BILL REQ. #:  H-0710.1 

Read first time 01/15/09.   Referred to Committee on Public Safety & Emergency Preparedness.

     AN ACT Relating to establishing the volunteer search and rescue account; amending RCW 38.52.010 and 77.32.050; and adding new sections to chapter 38.52 RCW.

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

Sec. 1   RCW 38.52.010 and 2007 c 292 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
     As used in this chapter:
     (1) "Emergency management" or "comprehensive emergency management" means the preparation for and the carrying out of all emergency functions, other than functions for which the military forces are primarily responsible, to mitigate, prepare for, respond to, and recover from emergencies and disasters, and to aid victims suffering from injury or damage, resulting from disasters caused by all hazards, whether natural, technological, or human caused, and to provide support for search and rescue operations for persons and property in distress. However, "emergency management" or "comprehensive emergency management" does not mean preparation for emergency evacuation or relocation of residents in anticipation of nuclear attack.
     (2) "Local organization for emergency services or management" means an organization created in accordance with the provisions of this chapter by state or local authority to perform local emergency management functions.
     (3) "Political subdivision" means any county, city or town.
     (4) "Emergency worker" means any person who is registered with a local emergency management organization or the department and holds an identification card issued by the local emergency management director or the department for the purpose of engaging in authorized emergency management activities or is an employee of the state of Washington or any political subdivision thereof who is called upon to perform emergency management activities.
     (5) "Injury" as used in this chapter shall mean and include accidental injuries and/or occupational diseases arising out of emergency management activities.
     (6)(a) "Emergency or disaster" as used in all sections of this chapter except RCW 38.52.430 shall mean an event or set of circumstances which: (i) Demands immediate action to preserve public health, protect life, protect public property, or to provide relief to any stricken community overtaken by such occurrences, or (ii) reaches such a dimension or degree of destructiveness as to warrant the governor declaring a state of emergency pursuant to RCW 43.06.010.
     (b) "Emergency" as used in RCW 38.52.430 means an incident that requires a normal police, coroner, fire, rescue, emergency medical services, or utility response as a result of a violation of one of the statutes enumerated in RCW 38.52.430.
     (7) "Search and rescue" means the acts of searching for, rescuing, or recovering by means of ground, marine, or air activity any person who becomes lost, injured, or is killed while outdoors or as a result of a natural, technological, or human caused disaster, including instances involving searches for downed aircraft when ground personnel are used. Nothing in this section shall affect appropriate activity by the department of transportation under chapter 47.68 RCW.
     (8) "Executive head" and "executive heads" means the county executive in those charter counties with an elective office of county executive, however designated, and, in the case of other counties, the county legislative authority. In the case of cities and towns, it means the mayor in those cities and towns with mayor-council or commission forms of government, where the mayor is directly elected, and it means the city manager in those cities and towns with council manager forms of government. Cities and towns may also designate an executive head for the purposes of this chapter by ordinance.
     (9) "Director" means the adjutant general.
     (10) "Local director" means the director of a local organization of emergency management or emergency services.
     (11) "Department" means the state military department.
     (12) "Emergency response" as used in RCW 38.52.430 means a public agency's use of emergency services during an emergency or disaster as defined in subsection (6)(b) of this section.
     (13) "Expense of an emergency response" as used in RCW 38.52.430 means reasonable costs incurred by a public agency in reasonably making an appropriate emergency response to the incident, but shall only include those costs directly arising from the response to the particular incident. Reasonable costs shall include the costs of providing police, coroner, fire fighting, rescue, emergency medical services, or utility response at the scene of the incident, as well as the salaries of the personnel responding to the incident.
     (14) "Public agency" means the state, and a city, county, municipal corporation, district, town, or public authority located, in whole or in part, within this state which provides or may provide fire fighting, police, ambulance, medical, or other emergency services.
     (15) "Incident command system" means: (a) An all-hazards, on-scene functional management system that establishes common standards in organization, terminology, and procedures; provides a means (unified command) for the establishment of a common set of incident objectives and strategies during multiagency/multijurisdiction operations while maintaining individual agency/jurisdiction authority, responsibility, and accountability; and is a component of the national interagency incident management system; or (b) an equivalent and compatible all-hazards, on-scene functional management system.
     (16) "Radio communications service company" has the meaning ascribed to it in RCW 82.14B.020.
