BILL REQ. #:  S-3017.2 

READ FIRST TIME 04/11/03.   

     AN ACT Relating to funding pollution abatement and response; adding new sections to chapter 70.94 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 90.56 RCW; making appropriations; and providing an expiration date.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   A new section is added to chapter 70.94 RCW to read as follows:
     In addition to other fees and taxes required under this chapter, registered owners of motor vehicles as defined in RCW 46.04.320 shall annually, upon renewal, pay a clean air/water fee of one dollar and twenty-five cents. One dollar of the proceeds from the clean air/water fee must be deposited in a segregated subaccount of the air pollution control account created in RCW 70.94.015, and twenty-five cents of the proceeds from the clean air/water fee must be deposited in the vessel response account in section 4 of this act. The department of licensing shall itemize the fee imposed in this section on the vehicle registration renewal notice by indicating the amount of the fee and the purposes for which the fee is imposed.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   A new section is added to chapter 70.94 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) Money from the fee under section 1 of this act that is deposited in the segregated subaccount of the air pollution control account created in RCW 70.94.015 may be used for the purposes of this chapter, including the following:
     (a) Retrofitting school buses with exhaust emission control devices;
     (b) Reducing vehicle air contaminant emissions and cleaning up air pollution;
     (c) Reducing and monitoring toxic air contaminants;
     (d) Providing funding for fueling infrastructure necessary to allow school bus fleets to use alternative, cleaner fuels.
     (2) Money from the clean air/water fee under section 1 of this act deposited in the segregated subaccount of the air pollution control account created in RCW 70.94.015 is subject to distribution as follows:
     (a) Eighty-five percent of the money must be distributed to the air pollution control authorities created under this chapter. The money must be distributed in direct proportion with the amount of fees imposed under section 1 of this act that are collected within the boundaries of each authority. However, an amount in direct proportion with those fees collected in counties for which no air pollution control authority exists must be distributed to the department.
     (b) Fifteen percent of the money must be distributed to the department and used by the department for the following purposes:
     (i) Retrofitting school buses with exhaust emission control devices;
     (ii) Reducing vehicle air contaminant emissions and cleaning up air pollution;
     (iii) Reducing and monitoring toxic air contaminants;
     (iv) Providing funding for fueling infrastructure necessary to allow school bus fleets to use alternative, cleaner fuels.
     (3) Money in the air pollution control account may be spent by the department only after appropriation.
     (4) The department shall provide a report to the legislative transportation committees on the progress of the implementation of this section by December 31, 2004.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   The sum of ten million dollars is appropriated for the biennium ending June 30, 2005, from the segregated subaccount of the air pollution control account, created in section 1 of this act, to the department of ecology for the purposes of section 2 of this act.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 4   A new section is added to chapter 90.56 RCW to read as follows:
     The vessel response account is created in the state treasury. Grants, gifts, and federal funds may be deposited into the account. Moneys in the account may be spent only after appropriation. The department of ecology is authorized to utilize the vessel response account to preposition a dedicated rescue tug at the entrance to the Strait of Juan de Fuca to reduce the risk of major maritime accidents and oil spills on the outer coast and western strait. Prior to authorizing the rescue tug to respond to a distressed vessel, the department shall work with the United States Coast Guard and industry to determine if another capable, unencumbered commercial tug is available in the area that can respond. If such a tug can respond without increasing the risk of a casualty, it should be deployed as the tug of choice and the state-contracted rescue tug should not be taken off standby duty. The department is also authorized to spot charter tugs as needed during major storms and other high risk periods to protect maritime commerce and the environment anywhere in state waters.
     The department shall not proceed with rule making related to emergency towing pursuant to chapter 88.46 RCW, so long as the deposit of the fee into the vessel response account under section 1 of this act is continued.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 5   The sum of two million six hundred seventy-six thousand dollars is appropriated for the biennium ending June 30, 2005, from the vessel response account to the department of ecology for the purposes of section 4 of this act.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 6   Section 1 of this act expires July 1, 2008.