BILL REQ. #:  S-3770.1 

Read first time 01/15/2004.   Referred to Committee on Natural Resources, Energy & Water.

     AN ACT Relating to establishing a statewide strategy for land acquisitions and disposal; and creating a new section.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   (1)(a) The legislature finds that the 1999 public and tribal lands inventory provides a base of information necessary to develop a statewide strategy for acquisition of lands for recreation and habitat preservation and enhancement. However, additional information on recent acquisitions is necessary to determine the extent of recent acquisitions, how they were funded, and whether those acquisitions are compatible with a statewide strategy or more narrowly in pursuit of the goals of single agencies.
     (b) The legislature further finds that land acquisition decisions have long-term implications, often in perpetuity, and that some acquisitions occur outside the control and oversight of the legislature.
     (c) The legislature intends to establish a statewide strategy for acquisition and disposal of lands for recreation and habitat preservation and enhancement, and to clarify authority for centralized, interagency control over implementation of that strategy.
     (2) The interagency committee for outdoor recreation shall submit a report to the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the legislature by June 30, 2005. The report must include:
     (a) An inventory of habitat and recreational land acquisitions and disposals since 1980 by state agencies. For the purpose of this inventory, "land acquisition" means fee simple acquisition or less than a fee simple interest if that interest is for more than fifty years. "Land acquisitions" by state agencies includes those funded by state agencies but owned by local governments. The inventory must also include information about land acquisitions and disposals that involved land trading or swapping between public and private entities, and land acquisitions that were gifts. The inventory must also specify principal use of the acquired parcels and other data compatible with the 1999 inventory. The inventory must specify the agency or local government acquiring or disposing of the property, the costs of the land acquisition or receipts from the disposal, the funding sources, and whether the land acquisition was funded under a legislative appropriation, an unanticipated receipt, and/or exchange of land parcels.
     (b) A recommended statewide strategy for land acquisitions for recreation and habitat preservation and enhancement. The recommended statewide strategy must specify whether all land acquisitions of recreation and habitat lands by state agencies, regardless of fund source, should comply with the priorities and policies of chapter 79A.15 RCW and, if not, what priorities and policies should apply. The recommended statewide strategy must ensure that land acquisition and disposal decisions are based on a determination of need for recreational and habitat lands compared to existing public lands serving those purposes in various areas of the state. The recommended statewide strategy shall also specify how to provide a central, interagency point of control to ensure that land acquisitions by state agencies, including land acquisitions funded through unanticipated receipts, comply with statewide priorities and policies. The recommended statewide strategy shall also examine the costs and benefits of providing payments in lieu of taxes on certain kinds of land acquisitions.