BILL REQ. #:  H-3384.1 

READ FIRST TIME 04/20/09.   

     AN ACT Relating to the administration and operations of growth management hearings boards; amending RCW 36.70A.260, 36.70A.270, and 36.70A.290; adding new sections to chapter 36.70A RCW; creating a new section; providing an effective date; and declaring an emergency.

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

Sec. 1   RCW 36.70A.260 and 1994 c 249 s 30 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) Each growth management hearings board shall consist of three members qualified by experience or training in matters pertaining to land use planning and, except as provided in RCW 36.70A.270(4), residing within the jurisdictional boundaries of the applicable board. At least one member of each board must be admitted to practice law in this state and at least one member must have been a city or county elected official. Each board shall be appointed by the governor and not more than two members at the time of appointment or during their term shall be members of the same political party. No more than two members at the time of appointment or during their term shall reside in the same county.
     (2) Each member of a board shall be appointed for a term of six years. A vacancy shall be filled by appointment by the governor for the unexpired portion of the term in which the vacancy occurs. ((The terms of the first three members of a board shall be staggered so that one member is appointed to serve until July 1, 1994, one member until July 1, 1996, and one member until July 1, 1998.))

Sec. 2   RCW 36.70A.270 and 1997 c 429 s 11 are each amended to read as follows:
     Each growth management hearings board shall be governed by the following rules on conduct and procedure:
     (1) Any board member may be removed for inefficiency, malfeasance, and misfeasance in office, under specific written charges filed by the governor. The governor shall transmit such written charges to the member accused and the chief justice of the supreme court. The chief justice shall thereupon designate a tribunal composed of three judges of the superior court to hear and adjudicate the charges. Removal of any member of a board by the tribunal shall disqualify such member for reappointment.
     (2) Each board member shall receive reimbursement for travel expenses incurred in the discharge of his or her duties in accordance with RCW 43.03.050 and 43.03.060((. If it is determined that the review boards shall operate on a full-time basis, each member shall receive an annual salary to be determined by the governor pursuant to RCW 43.03.040. If it is determined that a review board shall operate on a part-time basis, each member shall receive compensation pursuant to RCW 43.03.250, provided such amount shall not exceed the amount that would be set if they were a full-time board member. The principal office of each board shall be located by the governor within the jurisdictional boundaries of each board. The boards shall operate on either a part-time or full-time basis, as determined by the governor)), and each board member shall receive compensation in accordance with RCW 43.03.040.
     (3) Each board member shall not: (a) Be a candidate for or hold any other public office or trust; (b) engage in any occupation or business interfering with or inconsistent with his or her duty as a board member; and (c) for a period of one year after the termination of his or her board membership, act in a representative capacity before the board on any matter.
     (4) A majority of each board shall constitute a quorum for making orders or decisions, adopting rules necessary for the conduct of its powers and duties, or transacting other official business, and may act even though one position of the board is vacant. One or more members may hold hearings and take testimony to be reported for action by the board when authorized by rule or order of the board. If, due to vacancy, disqualification, illness, injury, workload imbalances, or budgetary constraints, only two members are available to render a decision on a case, the two remaining members may select a member from a different board to substitute for the unavailable member and render a decision on that case only. In selecting a substitute member, the selecting board must attempt to maintain the applicable compositional requirements of RCW 36.70A.260(1). The board shall perform all the powers and duties specified in this chapter or as otherwise provided by law.
     (5) The board may appoint one or more hearing examiners to assist the board in its hearing function, to make conclusions of law and findings of fact and, if requested by the board, to make recommendations to the board for decisions in cases before the board. Such hearing examiners must have demonstrated knowledge of land use planning and law. The boards shall specify in their joint rules of practice and procedure, as required by subsection (7) of this section, the procedure and criteria to be employed for designating hearing examiners as a presiding officer. Hearing examiners selected by a board shall meet the requirements of subsection (3) of this section. The findings and conclusions of the hearing examiner shall not become final until they have been formally approved by the board. This authorization to use hearing examiners does not waive the requirement of RCW 36.70A.300 that final orders be issued within one hundred eighty days of board receipt of a petition.
     (6) Each board shall make findings of fact and prepare a written decision in each case decided by it, and such findings and decision shall be effective upon being signed by two or more board members who participated in deciding the matter of the board, and upon being filed at the board's principal office((, and)) or, after June 30, 2009, at the office of growth management hearings boards. Filed decisions shall be open for public inspection at all reasonable times.
     (7) All proceedings before the board, any of its members, or a hearing examiner appointed by the board shall be conducted in accordance with such administrative rules of practice and procedure as the boards jointly prescribe. All three boards shall jointly meet to develop and adopt joint rules of practice and procedure, including rules regarding expeditious and summary disposition of appeals. The boards shall publish such rules and decisions they render and arrange for the reasonable distribution of the rules and decisions. Except as it conflicts with specific provisions of this chapter, the administrative procedure act, chapter 34.05 RCW, and specifically including the provisions of RCW 34.05.455 governing ex parte communications, shall govern the practice and procedure of the boards.
     (8) A board member or hearing examiner is subject to disqualification under chapter 34.05 RCW. The joint rules of practice of the boards shall establish procedures by which a party to a hearing conducted before the board may file with the board a motion to disqualify, with supporting affidavit, against a board member or hearing examiner assigned to preside at the hearing.
     (9) The members of the boards shall meet jointly on at least an annual basis with the objective of sharing information that promotes the goals and purposes of this chapter.

