BILL REQ. #:  H-0104.1 

Read first time 01/29/2007.   Referred to Committee on Agriculture & Natural Resources.

     AN ACT Relating to wildlife management at airports; amending RCW 77.12.240, 77.32.010, and 77.15.194; and creating new sections.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   The legislature finds that incidents of aircraft coming in contact with wildlife is the second leading cause of death in the aviation industry. Interactions between aircraft and wildlife can occur both with birds in the air and with large mammals on the runways. The legislature further finds that most airport operators employ or consult with trained wildlife management professionals to aid in minimizing the safety risks posed by wildlife. Therefore, the legislature concludes, given the risk to public safety created when aircraft and wildlife come into contact and the level of professional wildlife management utilized by airport operators, that airport operators should have the management tools necessary for protecting public safety readily available.

Sec. 2   RCW 77.12.240 and 1989 c 197 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) The director may authorize the removal or killing of wildlife:
     (a) That is destroying or injuring property((, or));
     (b) That is posing a threat to human health or safety at public airports, as the term "airport" is defined in RCW 47.68.020; or
     (c) When it is necessary for wildlife management or research.
     (2)(a) Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, the director shall authorize operators of public airports, as the term "airport" is defined in RCW 47.68.020, to remove or kill wildlife that is posing a threat to human health or safety either on the grounds of a public airport or in the immediate vicinity of the airport. Wildlife removed or killed in the immediate vicinity of an airport must be posing a threat to aircraft taking off or landing at the airport before it can be removed or killed.
     (b) The operator of a public airport, when acting under the authority granted by the director under this section, may take or kill wildlife in any manner without the permits or licenses required by the department under RCW 77.32.010 or chapter 77.32 RCW.
     (c) The authority granted by the director to an airport operator under this section extends to employees of the federal government invited by the airport operator to control wildlife or otherwise engage in wildlife management at the airport or in the immediate vicinity of the airport.
     (d) Nothing in this section authorizes airport operators or federal employees invited to manage wildlife at airports to take or kill species listed as threatened or endangered by the commission under RCW 77.12.020.
     (e) No part of wildlife taken or killed at public airports under the authority granted by the director under this section may be sold, traded, bartered, or exchanged in any manner and must be disposed of in a timely manner by the operator of the airport.
     (f) The director may require airport operators to request the authority to remove or kill wildlife under this section before removal actions are allowed and may require airport operators to submit to the department a summary of the individual animals taken or killed under this section.
     (3) Except for wildlife taken or killed by an airport operator under this section, the director or other employees of the department shall dispose of wildlife taken or possessed by ((them)) the department under this title in the manner determined by the director to be in the best interest of the state. Proceeds from any sales shall be deposited in the state treasury to be credited to the state wildlife ((fund)) account created in RCW 77.12.170.

Sec. 3   RCW 77.32.010 and 2006 c 57 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) Except as otherwise provided in this ((chapter)) title, a recreational license issued by the director is required to hunt for or take wild animals or wild birds, fish for, take, or harvest fish, shellfish, and seaweed. A recreational fishing or shellfish license is not required for carp, smelt, and crawfish, and a hunting license is not required for bullfrogs.
     (2) A permit issued by the department is required to park a motor vehicle upon improved department access facilities.

Sec. 4   RCW 77.15.194 and 2003 c 53 s 374 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) It is unlawful to use or authorize the use of any steel-jawed leghold trap, neck snare, or other body-gripping trap to capture any mammal for recreation or commerce in fur.
     (2) It is unlawful to knowingly buy, sell, barter, or otherwise exchange, or offer to buy, sell, barter, or otherwise exchange the raw fur of a mammal or a mammal that has been trapped in this state with a steel-jawed leghold trap or any other body-gripping trap, whether or not pursuant to permit.
     (3) Except for the operators of public airports when acting under the authority to protect public health or safety provided in RCW 77.12.240, it is unlawful to use or authorize the use of any steel-jawed leghold trap or any other body-gripping trap to capture any animal, except as provided in subsections (4) and (5) of this section.
     (4) Nothing in this section prohibits the use of a Conibear trap in water, a padded leghold trap, or a nonstrangling type foot snare with a special permit granted by the director under (a) through (d) of this subsection. Issuance of the special permits shall be governed by rules adopted by the department and in accordance with the requirements of this section. Every person granted a special permit to use a trap or device listed in this subsection shall check the trap or device at least every twenty-four hours.
     (a) Nothing in this section prohibits the director, in consultation with the department of social and health services or the United States department of health and human services from granting a permit to use traps listed in this subsection for the purpose of protecting people from threats to their health and safety.
     (b) Nothing in this section prohibits the director from granting a special permit to use traps listed in this subsection to a person who applies for such a permit in writing, and who establishes that there exists on a property an animal problem that has not been and cannot be reasonably abated by the use of nonlethal control tools, including but not limited to guard animals, electric fencing, or box and cage traps, or if such nonlethal means cannot be reasonably applied. Upon making a finding in writing that the animal problem has not been and cannot be reasonably abated by nonlethal control tools or if the tools cannot be reasonably applied, the director may authorize the use, setting, placing, or maintenance of the traps for a period not to exceed thirty days.
     (c) Nothing in this section prohibits the director from granting a special permit to department employees or agents to use traps listed in this subsection where the use of the traps is the only practical means of protecting threatened or endangered species as designated under RCW 77.08.010.
     (d) Nothing in this section prohibits the director from issuing a permit to use traps listed in this subsection, excluding Conibear traps, for the conduct of legitimate wildlife research.
     (5) Nothing in this section prohibits the United States fish and wildlife service, its employees or agents, from using a trap listed in subsection (4) of this section where the fish and wildlife service determines, in consultation with the director, that the use of such traps is necessary to protect species listed as threatened or endangered under the federal endangered species act (16 U.S.C. Sec. 1531 et seq.).
     (6) A person violating this section is guilty of a gross misdemeanor.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 5   Nothing in this act creates a cause of action or civil liability against the state or an airport operator for failing to protect the public health or safety at or in the vicinity of airports.