BILL REQ. #:  H-3373.2 

Read first time 01/21/2004.   Referred to Committee on Fisheries, Ecology & Parks.

     AN ACT Relating to prohibiting land acquisition projects funded by the salmon recovery funding board; amending RCW 77.85.010 and 77.85.060; and reenacting and amending RCW 77.85.130.

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

Sec. 1   RCW 77.85.010 and 2002 c 210 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
     The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter unless the context clearly requires otherwise.
     (1) "Adaptive management" means reliance on scientific methods to test the results of actions taken so that the management and related policy can be changed promptly and appropriately.
     (2) "Critical pathways methodology" means a project scheduling and management process for examining interactions between habitat projects and salmonid species, prioritizing habitat projects, and assuring positive benefits from habitat projects.
     (3) "Habitat project list" is the list of projects resulting from the critical pathways methodology under RCW 77.85.060(2). Each project on the list must have a written agreement from the landowner on whose land the project will be implemented. Projects include habitat restoration projects, habitat protection projects, habitat projects that improve water quality, habitat projects that protect water quality, habitat-related mitigation projects, and habitat project maintenance and monitoring activities. Projects may not include the acquisition of land in any county in which public land, federal land, and tribal land together constitute seventy-five percent or more of the total area of the county.
     (4) "Habitat work schedule" means those projects from the habitat project list that will be implemented during the current funding cycle. The schedule shall also include a list of the entities and individuals implementing projects, the start date, duration, estimated date of completion, estimated cost, and funding sources for the projects.
     (5) "Limiting factors" means conditions that limit the ability of habitat to fully sustain populations of salmon. These factors are primarily fish passage barriers and degraded estuarine areas, riparian corridors, stream channels, and wetlands.
     (6) "Project sponsor" is a county, city, special district, tribal government, state agency, a combination of such governments through interlocal or interagency agreements, a nonprofit organization, regional fisheries enhancement group, or one or more private citizens. A project sponsored by a state agency may be funded by the board only if it is included on the habitat project list submitted by the lead entity for that area and the state agency has a local partner that would otherwise qualify as a project sponsor.
     (7) "Salmon" includes all species of the family Salmonidae which are capable of self-sustaining, natural production.
     (8) "Salmon recovery plan" means a state plan developed in response to a proposed or actual listing under the federal endangered species act that addresses limiting factors including, but not limited to harvest, hatchery, hydropower, habitat, and other factors of decline.
     (9) "Tribe" or "tribes" means federally recognized Indian tribes.
     (10) "WRIA" means a water resource inventory area established in chapter 173-500 WAC as it existed on January 1, 1997.
     (11) "Owner" means the person holding title to the land or the person under contract with the owner to lease or manage the legal owner's property.

Sec. 2   RCW 77.85.060 and 2000 c 107 s 95 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) Critical pathways methodology shall be used to develop a habitat project list and a habitat work schedule that ensures salmon habitat projects will be prioritized and implemented in a logical sequential manner that produces habitat capable of sustaining healthy populations of salmon.
     (2) The critical pathways methodology shall:
     (a) Include a limiting factors analysis for salmon in streams, rivers, tributaries, estuaries, and subbasins in the region. The technical advisory group shall have responsibility for the limiting factors analysis;
     (b) Identify local habitat projects, except land acquisition projects in any county in which public land, federal land, and tribal land together constitute seventy-five percent or more of the total area of the county, that sponsors are willing to undertake. The projects identified must have a written agreement from the landowner on which the project is to be implemented. Project sponsors shall have the lead responsibility for this task;
     (c) Identify how projects will be monitored and evaluated. The project sponsor, in consultation with the technical advisory group and the appropriate landowner, shall have responsibility for this task;
     (d) Include a review of monitoring data, evaluate project performance, and make recommendations to the committee established under RCW 77.85.050 and to the technical review team. The technical advisory group has responsibility for this task; and
     (e) Describe the adaptive management strategy that will be used. The committee established under RCW 77.85.050 shall have responsibility for this task. If a committee has not been formed, the technical advisory group shall have the responsibility for this task.
     (3) The habitat work schedule shall include all projects developed pursuant to subsection (2) of this section, and shall identify and coordinate with any other salmon habitat project implemented in the region, including habitat preservation projects funded through the Washington wildlife and recreation program, the conservation reserve enhancement program, and other conservancy programs. The habitat work schedule shall also include the start date, duration, estimated date of completion, estimated cost, and, if appropriate, the affected salmonid species of each project. Each schedule shall be updated on an annual basis to depict new activities.

