Washington State House of Representatives Office of Program Research	BILL ANALYSIS
Natural Resources

HB 1166

Brief Description:  Allowing state agencies to sponsor salmon recovery projects.

Sponsors:  Representatives Rockefeller, Buck, Doumit, Pennington and Edwards.

Brief Summary of Bill

$State agencies are authorized to act as a project sponsor for purposes of obtaining salmon habitat project funding from the Salmon Recovery Funding Board.

Hearing Date:  1/29/01

Staff:  Bill Lynch (786‑7092).

Background: 

The Salmon Recovery Funding Board (SRFB) provides funding for habitat projects in accordance with a process established by the Legislature.  In order to obtain funding from the Board, the counties, cities, and tribal governments must jointly designate a lead entity for the area from which a habitat project list will be developed.  The lead entity is responsible for: 1) creating a committee to compile a list of habitat projects; 2) ranking of the projects: 3) defining the sequence for project implementation; and 4) submitting the results of this effort to the lead entity as the habitat project list.  The lead entity submits the habitat project list to the technical review team associated with the SRFB so the projects can be analyzed and ranked.

When developing the habitat project list, the committee must utilize a critical pathways methodology.  As part of the critical pathways methodology, local habitat projects must be identified that sponsors are willing to undertake.  Each project must have a written agreement from the landowner on which the project is to be implemented.  Project sponsors are responsible, in consultation with the landowner and the technical advisory group, for identifying how the projects will be monitored and evaluated.  The SRFB is directed to give a preference to projects that will be implemented by a project sponsor with a successful record of project implementation.

State agencies are not authorized to act as a project sponsor.  A project sponsor may be one of the following: 1) county; 2) city; 3) special district tribal government; 4) a combination of such governments through an interlocal agreement, nonprofit organization: or 5) one or more private citizens.

Project sponsors are not always available in an area in which a project has great potential to assist in salmon recovery.  State agencies may also have special expertise on a particular type of project, or a proposed project may be on state land.

Summary of Bill: 

State agencies are authorized to act as a project sponsor for purposes of obtaining salmon habitat project funding from the Salmon Recovery Funding Board.

Effective Date:  Ninety days after adjournment of session in which bill is passed.

Appropriation:  None.

Fiscal Note:  Available.