CERTIFICATION OF ENROLLMENT

 

              ENGROSSED SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 1792

 

 

 

 

 

 

                        55th Legislature

                      1997 Regular Session

Passed by the House April 21, 1997

  Yeas 89   Nays 0

 

 

 

Speaker of the

      House of Representatives

 

Passed by the Senate April 15, 1997

  Yeas 45   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 ENGROSSED SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 1792  as passed by the House of Representatives and the Senate on the dates hereon set forth.

 

 

 

President of the Senate

                          Chief Clerk

 

 

Approved Place Style On Codes above, and Style Off Codes below.   

                                FILED

          

 

 

Governor of the State of Washington

                   Secretary of State

                  State of Washington


          _______________________________________________

 

               ENGROSSED SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 1792

          _______________________________________________

 

                     AS AMENDED BY THE SENATE

 

             Passed Legislature - 1997 Regular Session

 

State of Washington      55th Legislature     1997 Regular Session

 

By House Committee on Agriculture & Ecology (originally sponsored by Representatives Chandler, Delvin, Hankins, Mastin, Linville, Veloria, Van Luven, Regala and Grant)

Read first time 03/04/97.

  Expanding the use of environmental technology precertification.    


    AN ACT Relating to certification of environmental technologies; and adding new sections to chapter 43.21A RCW.

 

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

 

    NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1.  A new section is added to chapter 43.21A RCW to read as follows:

    (1) The legislature finds that:

    (a) New and innovative environmental technologies can help improve environmental quality at lower costs;

    (b) Current regulatory processes often include permits or approvals that require applicants to duplicate costly technical analysis;

    (c) The commercialization of innovative environmental technologies can be discouraged due to the costs of repeated environmental analysis;

    (d) The regulatory process can be improved by sharing and relying on information generated through demonstration projects and technical certification programs; and

    (e) Other states have developed programs to certify environmental technologies in order to streamline the permitting process and to encourage use of environmental technologies.

    (2) The legislature therefore declares that the department shall:

    (a) Review environmental technology certification programs established by other states or federal agencies, and enter into agreements to use the information from these programs if the department finds that this information will improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the state's environmental regulatory process; and

    (b) Participate in technology demonstration activities that support the state's needs for environmental technology.

 

    NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2.  A new section is added to chapter 43.21A RCW to read as follows:

    (1) At the request of a project proponent, the department shall consider information developed through a certification program when making permit or other regulatory decisions.  The department may not require duplicative demonstration of such information, but may require additional information as necessary to assure that state requirements are met.  A local government that has a regulatory authority delegated by the department may use information developed through a certification program when making permit or other regulatory decisions.

    (2) The department shall develop a certification program for technologies for remediation of radioactive and mixed waste, as those terms are defined in chapter 70.105 RCW, if all program development and operational costs are paid by the federal government or persons seeking certification of the technologies.

    (3) Following the development of the certification program in subsection (2) of this section, the department may use the policies and procedures of that program on a pilot basis to evaluate the use of certification for site remediation technologies and other environmental technologies, if the operational costs of the certification are paid by the federal government or persons seeking certification of such technologies.

    (4) The department shall charge a reasonable fee to recover the operational costs of certifying a technology.

    (5) Subsections (1), (3), and (4) of this section apply to permit and other regulatory decisions made under the following:  Chapters 70.94, 70.95, 70.105, 70.105D, 70.120, 70.138, 90.48, 90.54, and 90.56 RCW.

    (6) For the purposes of this section, "certification program" means a program, developed or approved by the department, to certify the quantitative performance of an environmental technology over a specified range of parameters and conditions.  Certification of a technology does not imply endorsement of a specific technology by the department, or a guarantee of the performance of a technology.

    (7) The department may adopt rules as necessary to implement the requirements of subsections (2) and (3) of this section, and establish requirements and procedures for evaluation and certification of environmental technologies.

    (8) The state, the department, and officers and employees of the state shall not be liable for damages resulting from the utilization of information developed through a certification program, or from a decision to certify or deny certification to an environmental technology.  Actions of the department under this section are not decisions reviewable under RCW 43.21B.110.

 


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