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ENGROSSED SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 2506
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Passed Legislature - 2002 Regular Session
State of Washington 57th Legislature 2002
Regular Session
By
Read first time 02/08/2002. Referred to
Committee on .
Creating a joint task
force on green building.
AN ACT Relating to the
joint task force on green building; creating new sections; and providing an
expiration date.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF
WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec.
1. The legislature finds that
citizens in many communities desire homes that, in addition to being well-built
and affordable, are also environmentally "friendly." In addition to
the public demand for low-impact development and its environmental benefits,
the legislature also finds that low-impact developments have significant
potential to reduce the costs of storm water management, energy generation,
road construction, and other local infrastructure costs for our communities.
The legislature further finds that a number of new programs have been developed
over the past few years, both within the state and across the country, to
promote and provide for low-impact development.
The legislature
therefore finds that there is a need to evaluate local and national low-impact
development programs to identify how the state government can play a positive
role in facilitating local efforts to meet public demand for more livable
communities and to reduce the environmental and social costs of our current
development practices.
NEW SECTION. Sec.
2. (1) The joint task force
on green building is created, to consist of the following ten members:
(a) Two members of the
house of representatives, one from the majority caucus and one from the
minority caucus, to be appointed by the speaker of the house;
(b) Two members of the
senate, one member from the majority caucus and one from the minority caucus,
to be appointed by the senate majority leader;
(c) One member from the
office of community development of the department of community, trade, and
economic development, appointed by the director of the department of community,
trade, and economic development; and
(d) One member
representing each of the following interests, selected by the associations
representing those interests: The residential building industry, the
commercial building industry, cities, counties, and environmental organizations.
(2) Legislative members
of the task force shall be reimbursed for travel expenses as provided in RCW
44.04.120. The staff of senate committee services and the office of program
research of the house of representatives shall provide support to the task
force.
(3) The chair may
appoint experts and advisors as nonvoting members of the task force to provide
information on various subjects. The task force shall establish rules of
procedure at its first meeting.
NEW SECTION. Sec.
3. The joint task force on
green building shall:
(1) Complete a thorough
study of cities and counties that offer a form of green building and low-impact
development codes to:
(a) Determine
components of the different programs that are effective and what is
ineffective;
(b) Determine
incentives and disincentives to implementing a green building program;
(c) Study existing
green building standards or programs, such as Leadership in Environmental and
Energy Design (LEED), Build a Better Kitsap, Build a Better Clark County, the
National Institute of Standards and Technology Building for Environmental and
Economic Sustainability (BEES), the United States Environmental Protection
Agency's Environmentally Preferable Purchasing Program (EPP), and the National
Institute of Building Sciences Whole Building Design Guide (WBDG); and
(d) Identify the
potential for low-impact development to reduce costs of storm water management,
road building, and other infrastructure needs; and
(2) Commence the study
within thirty days of adjournment sine die of the 2002 regular session, and
present a final report of its findings and any recommendations to the
legislature by January 1, 2003.
NEW
SECTION. Sec. 4. This act expires March
30, 2003.
