AN
ACT Relating to watershed health monitoring and assessments; adding a new
section to chapter 90.82 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 77.85 RCW; and
creating new sections.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE
LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW
SECTION. Sec. 1. The
legislature finds that a comprehensive program of monitoring is fundamental to
making sound public policy and programmatic decisions regarding salmon recovery
and watershed health. Monitoring provides accountability for results of
management actions and provides the data upon which an adaptive management
framework can lead to improvement of strategies and programs. Monitoring is
also a required element of any salmon recovery plan submitted to the federal
government for approval. While numerous agencies and citizen organizations are
engaged in monitoring a wide range of salmon recovery and watershed health
parameters, there is a greater need for coordination of monitoring efforts, for
using limited monitoring resources to obtain information most useful for
achieving relevant local, state, and federal requirements regarding watershed
health and salmon recovery, and for making the information more accessible to
those agencies and organizations implementing watershed health programs and
projects. Regarding salmon recovery monitoring, the state independent science
panel has concluded that many programs already monitor indicators relevant to
salmonids, but the efforts are largely uncoordinated or unlinked among
programs, have different objectives, use different indicators, lack support for
sharing data, and lack shared statistical designs to address specific issues
raised by listing of salmonid species under the federal endangered species act.
Therefore,
it is the intent of the legislature to encourage the refocusing of existing
agency monitoring activities necessary to implement a comprehensive watershed
health monitoring program, with a focus on salmon recovery. The program
should: Be based on a framework of greater coordination of existing monitoring
activities; require monitoring activities most relevant to adopted local,
state, and federal watershed health objectives; and facilitate the exchange of
monitoring information with agencies and organizations carrying out watershed
health, salmon recovery, and water resources management planning and programs.
NEW
SECTION. Sec. 2. A
new section is added to chapter 90.82 RCW to read as follows:
In
conducting assessments and other studies that include monitoring components or
recommendations, the department and planning units shall implement the
monitoring recommendations developed under section 3 of this act.
NEW
SECTION. Sec. 3. A
new section is added to chapter 77.85 RCW to read as follows:
(1)
The monitoring oversight committee is hereby established. The committee shall
be comprised of the directors or their designated representatives of:
(a)
The salmon recovery office;
(b)
The department of ecology;
(c)
The department of fish and wildlife;
(d)
The conservation commission;
(e)
The Puget Sound action team;
(f)
The department of natural resources;
(g)
The department of transportation; and
(h)
The interagency committee for outdoor recreation.
(2)
The director of the salmon recovery office and the chair of the salmon recovery
funding board, or their designees, shall cochair the committee. The cochairs
shall convene the committee as necessary to develop, for the consideration of
the governor and legislature, a comprehensive and coordinated monitoring
strategy and action plan on watershed health with a focus on salmon recovery.
The committee shall invite representation from the treaty tribes to participate
in the committee's efforts. In addition, the committee shall invite
participation by other state, local, and federal agencies and other entities as
appropriate. The committee shall address the monitoring recommendations of the
independent science panel provided under RCW 77.85.040(7) and of the joint
legislative audit and review committee in its report number 01-1 on investing
in the environment.
(3)
The independent science panel shall act as an advisor to the monitoring
oversight committee and shall review all work products developed by the
committee and make recommendations to the committee cochairs.
(4)
A legislative steering committee is created consisting of four legislators.
Two of the legislators shall be members of the house of representatives, each
representing different major political parties, appointed by the co-speakers of
the house of representatives. The other two legislators shall be members of
the senate, each representing different major political parties, appointed by
the president of the senate. The monitoring oversight committee shall provide
briefings to the legislative steering committee on a quarterly basis on the
progress that the oversight committee is making on the development of the
coordinated monitoring strategy and action plan, and the establishment of an
adaptive management framework. The briefings shall include information on how
the monitoring strategy will be coordinated with other government efforts,
expected benefits and efficiencies that will be achieved, recommended funding
sources and funding levels that will ensure stable sources of funding for
monitoring, and the efforts and cooperation provided by agencies to improve
coordination of their activities.
(5)
The committee shall make recommendations to individual agencies to improve
coordination of monitoring activities.
(6)
The committee shall:
(a)
Define the monitoring goals, objectives, and questions that must be addressed
as part of a comprehensive statewide salmon recovery monitoring and adaptive
management framework;
(b)
Identify and evaluate existing monitoring activities for inclusion in the
framework, while ensuring data consistency and coordination and the filling of
monitoring gaps;
(c)
Recommend statistical designs appropriate to the objectives;
(d)
Recommend performance measures appropriate to the objectives and targeted to
the appropriate geographical, temporal, and biological scales;
(e)
Recommend standardized monitoring protocols for salmon recovery and watershed
health;
(f)
Recommend procedures to ensure quality assurance and quality control of all
relevant data;
(g)
Recommend data transfer protocols to support easy access, sharing, and
coordination among different collectors and users;
(h)
Recommend ways to integrate monitoring information into decision making;
(i)
Recommend organizational and governance structures for oversight and
implementation of the coordinated monitoring framework;
(j)
Recommend stable sources of funding that will ensure the continued operation
and maintenance of the state's salmon recovery and watershed health monitoring
programs, once established; and
(k)
Identify administrative actions that will be undertaken by state agencies to
implement elements of the coordinated monitoring program.
(7)
In developing the coordinated monitoring strategy, the committee shall
coordinate with other appropriate state, federal, local, and tribal monitoring
efforts, including but not limited to the Northwest power planning council, the
Northwest Indian fisheries commission, the national marine fisheries service,
and the United States fish and wildlife service. The committee shall also
consult with watershed planning units under chapter 90.82 RCW, lead entities
under this chapter, professional organizations, and other appropriate groups.
(8)
The cochairs shall provide an interim report to the governor and the members of
the appropriate legislative committees by March 1, 2002, on the progress made
in implementing this section. By December 1, 2002, the committee shall provide
a monitoring strategy and action plan to the governor, and the members of the
appropriate legislative committees for achieving a comprehensive watershed
health monitoring program with a focus on salmon recovery. The strategy and
action plan shall document the results of the committee's actions in addressing
the responsibilities described in subsection (6) of this section. In addition,
the monitoring strategy and action plan shall include an assessment of existing
state agency operations related to monitoring, evaluation, and adaptive
management of watershed health and salmon recovery, and shall recommend any
operational or statutory changes and funding necessary to fully implement the
enhanced coordination program developed under this section. The plan shall
make recommendations based upon the goal of fully realizing an enhanced and
coordinated monitoring program by June 30, 2007.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. If
specific funding for the purposes of this act, referencing this act by bill or
chapter number, is not provided by June 30, 2001, in the omnibus appropriations
act, this act is null and void.
