BILL REQ. #:  S-0464.1 

Read first time 01/15/2003.   Referred to Committee on Natural Resources, Energy & Water.

     AN ACT Relating to financial responsibility requirements for vessels; amending RCW 88.40.011, 88.40.020, and 88.40.040; and creating a new section.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   The legislature finds that the current financial responsibility laws for vessels are in need of update and revision. These changes are necessary due to the increased risks of spills, the length of time that has passed since the current standards were put in place, the recent changes that have occurred in federal statutory and case law, the comparative standards of other western states, and the recent experiences of other states with spills. The legislature intends that, whenever possible, the standards set for Washington state provide the highest level of protection consistent with other western states and to ultimately achieve a more uniform system of financial responsibility on the Pacific Coast.

Sec. 2   RCW 88.40.011 and 2000 c 69 s 30 are each amended to read as follows:
     ((Unless the context clearly requires otherwise,)) The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter unless the context clearly requires otherwise.
     (1) "Cargo vessel" means a self-propelled ship in commerce, other than a tank vessel or a passenger vessel, of three hundred or more gross tons((, including but not limited to, commercial fish processing vessels and freighters)).
     (2) "Bulk" means material that is stored or transported in a loose, unpackaged liquid, powder, or granular form capable of being conveyed by a pipe, bucket, chute, or belt system.
     (3) "Covered vessel" means a tank vessel, cargo vessel, or passenger vessel.
     (4) "Department" means the department of ecology.
     (5) "Director" means the director of the department of ecology.
     (6)(a) "Facility" means any structure, group of structures, equipment, pipeline, or device, other than a vessel, located on or near the navigable waters of the state that transfers oil in bulk to or from a tank vessel or pipeline, that is used for producing, storing, handling, transferring, processing, or transporting oil in bulk.
     (b) A facility does not include any: (i) Railroad car, motor vehicle, or other rolling stock while transporting oil over the highways or rail lines of this state; (ii) retail motor vehicle motor fuel outlet; (iii) facility that is operated as part of an exempt agricultural activity as provided in RCW 82.04.330; (iv) underground storage tank regulated by the department or a local government under chapter 90.76 RCW; or (v) marine fuel outlet that does not dispense more than three thousand gallons of fuel to a ship that is not a covered vessel, in a single transaction.
     (7) "Fishing vessel" means a self-propelled commercial vessel of three hundred or more gross tons that is used for catching or processing fish.
     (8) "Hazardous substances" means any substance listed as of March 1, 2003, in Table 302.4 of 40 C.F.R. Part 302 adopted ((August 14, 1989,)) under section 101(14) of the federal comprehensive environmental response, compensation, and liability act of 1980, as amended by P.L. 99-499. The following are not hazardous substances for purposes of this chapter:
     (a) Wastes listed as F001 through F028 in Table 302.4; ((and))
     (b) Wastes listed as K001 through K136 in Table 302.4; and
     (c) The noncompound metals antimony, arsenic, beryllium, cadmium, chromium, copper, lead, nickel, selenium, silver, thallium, and zinc, when in solid form in a particle larger than one hundred micrometers (0.004 inches) in diameter.
     (((8) "Inland barge" means any barge operating on the waters of the state and certified by the coast guard as an inland barge.))
     (9) "Navigable waters of the state" means those waters of the state, and their adjoining shorelines, that are subject to the ebb and flow of the tide and/or are presently used, have been used in the past, or may be susceptible for use to transport intrastate, interstate, or foreign commerce.
     (10) "Oil" or "oils" means any naturally occurring liquid hydrocarbons at atmospheric temperature and pressure coming from the earth, including condensate and natural gasoline, and any fractionation thereof, including, but not limited to, crude oil, petroleum, gasoline, fuel oil, diesel oil, oil sludge, oil refuse, and oil mixed with wastes other than dredged spoil. Oil does not include any substance listed as of March 1, 2003, in Table 302.4 of 40 C.F.R. Part 302 adopted ((August 14, 1989,)) under section 101(14) of the federal comprehensive environmental response, compensation, and liability act of 1980, as amended by P.L. 99-499.
     (11) "Offshore facility" means any facility located in, on, or under any of the navigable waters of the state, but does not include a facility any part of which is located in, on, or under any land of the state, other than submerged land.
     (12) "Onshore facility" means any facility any part of which is located in, on, or under any land of the state, other than submerged land, that because of its location, could reasonably be expected to cause substantial harm to the environment by discharging oil into or on the navigable waters of the state or the adjoining shorelines.
     (13)(a) "Owner or operator" means (i) in the case of a vessel, any person owning, operating, or chartering by demise, the vessel; (ii) in the case of an onshore or offshore facility, any person owning or operating the facility; and (iii) in the case of an abandoned vessel or onshore or offshore facility, the person who owned or operated the vessel or facility immediately before its abandonment.
     (b) "Operator" does not include any person who owns the land underlying a facility if the person is not involved in the operations of the facility.
     (14) "Passenger vessel" means a ship of three hundred or more gross tons with a fuel capacity of at least six thousand gallons carrying passengers for compensation.
     (15) "Ship" means any boat, ship, vessel, barge, or other floating craft of any kind.
     (16) "Spill" means an unauthorized discharge of oil into the waters of the state.
     (17) "Tank vessel" means a ship that is constructed or adapted to carry, or that carries, oil in bulk as cargo or cargo residue, and that:
     (a) Operates on the waters of the state; or
     (b) Transfers oil in a port or place subject to the jurisdiction of this state.
     (18) "Waters of the state" includes lakes, rivers, ponds, streams, inland waters, underground water, salt waters, estuaries, tidal flats, beaches and lands adjoining the seacoast of the state, sewers, and all other surface waters and watercourses within the jurisdiction of the state of Washington.

