FINAL BILL REPORT

SSB 5637

C 298 L 01

Synopsis as Enacted

Brief Description:  Creating a program of watershed health monitoring and assessments.

Sponsors:  Senate Committee on Natural Resources, Parks & Shorelines (originally sponsored by Senators Jacobsen, Regala, Costa and Oke).

Senate Committee on Natural Resources, Parks & Shorelines

House Committee on Natural Resources

House Committee on Appropriations

Background:  The state of Washington has begun a long-term process for restoration of watersheds and the naturally occurring species that inhabit them.  A diverse range of watershed restoration projects are currently underway, but no consistent evaluation or monitoring approach has been developed.

The independent science panel, formed through the salmon restoration framework legislation, has provided recommendations for monitoring of salmon restoration and watershed health.

Summary:  A monitoring oversight committee is established to review the progress of watershed-related monitoring and make recommendations.  Members of the monitoring oversight committee include:  the Salmon Recovery Office, the Department of Ecology, the Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Conservation Commission, the Puget Sound Action Team, the Department of Natural Resources, the Department of Transportation, and the Interagency Committee for Outdoor Recreation.  Specific monitoring objectives are established:  clear goals, valid statistical designs, meaningful performance measures, standardized protocols, data quality control, sharing of data, stable funding, and integration of monitoring into decision-making processes.

The monitoring oversight committee is co-chaired by the director of the Salmon Recovery Office and the chair of the Salmon Recovery Funding Board.  An interim progress report is due from the monitoring oversight committee on March 1, 2002.

A four-member steering committee is created.  The steering committee is composed of two Senate members appointed by the President of the Senate, and two members appointed by the House of Representatives Co-Speakers.  The monitoring oversight committee must brief the steering committee on a quarterly basis.

Other entities involved in salmon recovery and watershed restoration must consider monitoring objectives specified in the legislation.

A null and void clause is included.

Votes on Final Passage:

Senate490

House     93 0 (House amended)

Senate        (Senate refused to concur)

House     92 0 (House amended)

Senate    48 0 (Senate concurred)

Effective:  July 22, 2001