ESSB 5473 -
By Committee on Community & Economic Development & Trade
ADOPTED 04/15/2009
Strike everything after the enacting clause and insert the following:
"Sec. 1 RCW 43.157.005 and 1997 c 369 s 1 are each amended to
read as follows:
The legislature declares that certain ((industrial)) investments,
such as investments for industrial development, environmental
improvement, and innovation activities, merit special designation and
treatment by governmental bodies when they are proposed. Such
investments bolster the economies of their locale and impact the
economy of the state as a whole. It is the intention of the
legislature to recognize ((industrial)) projects of statewide
significance and to encourage local governments and state agencies to
expedite their completion.
Sec. 2 RCW 43.157.010 and 2004 c 275 s 63 are each amended to
read as follows:
(((1))) For purposes of this chapter and RCW 28A.525.166,
28B.76.210, 28C.18.080, 43.21A.350, ((47.06.030,)) and 90.58.100 ((and
an industrial)), unless the context requires otherwise:
(1)(a) A project of statewide significance is:
(i) A border crossing project that involves both private and public
investments carried out in conjunction with adjacent states or
provinces;
(ii) A development project that will provide a net environmental
benefit;
(iii) A development project in furtherance of the commercialization
of innovations; or
(iv) A private industrial development with private capital
investment in manufacturing or research and development.
(b) To qualify for designation under RCW 43.157.030 as ((an
industrial)) a project of statewide significance: (((a)))
(i) The project must be completed after January 1, ((1997)) 2009;
(((b)))
(ii) The applicant must submit an application to the department for
designation as ((an industrial)) a project of statewide significance to
the department of community, trade, and economic development; and
(((c)))
(iii) The project must have:
(((i))) (A) In counties with a population ((of)) less than or equal
to twenty thousand, a capital investment of ((twenty)) five million
dollars;
(((ii))) (B) In counties with a population ((of)) greater than
twenty thousand but no more than fifty thousand, a capital investment
of ((fifty)) ten million dollars;
(((iii))) (C) In counties with a population ((of)) greater than
fifty thousand but no more than one hundred thousand, a capital
investment of ((one hundred)) fifteen million dollars;
(((iv))) (D) In counties with a population ((of)) greater than one
hundred thousand but no more than two hundred thousand, a capital
investment of ((two hundred)) twenty million dollars;
(((v))) (E) In counties with a population ((of)) greater than two
hundred thousand but no more than four hundred thousand, a capital
investment of ((four hundred)) thirty million dollars;
(((vi))) (F) In counties with a population ((of)) greater than four
hundred thousand but no more than one million, a capital investment of
((six hundred)) forty million dollars;
(((vii))) (G) In counties with a population ((of)) greater than one
million, a capital investment of ((one billion)) fifty million dollars;
(((viii))) (H) In rural counties ((with fewer than one hundred
persons per square mile as determined annually by the office of
financial management and published by the department of revenue
effective for the period July 1st through June 30th)) as defined by RCW
82.14.370, projected full-time employment positions after completion of
construction of fifty or greater;
(((ix))) (I) In counties ((with one hundred or more persons per
square mile as determined annually by the office of financial
management and published by the department of revenue effective for the
period July 1st through June 30th)) other than rural counties as
defined by RCW 82.14.370, projected full-time employment positions
after completion of construction of one hundred or greater; or
(((x))) (J) Been ((designated)) qualified by the director of
((community, trade, and economic development)) the department as ((an
industrial)) a project of statewide significance either because: (((A)
Because the county in which the project is to be located is a
distressed county and))
(I) The economic circumstances of the county merit the additional
assistance such designation will bring; ((or (B) because))
(II) The impact on a region due to the size and complexity of the
project merits such designation;
(III) The project resulted from or is in furtherance of innovation
activities at a public research institution in the state or is in or
resulted from innovation activities within an innovation partnership
zone; or
(IV) The project will provide a net environmental benefit as
evidenced by plans for design and construction under green building
standards or for the creation of renewable energy technology or
components or under other environmental criteria established by the
director in consultation with the director of the department of
ecology.
A project may be qualified under this subsection (1)(b)(iii)(J)
only after consultation on the availability of staff resources of the
office of regulatory assistance.
(2) ((The term)) "Department" means the department of community,
trade, and economic development.
(3) "Manufacturing" shall have the meaning assigned it in RCW
((82.61.010)) 82.62.010.
(((3) The term)) (4) "Research and development" shall have the
meaning assigned it in RCW ((82.61.010)) 82.62.010.
(((4) The term)) (5) "Applicant" means a person applying to the
department ((of community, trade, and economic development)) for
designation of a development project as ((an industrial)) a project of
statewide significance.
