BILL REQ. #:  H-2366.1 

READ FIRST TIME 03/03/05.   

     AN ACT Relating to providing dedicated funding from the water quality account for lake restoration and management; amending RCW 70.146.030; and adding a new section to chapter 70.146 RCW.

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

Sec. 1   RCW 70.146.030 and 2004 c 277 s 909 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) The water quality account is hereby created in the state treasury. Moneys in the account may be used only in a manner consistent with this chapter. Moneys deposited in the account shall be administered by the department of ecology and shall be subject to legislative appropriation. Moneys placed in the account shall include tax receipts as provided in RCW 82.24.027, 82.26.025, and 82.32.390, principal and interest from the repayment of any loans granted pursuant to this chapter, and any other moneys appropriated to the account by the legislature.
     (2) The department may use or permit the use of any moneys in the account to make grants or loans to public bodies, including grants to public bodies as cost-sharing moneys in any case where federal, local, or other funds are made available on a cost-sharing basis, for water pollution control facilities and activities, or for purposes of assisting a public body to obtain an ownership interest in water pollution control facilities and/or to defray a part of the payments made by a public body to a service provider under a service agreement entered into pursuant to RCW 70.150.060, within the purposes of this chapter and for related administrative expenses. For the period July 1, 2003, to June 30, 2005, moneys in the account may be used to process applications received by the department that seek to make changes to or transfer existing water rights, for water conveyance projects, and for grants and technical assistance to public bodies for watershed planning under chapter 90.82 RCW.
     (3) No more than three percent of the moneys deposited in the account may be used by the department to pay for the administration of the grant and loan program authorized by this chapter.
     (((3))) (4) At least twenty-five percent of the moneys deposited into the account for the centennial clean water act grant program established in this section shall be allocated for freshwater systems during the bienniums ending in 2007 and 2009. The priority for these funds shall be establishment and implementation of a comprehensive lake restoration and management program. These moneys may be used for efforts related to: Lake restoration; improvement of lake water quality; control of lake eutrophication; clearing, prevention, and control of algae and harmful algal blooms in lakes; and eradication and prevention of invasive plant and animal species in lakes.
     (5) Beginning with the biennium ending June 30, 1997, the department shall present a biennial progress report on the use of moneys from the account to the chairs of the senate committee on ways and means and the house of representatives committee on appropriations. The first report is due June 30, 1996, and the report for each succeeding biennium is due December 31 of the odd-numbered year. The report shall consist of a list of each recipient, project description, and amount of the grant, loan, or both.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   A new section is added to chapter 70.146 RCW to read as follows:
     The department of ecology shall prepare a report for the appropriate committees of the legislature, by January 1, 2009, that evaluates if there is a need and demand for continued funding of the lake restoration and management program as provided in RCW 70.146.030.