HB 1966 - DIGEST

     Finds that current processes for the siting and operation of major regional public facilities often fail to adequately address regional and localized impacts and benefits of such facilities.  Throughout the state there are proposals for siting major public facilities in which surrounding neighborhoods and communities will be disproportionately impacted while the benefits of the facility are provided to the larger region or to the entire state.

     Declares that these facilities include major transportation facilities such as highways, bridges, airports, and rail lines, and other nontransportation facilities such as prisons and landfills.

     Finds that although the growth management act provides procedures for establishing county-wide policies for coordinated planning of such facilities, those procedures do not include all public entities that provide such facilities and do not provide sufficient guidance to local jurisdictions to ensure consideration and mitigation of impacts to surrounding communities and participation in siting processes by those communities.

     Declares an intent to ensure that these considerations are incorporated into the county-wide planning policies required under the growth management act, and to provide sufficient authority so that siting decisions and mitigation measures adopted through using such policies may be fully implemented.