Sec. 3 RCW 43.157.020 and 2003 c 54 s 2 are each amended to read
as follows:
Counties and cities with development projects designated as
((industrial)) projects of statewide significance within their
jurisdictions shall enter into an agreement with the office of
((permit)) regulatory assistance and the project managers of
((industrial)) projects of statewide significance for expediting the
completion of ((industrial)) projects of statewide significance. The
agreement shall require:
(1) Expedited permit processing for the design and construction of
the project;
(2) Expedited environmental review processing;
(3) Expedited processing of requests for street, right-of-way, or
easement vacations necessary for the construction of the project;
((and))
(4) Participation of local officials on the team assembled under
the requirements of RCW 43.157.030(2)(b); and
(5) Such other actions or items as are deemed necessary by the
office of ((permit)) regulatory assistance for the design and
construction of the project.
Sec. 4 RCW 43.157.030 and 2003 c 54 s 3 are each amended to read
as follows:
(1) The department of community, trade, and economic development
shall:
(a) Develop an application for designation of development projects
as ((industrial)) projects of statewide significance. The application
must be accompanied by a letter of approval from the legislative
authority of any jurisdiction that will have the proposed
((industrial)) project of statewide significance within its boundaries.
No designation of a project as ((an industrial)) a project of statewide
significance shall be made without such letter of approval. The letter
of approval must state that the jurisdiction joins in the request for
the designation of the project as one of statewide significance and has
or will hire the professional staff that will be required to expedite
the processes necessary to the completion of ((an industrial)) a
project of statewide significance. The development project proponents
may provide the funding necessary for the jurisdiction to hire the
professional staff that will be required to so expedite. The
application shall contain information regarding the location of the
project, the applicant's average employment in the state for the prior
year, estimated new employment related to the project, estimated wages
of employees related to the project, estimated time schedules for
completion and operation, and other information required by the
department; and
(b) ((Certify that)) Designate a development project as a project
of statewide significance if the department determines:
(i) After review of the application under criteria adopted by rule,
the development project will provide significant economic benefit to
the local or state economy, or both, the project is aligned with the
state's comprehensive plan for economic development under RCW
43.162.020, and, by its designation, the project will not prevent equal
consideration of all categories of proposals under RCW 43.157.010; and
(ii) The development project meets or will meet the requirements of
RCW 43.157.010 regarding designation as ((an industrial)) a project of
statewide significance.
(2) The office of ((permit)) regulatory assistance shall assign a
project facilitator or coordinator to each ((industrial)) project of
statewide significance to:
(a) Assist in the scoping and coordinating functions provided for
in chapter 43.42 RCW;
(b) Assemble a team of state and local government and private
officials to help meet the planning, permitting, and development needs
of each project, which team shall include those responsible for
planning, permitting and licensing, infrastructure development,
workforce development services including higher education,
transportation services, and the provision of utilities; and
(c) Work with each team member to expedite their actions in
furtherance of the project.
Sec. 5 RCW 28A.525.166 and 2006 c 263 s 311 are each amended to
read as follows:
Allocations to school districts of state funds provided by RCW
28A.525.162 through 28A.525.180 shall be made by the superintendent of
public instruction and the amount of state assistance to a school
district in financing a school plant project shall be determined in the
following manner:
(1) The boards of directors of the districts shall determine the
total cost of the proposed project, which cost may include the cost of
acquiring and preparing the site, the cost of constructing the building
or of acquiring a building and preparing the same for school use, the
cost of necessary equipment, taxes chargeable to the project, necessary
architects' fees, and a reasonable amount for contingencies and for
other necessary incidental expenses: PROVIDED, That the total cost of
the project shall be subject to review and approval by the
superintendent.
(2) The state matching percentage for a school district shall be
computed by the following formula:
The ratio of the school district's adjusted valuation per pupil
divided by the ratio of the total state adjusted valuation per pupil
shall be subtracted from three, and then the result of the foregoing
shall be divided by three plus (the ratio of the school district's
adjusted valuation per pupil divided by the ratio of the total state
adjusted valuation per pupil).
District adjusted | Total state | ||||||
3-valuation | ÷ | adjusted valuation | |||||
Computed | per pupil | per pupil | State | ||||
State | Assistance | ||||||
Ratio | District adjusted | Total state | |||||
3+valuation | ÷ | adjusted valuation | |||||
per pupil | per pupil |
Sec. 6 RCW 28C.18.080 and 1997 c 369 s 5 are each amended to read
as follows:
(1) The state comprehensive plan for workforce training and
education shall be updated every two years and presented to the
governor and the appropriate legislative policy committees. Following
public hearings, the legislature shall, by concurrent resolution,
approve or recommend changes to the initial plan and the updates. The
plan shall then become the state's workforce training policy unless
legislation is enacted to alter the policies set forth in the plan.