Sec. 3   RCW 88.40.020 and 2000 c 69 s 31 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1)(a) Any ((inland)) barge that transports hazardous substances in bulk as cargo, using any port or place in the state of Washington or the navigable waters of the state shall establish evidence of financial responsibility in the amount of the greater of ((one)) five million dollars, or ((one)) three hundred ((fifty)) dollars per gross ton of such vessel.
     (b) The director by rule may establish a lesser standard of financial responsibility for barges, transporting hazardous substances, of three hundred gross tons or less. The standard shall set the level of financial responsibility based on the quantity of cargo and type of cargo the barge is capable of carrying.
     (2)(a) Except as provided in (b) or (c) of this subsection or subsection (6) of this section, a tank vessel that carries oil as cargo in bulk shall demonstrate financial responsibility to pay at least five hundred million dollars. The amount of financial responsibility required under this subsection is one billion dollars after January 1, 2004.
     (b) The director by rule may establish a lesser standard of financial responsibility for tank vessels or barges of three hundred gross tons or less. The standard shall set the level of financial responsibility based on the quantity of cargo the tank vessel or barge is capable of carrying. The director shall not set the standard for tank vessels or barges of three hundred gross tons or less below that required under federal law.
     (c) The owner or operator of a tank vessel who is a member of an international protection and indemnity mutual organization and is covered for oil pollution risks up to the amounts required under this section is not required to demonstrate financial responsibility under this chapter. The director ((may)) shall require the owner or operator of a tank vessel to prove membership in such an organization.
     (3)(a) A cargo vessel or passenger vessel that carries more than six thousand five hundred barrels of oil as fuel shall demonstrate financial responsibility to pay ((the greater of at least six hundred dollars per gross ton or five hundred thousand)), except as provided in subsection (6) of this section, at least three hundred million dollars.
     (b) A cargo vessel or passenger vessel, as defined in RCW 88.40.011, that carries: (i) Between one and ten barrels of oil shall demonstrate financial responsibility to pay at least two million dollars; (ii) between eleven and fifty barrels of oil shall demonstrate financial responsibility to pay at least five million dollars; (iii) between fifty-one and five hundred barrels of oil shall demonstrate financial responsibility to pay at least ten million dollars; (iv) between five hundred one and one thousand barrels of oil shall demonstrate financial responsibility to pay at least twenty million dollars; and (v) between one thousand one and six thousand five hundred barrels of oil shall demonstrate financial responsibility to pay at least twenty million dollars for the first one thousand barrels and five million for each additional one thousand barrels.
     (c) The owner or operator of a cargo or passenger vessel who is a member of an international protection and indemnity mutual organization and is covered for oil pollution risks up to the amounts required under this section is not required to demonstrate financial responsibility under this chapter. The director shall require the owner or operator of a tank vessel to prove membership in such an organization.
     (4) A fishing vessel while on the navigable waters of the state must demonstrate financial responsibility in the amount of the greater of five million dollars, or one million dollars for each employee on the vessel.
     (5) The documentation of financial responsibility shall demonstrate the ability of the document holder to meet state and federal financial liability requirements for the actual costs for removal of oil or hazardous substance spills, for natural resource damages, for civil penalties and fines imposed, for removal of shipwrecks and ship debris from the lands and waters of the state, and for necessary expenses related to a spill, or substantial threat of a spill, involving oil or a hazardous substance.
     (((5))) (6) The department may by rule set a lesser amount of financial responsibility for a tank vessel, cargo vessel, or passenger vessel that meets safety performance or other standards ((for construction, propulsion, equipment, and personnel)) established by the department. The department shall require as a minimum level of financial responsibility under this subsection the same level of financial responsibility required under federal law.
     (((6))) (7) This section shall not apply to a covered vessel owned or operated by the federal government or by a state or local government.
     (8) The department shall review the statutory financial responsibility requirements established in this section and make recommendations regarding the sufficiency of the requirements to the legislature and the governor at least every five years with the first report due November 1, 2007.

Sec. 4   RCW 88.40.040 and 2000 c 69 s 33 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) ((The department shall deny entry to the waters of the state to any vessel that does not meet the financial responsibility requirements of this chapter)) It is unlawful for any vessel required to have financial responsibility under this chapter to enter or operate on Washington waters without meeting the requirements of this chapter or rules adopted under this chapter, except when necessary to avoid injury to the vessel's crew or passengers. Any vessel owner or operator that does not meet the financial responsibility requirements of this chapter and any rules prescribed thereunder or the federal oil pollution act of 1990 shall be reported by the department to the United States coast guard.
     (2) The department shall enforce section 1016 of the federal oil pollution act of 1990 as authorized by section 1019 of the federal act.