HB 3017 - DIGEST

     Recognizes that transits by commercial vessels through the Strait of Juan de Fuca are projected by the United States coast guard to increase by fifty percent from the year 2000 to the year 2015.  Volumes of petroleum movement, including cargo and bunker oil, are conservatively projected to increase by nearly four billion gallons by the year 2015.  The legislature also recognizes that this growth in commercial vessel transits and petroleum movement constitute a significant and growing increase in projected oil spill frequency.

     Finds that the 1976 legislative requirement of tug escorts for all laden, single-hull oil tankers operating east of New Dungeness, as augmented by federal law, has greatly improved navigational safety in the eastern Strait of Juan de Fuca and Rosario Strait.  Extension of this proven safety measure westward to the mouth of the strait, or its equivalent by locating a dedicated oil spill prevention tug will similarly improve navigational safety and correct a growing safety gap in the marine navigation system.