(2) The comprehensive plan shall include workforce training role
and mission statements for the workforce development programs of
operating agencies represented on the board and sufficient specificity
regarding expected actions by the operating agencies to allow them to
carry out actions consistent with the comprehensive plan.
(3) Operating agencies represented on the board shall have
operating plans for their workforce development efforts that are
consistent with the comprehensive plan and that provide detail on
implementation steps they will take to carry out their responsibilities
under the plan. Each operating agency represented on the board shall
provide an annual progress report to the board.
(4) The comprehensive plan shall include recommendations to the
legislature and the governor on the modification, consolidation,
initiation, or elimination of workforce training and education programs
in the state.
(5) The comprehensive plan shall address how the state's workforce
development system will meet the needs of employers hiring for
((industrial)) projects of statewide significance.
(6) The board shall report to the appropriate legislative policy
committees by December 1 of each year on its progress in implementing
the comprehensive plan and on the progress of the operating agencies in
meeting their obligations under the plan.
Sec. 7 RCW 43.21A.350 and 1997 c 369 s 6 are each amended to read
as follows:
The department of ecology shall prepare and perfect from time to
time a state master plan for flood control, state public reservations,
financed in whole or in part from moneys collected by the state, sites
for state public buildings and for the orderly development of the
natural and agricultural resources of the state. The plan shall
address how the department will expedite the completion of
((industrial)) projects of statewide significance. The plan shall be
a guide in making recommendations to the officers, boards, commissions,
and departments of the state.
Whenever an improvement is proposed to be established by the state,
the state agency having charge of the establishment thereof shall
request of the director a report thereon, which shall be furnished
within a reasonable time thereafter. In case an improvement is not
established in conformity with the report, the state agency having
charge of the establishment thereof shall file in its office and with
the department a statement setting forth its reasons for rejecting or
varying from such report which shall be open to public inspection.
The department shall insofar as possible secure the cooperation of
adjacent states, and of counties and municipalities within the state in
the coordination of their proposed improvements with such master plan.
Sec. 8 RCW 43.42.060 and 2007 c 94 s 7 are each amended to read
as follows:
(1) The office may coordinate the processing by participating
permit agencies of permits required for a project, at the request of
the project proponent through a cost-reimbursement agreement as
provided in subsection (3) of this section or with the agreement of the
project proponent as provided in subsection (4) of this section.
(2) The office shall assign a project coordinator to perform any or
all of the following functions, as specified by the terms of a cost-reimbursement agreement under subsection (3) of this section or an
agreement under subsection (4) of this section:
(a) Serve as the main point of contact for the project proponent;
(b) Conduct a project scoping as provided in RCW 43.42.050(2);
(c) Verify that the project proponent has all the information
needed to complete applications;
(d) Coordinate the permit processes of the permit agencies;
(e) Manage the applicable administrative procedures;
(f) Work to assure that timely permit decisions are made by the
permit agencies and maintain contact with the project proponent and the
permit agencies to ensure adherence to schedules;
(g) Assist in resolving any conflict or inconsistency among permit
requirements and conditions; and
(h) Coordinate with relevant federal permit agencies and tribal
governments to the extent possible.
(3) At the request of a project proponent and as provided in RCW
43.42.070, the project coordinator shall coordinate negotiations among
the project proponent, the office, and participating permit agencies to
enter into a cost-reimbursement agreement and shall coordinate
implementation of the agreement, which shall govern coordination of
permit processing by the participating permit agencies.
(4) For ((industrial)) projects of statewide significance or if the
office determines that it is in the public interest to coordinate the
processing of permits for certain projects that are complex in scope,
require multiple permits, involve multiple jurisdictions, or involve a
significant number of affected parties, the office shall, upon the
proponent's request, enter into an agreement with the project proponent
and the participating permit agencies to coordinate the processing of
permits for the project. The office may limit the number of such
agreements according to the resources available to the office and the
permit agencies at the time.
Sec. 9 RCW 90.58.100 and 1997 c 369 s 7 are each amended to read
as follows:
(1) The master programs provided for in this chapter, when adopted
or approved by the department shall constitute use regulations for the
various shorelines of the state. In preparing the master programs, and
any amendments thereto, the department and local governments shall to
the extent feasible:
(a) Utilize a systematic interdisciplinary approach which will
insure the integrated use of the natural and social sciences and the
environmental design arts;
(b) Consult with and obtain the comments of any federal, state,
regional, or local agency having any special expertise with respect to
any environmental impact;
(c) Consider all plans, studies, surveys, inventories, and systems
of classification made or being made by federal, state, regional, or
local agencies, by private individuals, or by organizations dealing
with pertinent shorelines of the state;
(d) Conduct or support such further research, studies, surveys, and
interviews as are deemed necessary;
(e) Utilize all available information regarding hydrology,
geography, topography, ecology, economics, and other pertinent data;
(f) Employ, when feasible, all appropriate, modern scientific data
processing and computer techniques to store, index, analyze, and manage
the information gathered.