     (17) "Volunteer search and rescue organization" means any group or entity formed for the purpose of participating in the search for and provision of aid to people in distress or imminent danger. A volunteer search and rescue organization is deemed authorized if the chief law enforcement officer for the political subdivision in which aid is needed has approved its participation in search and rescue activities.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   (1) The volunteer search and rescue account is created in the custody of the state treasurer. The account is established to reimburse any authorized volunteer search and rescue organization operating within the state for costs incurred in assisting law enforcement in search and rescue activities.
     (a) The appropriate official of the department is authorized to make expenditures from the volunteer search and rescue account without an appropriation.
     (b) Reimbursable costs are limited to actual operational expenses. A volunteer search and rescue organization may not collect more than the actual operational expenses from any source or combination of sources.
     (2) The volunteer search and rescue account consists of all revenue collected from a surcharge of twenty-five cents which shall be collected on the sale of all licenses, permits, tags, and stamps required by chapter 77.32 RCW.
     (a) Receipts from the surcharge shall be deposited in the volunteer search and rescue account.
     (b) State and county officers receiving any moneys collected pursuant to this section shall deposit them in the state treasury to be credited to the volunteer search and rescue account.
     (3) Any authorized volunteer search and rescue organization shall have the right to make a claim on the volunteer search and rescue account for reimbursement of costs incurred in the performance of search and rescue activities within the state. Claims for reimbursement shall be submitted to the department for immediate consideration.
     (4) The department shall establish rules for:
     (a) The procedure through which claims shall be submitted;
     (b) The procedure through which claims shall be paid;
     (c) The procedure through which an individual who is charged a fee for reimbursement by a volunteer search and rescue organization under section 3 of this act may appeal.
     (5) Any claim for reimbursement that has been certified by the chief law enforcement officer of the political subdivision in which the search and rescue activity occurred shall be eligible for payment by the department.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   (1) Any authorized volunteer search and rescue organization may seek reimbursement for costs incurred from each person for whose benefit search and rescue activities were conducted, provided that:
     (a) Reasonable care was not exercised by the individuals for whose benefit the search and rescue activities are conducted; or
     (b) Applicable laws were violated by the individuals.
     (2) For the purposes of implementing this section, the department is authorized to determine whether reasonable care was exercised by the individuals for whose benefit the search and rescue activities were conducted.
     (3) The volunteer search and rescue organization may not collect more than five hundred dollars from an individual under this section and may not collect more than the actual cost of the search and rescue activities from all of the individuals for whose benefit the activities are conducted.
     (4) Any individual who is charged a fee for reimbursement under this section may appeal the charge or the amount of the fee to the department.
     (5) For the purposes of subsection (1)(a) of this section, the following circumstances are evidence of reasonable care:
     (a) The individuals possessed experience and used equipment that was appropriate for the known conditions of weather and terrain.
     (b) The individuals used or attempted to use locating devices or cellular telephones when appropriate.
     (c) The individuals notified responsible persons or organizations of the expected time of departure and the expected time of return and the planned location or route of activity.
     (d) The individuals possessed maps and orienteering equipment and used trails or other routes that were appropriate for the conditions.
     (6) A volunteer search and rescue organization shall not seek reimbursement from any person who was not at fault or who took reasonable precautions but still required search and rescue services.

Sec. 4   RCW 77.32.050 and 2003 c 389 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) All recreational licenses, permits, tags, and stamps required by this title and raffle tickets authorized under chapter 77.12 RCW shall be issued under the authority of the commission.
     (2) The commission shall adopt rules for the issuance of recreational licenses, permits, tags, stamps, and raffle tickets, and for the collection, payment, and handling of license fees and surcharges, terms and conditions to govern dealers, and dealers' fees.
     (3)(a) A transaction fee on recreational documents issued through an automated licensing system may be set by the commission and collected from licensees. The department may authorize all or part of such fee to be paid directly to a contractor providing automated licensing system services. Fees retained by dealers shall be uniform throughout the state.
     (b) The department shall authorize dealers to collect and retain dealer fees of at least two dollars for purchase of a standard hunting or fishing recreational license document, except that the commission may set a lower dealer fee for issuance of tags or when a licensee buys a license that involves a stamp or display card format rather than a standard department licensing document form.
     (4) A surcharge of twenty-five cents shall be imposed on all recreational documents issued under the authority of the commission to fund the volunteer search and rescue account created under section 2 of this act.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 5   Sections 2 and 3 of this act are each added to chapter 38.52 RCW.