BILL REQ. #:  H-1937.1 

Read first time 02/17/09.   Referred to Committee on Agriculture & Natural Resources.

     AN ACT Relating to water cleanup planning and implementation; and adding a new section to chapter 90.48 RCW.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   A new section is added to chapter 90.48 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) The department shall amend the state's water quality standards to authorize compliance schedules for discharge permits issued under this chapter that implement a total maximum daily load, to provide that a compliance schedule may exceed ten years only if, during the first ten years, the entity seeking an extended compliance schedule has made significant investments in advanced treatment technology and has substantially reduced pollutant loading. In making this determination, the department shall consider the nature, magnitude, and cost of point and nonpoint pollution controls implemented by the entity seeking an extended compliance schedule. In general, compliance schedules longer than ten years must be unavailable to implement a total maximum daily load that involves only point sources. Compliance schedules longer than ten years may only be authorized for an additional five years at a time, and the total length of any compliance schedule may not exceed twenty years. However, compliance schedules for nonpoint sources may exceed twenty years if corrective actions have been fully implemented during the first ten years and significant riparian restoration, such as planting of vegetation, is required to implement a load allocation needed to achieve compliance and the riparian restoration cannot be completed within twenty years.
     (2) If the United States environmental protection agency disapproves the amendment to the water quality standards necessary to implement this section, the department shall work with the United States environmental protection agency to develop an approved amendment to the state water quality standards that is as consistent as possible with the provisions of this section.