(2) The master programs shall include, when appropriate, the
following:
(a) An economic development element for the location and design of
industries, ((industrial)) projects of statewide significance,
transportation facilities, port facilities, tourist facilities,
commerce and other developments that are particularly dependent on
their location on or use of the shorelines of the state;
(b) A public access element making provision for public access to
publicly owned areas;
(c) A recreational element for the preservation and enlargement of
recreational opportunities, including but not limited to parks,
tidelands, beaches, and recreational areas;
(d) A circulation element consisting of the general location and
extent of existing and proposed major thoroughfares, transportation
routes, terminals, and other public utilities and facilities, all
correlated with the shoreline use element;
(e) A use element which considers the proposed general distribution
and general location and extent of the use on shorelines and adjacent
land areas for housing, business, industry, transportation,
agriculture, natural resources, recreation, education, public buildings
and grounds, and other categories of public and private uses of the
land;
(f) A conservation element for the preservation of natural
resources, including but not limited to scenic vistas, aesthetics, and
vital estuarine areas for fisheries and wildlife protection;
(g) An historic, cultural, scientific, and educational element for
the protection and restoration of buildings, sites, and areas having
historic, cultural, scientific, or educational values;
(h) An element that gives consideration to the statewide interest
in the prevention and minimization of flood damages; and
(i) Any other element deemed appropriate or necessary to effectuate
the policy of this chapter.
(3) The master programs shall include such map or maps, descriptive
text, diagrams and charts, or other descriptive material as are
necessary to provide for ease of understanding.
(4) Master programs will reflect that state-owned shorelines of the
state are particularly adapted to providing wilderness beaches,
ecological study areas, and other recreational activities for the
public and will give appropriate special consideration to same.
(5) Each master program shall contain provisions to allow for the
varying of the application of use regulations of the program, including
provisions for permits for conditional uses and variances, to insure
that strict implementation of a program will not create unnecessary
hardships or thwart the policy enumerated in RCW 90.58.020. Any such
varying shall be allowed only if extraordinary circumstances are shown
and the public interest suffers no substantial detrimental effect. The
concept of this subsection shall be incorporated in the rules adopted
by the department relating to the establishment of a permit system as
provided in RCW 90.58.140(3).
(6) Each master program shall contain standards governing the
protection of single family residences and appurtenant structures
against damage or loss due to shoreline erosion. The standards shall
govern the issuance of substantial development permits for shoreline
protection, including structural methods such as construction of
bulkheads, and nonstructural methods of protection. The standards
shall provide for methods which achieve effective and timely protection
against loss or damage to single family residences and appurtenant
structures due to shoreline erosion. The standards shall provide a
preference for permit issuance for measures to protect single family
residences occupied prior to January 1, 1992, where the proposed
measure is designed to minimize harm to the shoreline natural
environment.
Sec. 10 RCW 43.131.402 and 2007 c 231 s 7 are each amended to
read as follows:
The following acts or parts of acts, as now existing or hereafter
amended, are each repealed, effective June 30, 2012:
(1) RCW 43.42.005 and 2003 c 71 s 1 & 2002 c 153 s 1;
(2) RCW 43.42.010 and 2007 c 231 s 5, 2003 c 71 s 2, & 2002 c 153
§ 2;
(3) RCW 43.42.020 and 2002 c 153 s 3;
(4) RCW 43.42.030 and 2003 c 71 s 3 & 2002 c 153 s 4;
(5) RCW 43.42.040 and 2003 c 71 s 4 & 2002 c 153 s 5;
(6) RCW 43.42.050 and 2002 c 153 s 6;
(7) RCW 43.42.060 and 2009 c . . . s 8 (section 8 of this act) &
2002 c 153 s 7;
(8) RCW 43.42.070 and 2002 c 153 s 8;
(9) RCW 43.42.905 and 2002 c 153 s 10;
(10) RCW 43.42.900 and 2002 c 153 s 11; and
(11) RCW 43.42.901 and 2002 c 153 s 12.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 11 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."
Correct the title.
EFFECT: The amendment (1) clarifies the role of the Department of Community, Trade, and Economic Development in qualifying certain categories of projects for designation as projects of statewide significance and requires consultation with the Director of Ecology concerning the development of environmental criteria for use in project designation, (2) requires the Department, before designating any category of projects as a project of statewide significance, to determine whether the project will provide significant local and/or state economic benefit, whether it is aligned with the state's comprehensive plan for economic development, and whether its designation will prevent equal consideration of all categories of project proposals, (3) specifies that renewable energy technology or components are included as projects to be considered under environmental criteria, and (4) makes other technical and reorganizational changes.