SENATE BILL REPORT

SB 5961

As Reported By Senate Committee On:

Natural Resources, Parks & Shorelines, February 21, 2001

Title:  An act relating to making technical corrections to fish and wildlife statutes.

Brief Description:  Modifying provisions concerning fisheries and wildlife issues.

Sponsors:  Senators Jacobsen and Oke; by request of Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Brief History:

Committee Activity:  Natural Resources, Parks & Shorelines:  2/21/01 [DPS].

SENATE COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES, PARKS & SHORELINES

Majority Report:  That Substitute Senate Bill No. 5961 be substituted therefor, and the substitute bill do pass.

Signed by Senators Jacobsen, Chair; Spanel, Vice Chair; Constantine, Hargrove, McDonald, Morton, Oke, Snyder and Stevens.

Staff:  David Johnson (786‑7754)

Background:  In 1994 the Department of Fisheries and the Department of Game were merged into the Department of Fish and Wildlife.  Laws relating to food fish were generally contained in Title 75 RCW.  Those relating to game and game fish were contained in Title 77 RCW.  In 2000, the two titles were merged into Title 77. 

As a result of the merger of the two titles, certain errors, oversights, and redundancies were created in the new Title 77.  Many of the provisions in the current Title 77 evolved from separate regulatory systems.  Although the requirements of the various statutes were similar, they were stated in different ways.  Some provisions in the current code may be confusing or obsolete.

Summary of Substitute Bill:  Technical changes are made to certain provisions of Title 77 to make terminology uniform and correct typographical errors.  Some statutes are renumbered to reflect last year's recodification.  Terms are added where necessary to fit the two titles and two systems of regulation together.  Unnecessary or redundant language is repealed or deleted.

Substitute Bill Compared to Original Bill:  The substitute bill removed changes of the phrase "endangered fish and wildlife" so they remain as they currently exist in statute.  It added a historical reference to a section being moved in the statutes.  The substitute also added a reference to clarify that a particular section applies only to recreational fishing.

Appropriation:  None.

Fiscal Note:  Not requested.

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

Testimony For:  This bill carries out the mandate from 1994 to combine the departments.  It corrects old statutory references, removes obsolete terms, includes all regulated species in the specific authorities, and eliminates redundancies.  This is a bill which only makes technical corrections.  Every effort has been made to avoid inadvertent changes in the law.

Testimony Against:  None.

Testified:  Josh Weiss, Dept. of Fish and Wildlife; Evan Jacoby, Dept. of Fish and Wildlife; Ed Owens, Coalition of Coastal Fisheries, PSUOA