H-4647.1  _______________________________________________

                 HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 4434

          _______________________________________________

State of Washington      55th Legislature     1998 Regular Session

By Representatives Chandler and Linville

Read first time 02/20/98.  Referred to Committee on Agriculture & Ecology.

Creating a joint select committee on water quality.

    WHEREAS, A citizen suit filed under the federal Clean Water Act has sought enforcement of the provisions of the federal act regarding violations of water quality standards in bodies of water and segments of streams in this state; and

    WHEREAS, The United States Environmental Protection Agency has agreed to a settlement of that suit that provides for the implementation, over the next one and one-half decades, of the provisions of the federal act regarding total maximum daily loads for those bodies of water and stream segments; and

    WHEREAS, The executive branch of state government has entered into an agreement with the federal agency to provide a program for implementing the settlement with the state's Department of Ecology acting as the lead agency for that implementation; and

    WHEREAS, Conducting the program will involve the dedication of a considerable amount of state resources and the products of the program have the potential for affecting in very significant ways citizens and a broad range of communities, from urban to silvicultural and agricultural, and their equally broad range of interests; and

    WHEREAS, It is essential that the legislature examine all aspects of the department's program for implementing the settlement, including but not limited to, an examination of the decisions that affect how water quality problems are defined, the causes of those problems, and the means by which solutions to these problems are to be developed and implemented;

    NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, By the House of Representatives of the state of Washington, the Senate concurring, That a joint select committee on water quality be appointed to examine these decisions, causes, solution development, and other aspects of the department's program to implement the settlement and to engage this state's communities, industries, interest groups, and citizens in this examination; and

    BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the joint select committee be composed of three members of the House of Representatives selected by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, two from the majority party caucus in the House of Representatives and one from the minority party caucus in the House of Representatives, and three members of the Senate appointed by the President of the Senate, two from the majority party caucus in the Senate and one from the minority party caucus in the Senate; and

    BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the members of the joint select committee select cochairs of the committee, one from the House of Representatives and one from the Senate and that staff support for the joint select committee be provided by the office of program research and Senate committee services; and

    BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the joint select committee report its recommendations to the legislature at the regular session held in 1999.

                            --- END ---