BILL REQ. #:  H-2789.1 

READ FIRST TIME 03/05/07.   

     AN ACT Relating to boating activities; and adding new sections to chapter 79A.60 RCW.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   A new section is added to chapter 79A.60 RCW to read as follows:
     The boating activities account is created in the state treasury. Moneys in the account may be spent only after appropriation. Expenditures from the account may be used only as authorized under sections 2 and 3 of this act.
     Grants, gifts, or other financial assistance received by the interagency committee for outdoor recreation from state and nonstate sources for purposes of boating activities may be deposited into the account.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   A new section is added to chapter 79A.60 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) The boating activities program is created in the interagency committee for outdoor recreation.
     (2) The interagency committee for outdoor recreation shall distribute moneys appropriated from the boating activities account created in section 1 of this act as follows, or as otherwise appropriated by the legislature, after deduction for the committee's expenses in administering the boating activities grant program and for related studies:
     (a) To the commission for boater safety, boater education, boating-related law enforcement activities, activities included in RCW 88.02.040, related administrative expenses, and boating-related environmental programs, such as pumpout stations, to enhance clean waters for boating;
     (b) For grants to state agencies, counties, municipalities, federal agencies, nonprofit organizations, and Indian tribes to improve boating access to water and marine parks, enhance the boater experience, boater safety, boater education, and boating-related law enforcement activities, and to provide funds for boating-related environmental programs, such as pumpout stations, to enhance clean waters for boating; and
     (c) If the amount available for distribution from the boating activities account is equal to or less than two million five hundred thousand dollars per fiscal year, then eighty percent of the amount available must be distributed to the commission for the purposes of (a) of this subsection and twenty percent for grants in (b) of this subsection. Amounts available for distribution in excess of two million five hundred thousand dollars per fiscal year shall be distributed by the committee for purposes of (a) and (b) of this subsection.
     (3) The interagency committee for outdoor recreation shall establish an application process for boating activities grants.
     (4) Agencies receiving grants for capital purposes from the boating activities account shall consider the possibility of contracting with the commission, the department of natural resources, or other federal, state, and local agencies to employ the youth development and conservation corps or other youth crews in completing the project.
     (5) To solicit input on the boating activities grant application process, criteria for grant awards, and use of grant moneys, and to determine the interests of the boating community, the interagency committee for outdoor recreation shall solicit input from a boating activities advisory committee. The interagency committee for outdoor recreation may utilize a currently established boating issues committee that has similar responsibility for input on recreational boating-related funding issues. Members of the boating activities advisory committee are not eligible for compensation but may be reimbursed for travel expenses as provided in RCW 43.03.050 and 43.03.060.
     (6) The interagency committee for outdoor recreation may adopt rules to implement this section.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   A new section is added to chapter 79A.60 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) By December 1, 2007, the interagency committee for outdoor recreation shall complete an initial study of boater needs and make recommendations to the appropriate committees of the legislature on the initial amount of funding that should be provided to the commission for boating-related law enforcement purposes under section 2(2)(a) of this act.
     (2) The interagency committee for outdoor recreation shall periodically update its study of boater needs as necessary and shall make recommendations to the governor and the appropriate committees of the legislature concerning funding allocations to state parks and other grant applicants.