HOUSE BILL REPORT
HB 1656
This analysis was prepared by non-partisan legislative staff for the use of legislative members in
their deliberations. This analysis is not a part of the legislation nor does it constitute a
statement of legislative intent.
As Reported by House Committee On:
Puget Sound, Select
Title: An act relating to establishing a Puget Sound scientific research account.
Brief Description: Establishing the Puget Sound scientific research account.
Sponsors: Representatives Rolfes, Upthegrove, B. Sullivan, Appleton, Chase, Santos, Dickerson and Sells.
Brief History:
Select Committee on Puget Sound: 1/31/07, 2/20/07 [DPS].
Brief Summary of Substitute Bill |
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HOUSE SELECT COMMITTEE ON PUGET SOUND
Majority Report: The substitute bill be substituted therefor and the substitute bill do pass. Signed by 8 members: Representatives Upthegrove, Chair; Eickmeyer, Vice Chair; Rolfes, Vice Chair; Sump, Ranking Minority Member; Walsh, Assistant Ranking Minority Member; O'Brien, Pearson and Springer.
Staff: Karen Rogers (786-7388).
Background:
Puget Sound is a 2,800-square-mile inland water connected to the Pacific Ocean via the Strait
of Juan de Fuca in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. It extends from Admiralty
Inlet in the north, to Olympia, Washington, in the south. It includes: open marine waters;
inland marine waters; Hood Canal, a glacially scoured fjord; numerous river and stream
channels; and 2,500 miles of shoreline.
Aquatic Rehabilitation Zone One (ARZ-1) is an area within Jefferson, Kitsap, and Mason
Counties. The ARZ-1 includes watersheds that drain into Hood Canal from south of the line
projected from Tala Point in Jefferson County, to Foulweather Bluff in Kitsap County.
The Puget Sound Action Team (PSAT) is a partnership of state agencies and tribal and local
governments charged with developing and coordinating conservation programs to protect and
restore Puget Sound. The PSAT staff guide the implementation of the Puget Sound Water
Quality Management Plan, and work with tribal and local governments, community groups,
citizens and businesses, and state and federal agencies to develop and carry out two-year
work plans. The Legislature created the PSAT in 1996.
Summary of Substitute Bill:
A scientific research account is created to fund research programs and projects in Puget
Sound and in the ARZ-1. The PSAT, or its successor agency, identifies scientific research
gaps in environmental protection and restoration of Puget Sound and ARZ-1, formulates a
research plan to narrow those science gaps, and strategically prioritizes programs and
projects.
Substitute Bill Compared to Original Bill:
The amended bill changes the original bill in two ways. One, it requires the PSAT to
establish criteria to strategically prioritize programs and projects that narrow key science
research gaps. Two, it explicitly adds the ARZ-1 as a geographic area of research focus.
Appropriation: None.
Fiscal Note: Available.
Effective Date of Substitute Bill: The bill takes effect 90 days after adjournment of session in which bill is passed.
Staff Summary of Public Testimony:
(In support) The bill clearly specifies an entity that is responsible for identifying where
science gaps exist, and sets up a process, or mechanism, to address those gaps in an organized
manner. Focusing on needed scientific information is a good idea, and acquiring such
information will help inform public policy.
(With concerns) The bill is supported; however, language should be adjusted to clearly
specify who controls the account, that the priorities are strategically made, and what subjects
are researched.
(Opposed) None.
Persons Testifying: (In support) Representative Rolfes, prime sponsor; Jerry Smedes,
Northwest Environmental Business Council; and Bill Dewey, Taylor Shellfish Company.
(With concerns) Naki Stevens, People for Puget Sound.