Sec. 3   RCW 77.85.130 and 2000 c 107 s 102 and 2000 c 15 s 1 are each reenacted and amended to read as follows:
     (1) The salmon recovery funding board shall develop procedures and criteria for allocation of funds for salmon habitat projects and salmon recovery activities on a statewide basis to address the highest priorities for salmon habitat protection and restoration. To the extent practicable the board shall adopt an annual allocation of funding. The allocation should address both protection and restoration of habitat, and should recognize the varying needs in each area of the state on an equitable basis. The board has the discretion to partially fund, or to fund in phases, salmon habitat projects. The board may annually establish a maximum amount of funding available for any individual project, subject to available funding. No projects required solely as a mitigation or a condition of permitting are eligible for funding.
     (2)(a) In evaluating, ranking, and awarding funds for projects and activities the board shall give preference to projects that:
     (i) Are based upon the limiting factors analysis identified under RCW 77.85.060;
     (ii) Provide a greater benefit to salmon recovery based upon the stock status information contained in the department of fish and wildlife salmonid stock inventory (SASSI), the salmon and steelhead habitat inventory and assessment project (SSHIAP), and any comparable science-based assessment when available;
     (iii) Will benefit listed species and other fish species; and
     (iv) Will preserve high quality salmonid habitat.
     (b) In evaluating, ranking, and awarding funds for projects and activities the board shall also give consideration to projects that:
     (i) Are the most cost-effective;
     (ii) Have the greatest matched or in-kind funding; and
     (iii) Will be implemented by a sponsor with a successful record of project implementation.
     (3) The board may reject, but not add, projects from a habitat project list submitted by a lead entity for funding. The board may not fund fee simple land acquisition projects in any county in which public land, federal land, and tribal land together constitute seventy-five percent or more of the total area of the county.
     (4) For fiscal year 2000, the board may authorize the interagency review team to evaluate, rank, and make funding decisions for categories of projects or activities or from funding sources provided for categories of projects or activities. In delegating such authority the board shall consider the review team's staff resources, procedures, and technical capacity to meet the purposes and objectives of this chapter. The board shall maintain general oversight of the team's exercise of such authority.
     (5) The board shall seek the guidance of the technical review team to ensure that scientific principles and information are incorporated into the allocation standards and into proposed projects and activities. If the technical review team determines that a habitat project list complies with the critical pathways methodology under RCW 77.85.060, it shall provide substantial weight to the list's project priorities when making determinations among applications for funding of projects within the area covered by the list.
     (6) The board shall establish criteria for determining when block grants may be made to a lead entity or other recognized regional recovery entity consistent with one or more habitat project lists developed for that region. Where a lead entity has been established pursuant to RCW 77.85.050, the board may provide grants to the lead entity to assist in carrying out lead entity functions under this chapter, subject to available funding. The board shall determine an equitable minimum amount of funds for each region, and shall distribute the remainder of funds on a competitive basis.
     (7) The board may waive or modify portions of the allocation procedures and standards adopted under this section in the award of grants or loans to conform to legislative appropriations directing an alternative award procedure or when the funds to be awarded are from federal or other sources requiring other allocation procedures or standards as a condition of the board's receipt of the funds. The board shall develop an integrated process to manage the allocation of funding from federal and state sources to minimize delays in the award of funding while recognizing the differences in state and legislative appropriation timing.
     (8) The board may award a grant or loan for a salmon recovery project on private or public land when the landowner has a legal obligation under local, state, or federal law to perform the project, when expedited action provides a clear benefit to salmon recovery, and there will be harm to salmon recovery if the project is delayed. For purposes of this subsection, a legal obligation does not include a project required solely as a mitigation or a condition of permitting.
     (9) The board may condition a grant or loan to include the requirement that property may only be transferred to a federal agency if the agency that will acquire the property agrees to comply with all terms of the grant or loan to which the project sponsor was obligated. Property acquired or improved by a project sponsor may be conveyed to a federal agency, but only if the agency agrees to comply with all terms of the grant or loan to which the project sponsor was obligated.