Sponsors: By Representatives Morris, Kenney, Conway, Lovick, Linville, Anderson and O'Brien.

Brief Summary of Bill

• Expresses the Washington State Legislature's support for the development of an action plan by the Department of Homeland Security that addresses the key findings of the Blue Cascades exercise for regional infrastructure security.

Majority Report: The substitute bill be substituted therefor and the substitute bill do pass. Signed by 17 members: Representatives Morris, Chair; Ruderman, Vice Chair; Sullivan, Vice Chair; Crouse, Ranking Minority Member; Nixon, Assistant Ranking Minority Member; Anderson, Blake, Bush, DeBolt, Delvin, Hudgins, Kirby, McMahan, Romero, Tom, Wallace and Wood.

In 1991 the Pacific Northwest Economic Region (PNWER) Agreement was enacted in Washington. The agreement created a regional forum that explores promoting regional collaboration and enhancing regional competitiveness in international and domestic markets. Policy areas within PNWER's consideration include international trade, economic development, human resources, environment and natural resources, energy, and education. Substantive actions of PNWER may take the form of uniform legislation and other policy initiatives endorsed by participating entities.

Washington, Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbia, and the Yukon are members of PNWER. The organization's structure consists of a delegate council and an executive committee. Legislators are appointed by participating states and provinces to serve on these committees. The PNWER also has working groups for various policy areas.

In 2001 the PNWER launched the Partnership for Regional Infrastructure Security. It sponsored a day-long table-top exercise in June 2002 that explored infrastructure interdependencies within the region. Participants are developing recommendations to address both long-term and short-term shortfalls in regional disaster preparedness.

The Legislature expresses its support to the President of the United States, the United States Congress, and the Secretary-Designate for the Department of Homeland Security for the development of an action plan by the Department of Homeland Security that addresses the key findings of the Blue Cascades exercise for regional infrastructure security. The Legislature also recognizes:

• The PNWER's efforts to develop a multi-state, binational Partnership for Regional Infrastructure Security of public and private stakeholders to address interdependency issues and work toward an action plan for a "disaster resistant" region; and

• The completion of the first binational critical infrastructure desktop exercise known as Blue Cascades and the identification of areas of concern for infrastructure cascading effects.

Testimony For: The Blue Cascades table-top exercise was the first cross-border interdependencies exercise conducted in North America. From that exercise, participants learned that, even though they have contingency plans for their infrastructure, they may not have looked at the interdependency with other infrastructures. It is important that the federal government look at addressing critical infrastructure on a regional basis. An example is the electrical choke point in Montana that, if damaged, would significantly affect people in Washington but would not affect those in Montana. Eighty-five percent of the critical infrastructure is owned by the private sector. One issue is the concern that information shared between the private sector and the government be protected from public disclosure. Money, time and energy is going into providing guards and gates to protect infrastructure. When people get together, they see where the gaps are in the protection of the infrastructure. This was a necessary first step in recognizing interdependencies. The nature of the interdependencies is very complex. Participants learned of the long lead time necessary to replace critical components of critical infrastructures. The increase in understanding was a valuable result of the exercise and efforts to increase the understanding of interdependencies are encouraged.

Testified: Representative Morris, prime sponsor; Matt Morrison, Pacific Northwest Economic Region; Marc Anderson, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 125; Terry Oxley, Puget Sound Energy; Randolph Dearth, Boeing; Cathy Brightwell, AT&T; and Rosemary Davis, Verizon.