Sec. 3   RCW 36.70A.290 and 1997 c 429 s 12 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) All requests for review to a growth management hearings board shall be initiated by filing a petition to the office of growth management hearings boards that includes a detailed statement of issues presented for resolution by the applicable board. The board shall render written decisions articulating the basis for its holdings. The board shall not issue advisory opinions on issues not presented to the board in the statement of issues, as modified by any prehearing order.
     (2) All petitions relating to whether or not an adopted comprehensive plan, development regulation, or permanent amendment thereto, is in compliance with the goals and requirements of this chapter or chapter 90.58 or 43.21C RCW must be filed within sixty days after publication by the legislative bodies of the county or city.
     (a) Except as provided in (c) of this subsection, the date of publication for a city shall be the date the city publishes the ordinance, or summary of the ordinance, adopting the comprehensive plan or development regulations, or amendment thereto, as is required to be published.
     (b) Promptly after adoption, a county shall publish a notice that it has adopted the comprehensive plan or development regulations, or amendment thereto.
     Except as provided in (c) of this subsection, for purposes of this section the date of publication for a county shall be the date the county publishes the notice that it has adopted the comprehensive plan or development regulations, or amendment thereto.
     (c) For local governments planning under RCW 36.70A.040, promptly after approval or disapproval of a local government's shoreline master program or amendment thereto by the department of ecology as provided in RCW 90.58.090, the local government shall publish a notice that the shoreline master program or amendment thereto has been approved or disapproved by the department of ecology. For purposes of this section, the date of publication for the adoption or amendment of a shoreline master program is the date the local government publishes notice that the shoreline master program or amendment thereto has been approved or disapproved by the department of ecology.
     (3) Unless the board dismisses the petition as frivolous or finds that the person filing the petition lacks standing, or the parties have filed an agreement to have the case heard in superior court as provided in RCW 36.70A.295, the board shall, within ten days of receipt of the petition, set a time for hearing the matter.
     (4) The board shall base its decision on the record developed by the city, county, or the state and supplemented with additional evidence if the board determines that such additional evidence would be necessary or of substantial assistance to the board in reaching its decision.
     (5) The board, shall consolidate, when appropriate, all petitions involving the review of the same comprehensive plan or the same development regulation or regulations.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 4   (1) The office of growth management hearings boards is created. The office of growth management hearings boards consists of the three growth management hearings boards established in RCW 36.70A.250.
     (2) The administrative offices of each board shall only be located in the office of growth management hearings boards. The office of the western Washington growth management hearings board shall serve as the initial location of the office of growth management hearings boards.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 5   In accordance with section 4 of this act, the following shall govern the creation of the office of growth management hearings boards, an office that is an administrative consolidation of the growth management hearings boards established in RCW 36.70A.250:
     (1) All reports, documents, surveys, books, records, files, papers, or written material in the possession of the growth management hearings boards shall be delivered to the custody of the office of growth management hearings boards. All office furnishings, office equipment, motor vehicles, and other tangible property in the possession of the growth management hearings boards shall be made available to the office of growth management hearings boards;
     (2) All funds, credits, or other assets held by the growth management hearings boards shall, on the effective date of this section, be transferred to the office of growth management hearings boards. Any appropriations made to the growth management hearings boards shall, on the effective date of this section, be transferred and credited to the office of growth management hearings boards;
     (3) All employees of the growth management hearings boards are transferred to the office of growth management hearings boards. All employees classified under chapter 41.06 RCW, the state civil service law, are assigned to the office of growth management hearings boards to perform their usual duties upon the same terms as formerly, without any loss of rights, subject to any action that may be appropriate thereafter in accordance with the laws and rules governing state civil service;
     (4) This section may not be construed to alter any existing collective bargaining unit or the provisions of any existing collective bargaining agreement until the agreement has expired or until the bargaining unit has been modified by action of the public employment relations commission as provided by law;
     (5) All rules and pending business before the growth management hearings boards shall be continued and acted upon by the appropriate growth management hearings board of the office of growth management hearings boards. All existing contracts and obligations remain in full force and shall be performed by the office of growth management hearings boards; and
     (6) The transfer of the powers, duties, functions, and personnel of the growth management hearings boards to the office of growth management hearings boards does not affect the validity of any act performed before the effective date of this section.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 6   Subject to the availability of amounts appropriated for this specific purpose, the joint legislative audit and review committee shall examine the administration and operations of the growth management hearings boards or any successor agency. The examination shall include an evaluation of: (1) How to improve the effectiveness of the growth management act dispute resolution system; (2) the boards' organizational structure, workload, and work processes; (3) potential benefits associated with establishing three member regional panels; (4) potential opportunities to colocate or become part of the environmental hearings office; (5) technological opportunities to improve efficiency and decrease travel expenses; and (6) additional methods of improving compliance with the growth management act that may reduce costs to all parties. The committee shall report its findings and recommendations to the governor and the appropriate committees of the house of representatives and the senate by December 1, 2009.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 7   Sections 4 and 5 of this act are each added to chapter 36.70A RCW.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 8   Sections 1 and 2 of this act are 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.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 9   Sections 3 through 5 of this act take effect July 1, 2009.