BILL REQ. #:  S-1854.4 

READ FIRST TIME 03/01/05.   

     AN ACT Relating to industrial insurance claims made due to disaster response; amending RCW 38.52.105; adding a new section to chapter 51.16 RCW; and declaring an emergency.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   A new section is added to chapter 51.16 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) When a worker of a nongovernment employer is injured or develops an occupational disease due to an exposure while assisting in the life and rescue phase of an emergency, in response to a request for assistance from a state or local government entity, including fire service or law enforcement, the cost of benefits shall be reimbursed from the disaster response account, RCW 38.52.105, to the appropriate workers' compensation fund, or to the self-insured employer, as the case may be. The cost of such injuries or occupational diseases shall not be charged to the experience record of a state fund employer.
     (2) For the purposes of this section, "life and rescue phase" means the first seventy-two hours after the occurrence of a natural or man-made disaster in which a state or municipal entity, including fire service or law enforcement, acknowledges or declares such a disaster and requests assistance from the private sector in locating and rescuing survivors. The initial life and rescue phase may be extended for a finite period of time by declaration of the state or municipal entity requesting assistance.

Sec. 2   RCW 38.52.105 and 2002 c 371 s 903 are each amended to read as follows:
     The disaster response account is created in the state treasury. Moneys may be placed in the account from legislative appropriations and transfers, federal appropriations, or any other lawful source. Moneys in the account may be spent only after appropriation. Expenditures from the account may be used only for support of state agency and local government disaster response and recovery efforts and to reimburse the workers' compensation funds and self-insured employers under section 1 of this act. During the 2001-03 biennium, funds from the account may also be used for costs associated with national security preparedness activities.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   This act is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety, or support of the state government and its existing public institutions, and takes effect immediately.