BILL REQ. #:  H-0750.1 

     AN ACT Relating to providing a mechanism by which the department of fish and wildlife can accept applications submitted after the application deadline; and amending RCW 77.65.030.

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

Sec. 1   RCW 77.65.030 and 2003 c 386 s 5 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) The application deadline for a commercial license or permit established in this chapter is December 31st of the calendar year for which the license or permit is sought. ((The department shall accept no license or permit applications after December 31st of the calendar year for which the license or permit is sought.))
     (2) Any application received after the application deadline must be assessed a late fee that is to be collected in addition to the prescribed fees for the license or permit. Late fees under this section must be assessed according to the following schedule:
     (a) One hundred twenty-five dollars for an application received one to thirty days after the application deadline;
     (b) Two hundred fifty dollars for an application received thirty-one to sixty days after the application deadline; and
     (c) Five hundred dollars for an application received sixty-one or more days after the application deadline.
     (3) Except as otherwise provided in this section, the department may not waive late fee assessments.
     (4)(a) Except for license or permit renewal applications received by the department during the 2008 calendar year and except as otherwise provided in this subsection, the department may not renew a license or permit under this chapter if the application is received later than one year after the application deadline established in this section.
     (b) An applicant who is denied renewal of a permit or license under this chapter for submitting an application after the application deadline may submit a written request for an administrative hearing to the department within thirty days of the date of the department's denial. The department, upon consideration of the appeal, may grant renewal. If the department grants renewal, it shall assess the applicable late fee pursuant to this section.
     (5) The application deadline and late fees in this section ((does)) do not apply to a license or permit that has not been renewed because of the death or incapacity of the license or permit holder. The license or permit holder's surviving spouse, estate, estate beneficiary, attorney-in-fact, or guardian must be given an additional one hundred eighty days to renew the license or permit. If renewed within one hundred eighty days, the late fees provided in this section do not apply.
     (6) All late fees collected by the department under this section must be distributed in the manner prescribed for the license or permit fees associated with the underlying license.