H-4192.1  _______________________________________________

                    SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 2757

          _______________________________________________

State of Washington      57th Legislature     2002 Regular Session

By House Committee on Natural Resources (originally sponsored by Representatives Rockefeller, Ericksen, Hunt, Doumit, Linville and Pearson)

Read first time 02/08/2002.  Referred to Committee on .

Creating an advisory committee to assist in a review of the state hydraulic project approval program.

    AN ACT Relating to administration of hydraulic project approval; and creating a new section.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1.  (1) By September 1, 2002, the department of fish and wildlife must establish an advisory committee of no more than sixteen members.  The advisory committee must consist of a balanced  representation of state and local governments, tribes, business and industry interests, and environmental interests to assist in a review of the state hydraulic project approval program.  The advisory committee may establish technical subcommittees as needed.

    (2) In its review of the hydraulic approval program, the advisory committee must focus on ways of improving outcomes for the program so that permit applicants obtain improved service and fish receive enhanced protection.  The advisory committee must review the statutes and rules to determine if there are clear goals for the program, whether benefits are being obtained in an economical manner, whether the law is being consistently applied, the effectiveness of permit conditions and mitigation required for project approvals, and the adequacy of monitoring to ensure that the protection of fish life is being achieved.  The advisory committee must also assist the department of fish and wildlife in developing outcome-based performance measures concerning the timeliness of permit issuance, service delivery and client satisfaction, and the elimination of duplicative or conflicting provisions with other state, federal, or local regulatory programs.  In addition, the advisory committee must make recommendations on additional mechanisms that might be used to improve administrative efficiencies while maintaining the effectiveness of the program as a whole, such as workload allocation, increased training and education programs for department staff and groups responsible for complying with the hydraulic permit requirements, electronic permitting, as well as exploring the need for new resources for the program.  The advisory committee must address the development and implementation of the alternative permit program as part of its review, and make recommendations regarding the levels of any fees and the methodology of setting any fees that the department of fish and wildlife is considering establishing.  Any recommendations of the advisory committee concerning fees must be consistent with the direction provided in RCW 76.09.030(2) to work for the integration of the forest practices and hydraulic permitting processes.  It is the legislature's intent that no hydraulic permit fees be charged once these two permitting processes are integrated.  The advisory committee must submit a report containing its recommendations and findings to the appropriate legislative committees by December 31, 2003.

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