SB 5895-S - DIGEST

(AS OF SENATE 2ND READING 3/15/05)

Declares an intent to improve the overall efforts to conserve and recover Puget Sound by enhancing coordination and integration of the planning, budgeting, and program activities of entities with responsibilities under the Puget Sound conservation and recovery management plan. The goals of this act are to: (1) Foster and improve overall coordination and implementation of Puget Sound conservation and recovery efforts among all levels of government and the private sector, in part through developing and implementing the Puget Sound conservation and recovery management plan and biennial work plans;

(2) Improve the coordination among federal, state, local, and tribal agencies and initiatives in order to better set priorities, adopt and implement work plans for protecting and restoring Puget Sound, and allocate resources for these purposes;

(3) Adopt performance measures and improve accountability for results and expenditures in plan implementation;

(4) Prepare a budget that is scaled to appropriate timelines for achieving Puget Sound conservation, recovery, and prevention of further degradation, and ensure that this budget is considered when adopting state biennial budgets;

(5) Revitalize a Sound-wide planning and implementation framework that integrates all state agency activities with other Puget Sound protection and restoration activities;

(6) Increase citizen involvement and oversight; and

(7) Increase representation of nonstate agency interests and organized Puget Sound restoration programs on the Puget Sound council.

Declares it is the purpose of this act to strengthen the local government membership on the Puget Sound water quality action team, and to expand the assistance that the team provides to local governments carrying out elements of the Puget Sound plan.

Requires the council to conduct a review of the partnership's biennial work plan in October of each even-numbered year and shall include a budget review and recommendation cover letter to the document when it is presented to the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the legislature in December. This letter shall specify, among other items, the council's recommendations on appropriate allocations among priorities in the work plan, on the overall levels of funding proposed, and on their adequacy in meeting the timelines established in this act.

Declares it is the intent of this act that each biennial operating appropriations act beginning with the 2005-07 biennium include funding for this program in an amount of five million dollars or more.