H-4113.1 _______________________________________________
HOUSE BILL 2496
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State of Washington 55th Legislature 1998 Regular Session
By Representatives Buck, Doumit, Anderson, Sump, D. Sommers, Clements, Butler, Schoesler, Honeyford, Thompson, D. Schmidt, Linville, Chandler, Johnson, Regala, Hatfield, O'Brien, Dickerson, Ogden, Cooper, Kessler, Gardner, Conway and Eickmeyer
Read first time 01/14/98. Referred to Committee on Natural Resources.
AN ACT Relating to salmon recovery planning; adding a new section to chapter 75.50 RCW; and creating a new section.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. (1) The legislature finds that repeated attempts to improve salmonid fish runs throughout the state of Washington have failed to avert the listing of salmon and steelhead runs as threatened or endangered under the federal endangered species act. These listings threaten the sports and commercial fishing industry as well as the economic well-being and vitality of vast areas of the state. The goal is to restore our salmon runs so that fishing can be reopened in all waters of Washington for everyone as soon as possible.
(2) It is recognized that the life cycle of salmonids entails a large period of time when the fish are at sea and outside the jurisdiction of Washington. It is further recognized that each salmonid life cycle will be completed long after the current legislature is adjourned. Although the legislature understands successful recovery efforts may not be realized for many years, it is the intent of the legislature that the salmon crisis be resolved at the earliest opportunity. It is further the intent of the legislature that a management system be developed that efficiently uses these long time periods to allow the people of the state of Washington to wisely prepare and carry out recovery plans to restore adequate salmon habitat.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. A new section is added to chapter 75.50 RCW to read as follows:
(1) Critical path scheduling information shall be used to facilitate salmon recovery efforts. The schedule shall prioritize recovery efforts, show progress on projects, and thereby provide a historic record of recovery activities. The schedule shall set the scope of restoration efforts in each watershed. The schedule shall portray all recovery efforts in the watershed.
(2) The critical path schedule shall show the time frames in which restoration activities may occur in the watershed. The department will facilitate the scheduling process by providing information regarding the following:
(a) All hatchery broodstock and release activities;
(b) All wild run equilibrium brood broodstock and hatch activities;
(c) The predicted run return times for all runs; and
(d) The identification of the species and weak stock water resource inventory areas in the evolutionarily significant unit region.
(3) The critical path schedule will set out, at a minimum, the restoration efforts of private organizations, and local tribal, state, and federal governments. The restoration efforts are those that address limiting factors that affect each endangered species act and weak stock watershed. These efforts include habitat projects, water quality improvement projects, maintenance activities, watershed assessment activities, and fish-related mitigation efforts. The schedule shall also set out the monitoring efforts and adaptive management activities.
(4) At a minimum, each activity, project, and effort shall include the start date, duration, estimated date of completion, estimated cost, available private, local, tribal, state, and federal government resources, and, if appropriate, the affected salmonid species, number of eggs required, and estimated run return forecast.
(5) The critical pathway schedule shall rely, to the extent possible, on existing information as may be found on each watershed. This information may include studies and data developed by private organizations and individuals, and by local, tribal, state, and federal agencies.
(6) It is the intent of this section that within an evolutionarily significant unit region, the individual watershed critical path schedules shall be capable of being combined to create a report that shows the recovery effort for the evolutionarily significant unit, the state, or for specific runs of fish.
(7) The critical path schedule for each water resource inventory area must be updated on an annual basis so as to add new activities, report progress, show completion of scheduled activities, and determine which recovery efforts were successful and to show where adaptive management is required to address those recovery efforts that failed.
(8) Initial efforts for developing the critical path schedule shall be submitted to the legislature on January 1, 1999.
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