

                          C 196 L 98

                      Synopsis as Enacted

Brief Description:  Clarifying procedures for environmental protection change orders in public projects.

Sponsors:  Senators Oke, Prince, Haugen and Winsley; by request of Department of Transportation.

Senate Committee on Transportation

House Committee on Capital Budget

Background:  Current law requires that all invitations for bid proposals for construction projects issued by the state or a political subdivision must include copies of all federal, state and local statutes, regulations and ordinances dealing with the prevention of pollution or preservation of natural resources as it relates to the particular project.  According to the Department of Transportation, the increase in federal, state and local regulation that has occurred since the current statute was enacted in 1973 makes it impractical to comply with the current requirements of the law.  Providing the required documentation would add thousands of pages to contract documents for bid invitations.

Because of the amount of documentation required, the department is not currently fully complying with the statutory requirements.  The department does include the following documents with its invitations for bid proposals:  copies of required permits; excerpts of some relevant laws; and citations to other relevant laws.

Summary:  The requirement that all applicable environmental laws be included in contract documents is deleted.  The other provisions of the existing law remain intact.

Votes on Final Passage:

Senate 47 0

House     88 0

Effective:  June 11, 1998