Title: An act relating to geological survey.

Brief Description: Concerning the state geological survey.

Sponsors: By House Committee on Natural Resources, Ecology & Parks (originally sponsored by Representatives Dickerson, Buck, Blake and B. Sullivan; by request of Department of Natural Resources).

Brief History:

Natural Resources, Ecology & Parks: 1/12/06, 1/13/06 [DPS];

Appropriations: 1/24/06, 1/25/06 [DPS(NREP)].

Floor Activity:

Passed House: 2/10/06, 98-0.
Senate Amended.
Passed Senate: 3/2/06, 47-0.

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES, ECOLOGY & PARKS

Majority Report: The substitute bill be substituted therefor and the substitute bill do pass. Signed by Representatives B. Sullivan, Chair; Upthegrove, Vice Chair; Buck, Ranking Minority Member; Kretz, Assistant Ranking Minority Member; Blake, Chandler, Dickerson, Eickmeyer, Hunt, Kagi and Orcutt.

Staff: Jason Callahan (786-7117).

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS

Majority Report: The substitute bill by Committee on Natural Resources, Ecology & Parks be substituted therefor and the substitute bill do pass. Signed by 30 members: Representatives Sommers, Chair; Fromhold, Vice Chair; Alexander, Ranking Minority Member; Anderson, Assistant Ranking Minority Member; McDonald, Assistant Ranking Minority Member; Armstrong, Bailey, Buri, Chandler, Clements, Cody, Conway, Darneille, Dunshee, Grant, Haigh, Hinkle, Hunter, Kagi, Kenney, Kessler, McDermott, McIntire, Miloscia, Pearson, Priest, Schual-Berke, P. Sullivan, Talcott and Walsh.

Staff: Alicia Paatsch (786-7178).

Background:

The Department of Natural Resources (DNR), through the appointed Supervisor of Geology, is responsible for maintaining the state Geological Survey (Survey). The Survey is required to meet a number of objectives, including examinations of the state's mined products, the state's water resources, the state's soil classifications, and the occurrence of natural road building materials. The Survey must also produce geological and economic maps and information related to science and economics deemed of value by the Supervisor of Geology. Reports and maps generated from the Survey must be made available to the general public for purchase.

Summary of Substitute Bill:

The state "Supervisor of Geology" is renamed the "State Geologist". References in the code to the old title are updated to reflect the title change.

The Survey is instructed to conduct and maintain an assessment of the volcanic, seismic, landslide, and tsunami hazards in Washington. The assessment must include identification and mapping of hazards, as well as an estimation of the potential consequences and the likelihood of a geological hazard event.

EFFECT OF SENATE AMENDMENT(S):

Requires the Department of Natural Resources to provide technical assistance to state and local government agencies on interpreting and applying the results of the required geological hazard assessment.

Appropriation: None.

Fiscal Note: Available.

Effective Date: The bill takes effect 90 days after adjournment of session in which bill is passed.

Testimony For: (Natural Resources, Ecology & Parks) Hurricane Katrina and the Sumatra tsunami have demonstrated the importance of disaster preparedness and assessing geological risk. With the state's largest city vulnerable to liquefaction and the coast susceptible to a tsunami, the state needs to do all that it can to prepare for possible disaster situations and to focus on the primary risks. Maps of damage prone areas are vital for emergency service preparation, and planning will be important for rebuilding the state in the event of a catastrophe.

The original enabling legislation for the Survey was drafted in the early 1900's. The needs and requirements of the Survey have changed since the initial creation, and the current code should reflect modern needs.

There is an economic benefit available to the state if it invests in its geological resources. Energy exploration companies will invest in the state if they have access to modern and reliable information on the mineral composition of the area. Currently, there is not any natural gas production in the state, but that could change if an investment was made in mapping coal seams and other resources.

The Survey is an important, unbiased place for research and public education to occur. It has been able to do much with diminishing funds, but a reinvestment in the Survey is needed. The state geological library is an important resource that needs investment to keep modern. Science done in isolation is not as effective. The geological library and public dissemination role of the Survey ensures that research is efficient.

Local governments and land planners need help in knowing where communities should be built and where gravel and aggregate resources are located. Poor counties have the same geological needs as large counties, but lack the necessary resources to tend to those needs.

Testimony For: (Appropriations) The Department of Natural Resource's Geology Department currently has a third of an employee working on geologic hazards. Funding in 2007 allow the completion of liquefaction and seismic work in the Everett and Arlington areas and will begin to update shoreline slope stability maps that were last updated in 1973. We have better data and could begin mapping the 2,500 shoreline miles of the Puget Sound at about two counties per year. We also need to accelerate the time it takes to do the work so that it doesn't take 15 to 18 years to develop all the maps.

Clallam, Jefferson, and Grays Harbor counties are in severe danger of tsunami and liquefaction impacts based on a Cascadia Subduction earthquake. Maps from the Department of Natural Resources show that oil tanks in Port Angeles and oil spill response equipment are both located in liquefaction and tsunami danger areas. These maps show where fills will wash out and where bridges may be in danger. Geologic data can also be used to develop much needed collateral damage maps.

State and local officials are dependent on current geological information in the development and establishment of building codes, ordinances, and mitigation programs. These plans ensure public safety of our citizens and can reduce the volume of public and private losses as a result of a hazardous event.

Testimony Against: (Natural Resources, Ecology & Parks) None.

Testimony Against: (Appropriations) None.

Persons Testifying: (Natural Resources, Ecology & Parks) Representative Dickerson, prime sponsor; Representative Buck; Ron Teissere, Department of Natural Resources; Thomas Deacon, Cascadia Energy Corporation and Methane Energy Corporation; Jim Zimmerman, Washington Cattlemen's Association; Kitty Reed; Connie Manson, American Geological Institute; Lori Evans, Kinross Gold USA; William Steele, University of Washington; Eric Holdeman, King County Office of Emergency Management; Kathy Troost, University of Washington; Heath Packard, Audubon Society; and Mark Molinari, Association of Environmental and Engineering Geologists.

Persons Testifying: (Appropriations) Representative Dickerson, prime sponsor; Representative Buck; Bill Steele, University of Washington Pacific Northwest Seismograph Network; Jim Mullen, Emergency Management Division, Military Department; Ron Teissere, Department of Natural Resources; and John LeManna, Association of Environmental Geologists.

Persons Signed In To Testify But Not Testifying: (Natural Resources, Ecology & Parks) None.

Persons Signed In To Testify But Not Testifying: (Appropriations) None.