SENATE BILL REPORT
ESB 6188
As Passed Senate, May 22, 2001
Title: An act relating to improving the efficiency and accountability of the environmental permitting and compliance process for transportation projects.
Brief Description: Streamlining the environmental permit process for transportation projects.
Sponsors: Senators Prentice, Swecker, Haugen, McDonald, Gardner, Horn, Rasmussen and Deccio.
Brief History:
Committee Activity: Transportation: 5/21/01 [DP].
First Special Session: Passed Senate: 5/22/01, 39-3.
SENATE COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION
Majority Report: Do pass.
Signed by Senators Haugen, Chair; Gardner, Vice Chair; Eide, Finkbeiner, Jacobsen, Kastama, McAuliffe, McDonald, Oke, Prentice, T. Sheldon and Swecker.
Staff: Jennifer Ziegler (786-7316)
Background: The Legislature and the Governor formed the Blue Ribbon Commission on Transportation in 1998 to assess the local, regional, and state transportation system; ensure that current and future money is spent wisely; make the system more accountable and predictable; and prepare a 20-year plan for funding and investing in the transportation system. The commission consisted of 46 members representing business, labor, agriculture, tribes, government, ports, shipping, trucking, transit, rail, environmental interests, and the general public.
The commission made 18 recommendations to the Governor and the Legislature. Recommendation 11 directs the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) to work toward a goal of one-stop environmental permitting for transportation projects.
Summary of Bill: The following projects are eligible for a streamlined environmental permitting process: pilot projects designated in this act, transportation projects of statewide significance, and projects selected for a programmatic approach by the transportation permit efficiency and accountability committee created in this act.
Transportation projects of statewide significance means a surface transportation project or combination of projects, that cross multiple city or county jurisdictional boundaries or connects major destinations in support of the economy. These projects are designated by the WSDOT and must be approved by the Senate and House Transportation Committees.
The Transportation Permit Efficiency and Accountability Committee (TPEAC) is created. The TPEAC must consist of the following voting members: four legislators, a Secretary of WSDOT designee, a Director of Department of Fish and Wildlife designee, a Director of Department of Ecology designee, an Association of Washington Cities designee, and a Washington State Association of Counties designee. The nonvoting members of the committee include representatives from the construction industry, environmental interests, labor, and tribes. The WSDOT must provide administrative assistance to the TPEAC.
The TPEAC must assess the application of current environmental standards and integrate those standards where appropriate. The TPEAC must designate three pilot projects and use a streamlined process for permitting those projects. The TPEAC must also develop a list of streamlining opportunities and make recommendations to the Legislature on necessary statutory or administrative changes. Finally, the TPEAC must implement a streamlined permitting process for transportation projects of statewide significance based on the integrated standards developed by the committee.
Local governments have three options for participating in the streamlined process. If a local government elects to be a participating entity, a representative from the local government will be part of the coordinated review of the project. If a local government elects to be an assigning entity, the local government will enter into an agreement with the department to define the local permit requirements that must be met. If a local government elects not to participate in the coordinated process, the department will conduct the local permitting process and must comply with the provisions of the city and county ordinances.
This legislation expires March 31, 2003.
Appropriation: None.
Fiscal Note: Requested on May 21, 2001.
Effective Date: The bill contains an emergency clause and takes effect immediately.
Testimony For: None.
Testimony Against: None.
Testified: No one.