BILL REQ. #:  S-1859.2 

READ FIRST TIME 02/23/09.   

     AN ACT Relating to providing emergency response towing vessels; amending RCW 88.46.068 and 88.46.130; adding new sections to chapter 88.46 RCW; creating new sections; and providing an expiration date.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   (1) The legislature finds that the northern coast of the Olympic Peninsula and Washington's west coast from Cape Flattery south to Cape Disappointment:
     (a) Possess uniquely rich and highly vulnerable biological, marine, and cultural resources supporting some of the nation's most valuable commercial, sport, and tribal fisheries;
     (b) Sustain endangered species and numerous species of vulnerable marine mammals; and
     (c) Are internationally recognized through extraordinary designations including a world heritage site, a national park, a national marine sanctuary, national wildlife refuges, a maritime area off-limits to shipping, and tribal lands and fishing areas of federally recognized coastal Indian tribes.
     (2) The legislature further finds that these coasts are periodically beset by severe storms with dangerously high seas and by strong currents, obscuring fog, and other conditions that imperil vessels and crews. When vessels suffer damage or founder, the coasts are likewise imperiled, particularly if oil is spilled into coastal waters. Oil spills pose great potential risks to treasured resources.
     (3) The legislature further finds that Washington has maintained an emergency response tug at Neah Bay since 1999 to protect state waters from maritime casualties and resulting oil spills. The tug is necessary because of peculiarities of local waters that call for special precautionary measures. The tug has demonstrated its necessity and capability by responding to forty-one vessels in need of assistance. State funding for the tug is scheduled to end on June 30, 2009.
     (4) The legislature intends that the maritime industry should provide and fully fund at least one year-round emergency response tug at Neah Bay, with necessary logistical and operational support, and that any tug provided by the maritime industry pursuant to this act should meet or exceed technical performance requirements specified in the state's fiscal year 2009 contract for the Neah Bay emergency response tug.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   A new section is added to chapter 88.46 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) Covered vessels that are subject to requirements specified in RCW 88.46.130 must provide at least one emergency response towing vessel that must be:
     (a) Stationed at Neah Bay; and
     (b) Continuously available and capable of responding to any vessel emergency, including but not limited to:
     (i) Loss or serious degradation of propulsion, steering, means of navigation, primary electrical generating capability, or seakeeping capability;
     (ii) Uncontrolled fire;
     (iii) Hull breach; or
     (iv) Oil spill.
     (2) An emergency response towing vessel must be capable of:
     (a) Deploying at any hour of any day to provide emergency assistance;
     (b) Being underway within twenty minutes of a decision to deploy, with adequate crew to safely remain underway for at least forty-eight hours;
     (c) Effectively employing a ship anchor chain recovery hook and line throwing gun;
     (d) A bollard pull of at least seventy short tons; and
     (e) Effectively operating in severe weather conditions with sustained winds measured at forty knots and wave heights of twelve to eighteen feet, including:
     (i) Holding position within one hundred feet of another vessel; and
     (ii) Making up to, stopping, holding, and towing a drifting or disabled vessel of one hundred eighty thousand metric dead weight tons.
     (3) An emergency response towing vessel must be equipped with:
     (a) A ship anchor chain recovery hook;
     (b) A line throwing gun; and
     (c) Appropriate equipment for:
     (i) Damage control patching;
     (ii) Vessel dewatering;
     (iii) Air safety monitoring; and
     (iv) Digital photography.
     (4) The requirements of this section may be fulfilled by a private organization or nonprofit cooperative providing umbrella coverage under contract to a single or multiple covered vessels. If a nonprofit cooperative is formed or used to meet the requirements of this section, it shall equitably apportion costs to each participating covered vessel based on risk associated with particular classes of covered vessels, navigational and structural characteristics of covered vessels, and the number of covered vessel transits in state waters in the Strait of Juan de Fuca, as defined in RCW 88.46.130(6).
     (5) The department is authorized to contract with an emergency response towing vessel provided under this section. Any use by the department must be paid by the department.
     (6) Covered vessels that are required to provide an emergency response towing vessel may not restrict the emergency response towing vessel from responding to noncovered vessels in distress.
     (7) Nothing in this section prohibits a covered vessel, private organization, or nonprofit cooperative from contracting with an emergency response towing vessel with capabilities exceeding requirements specified in this section.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   A new section is added to chapter 88.46 RCW to read as follows:
     As soon as practicable following return of an emergency response towing vessel after an incident necessitating a response, the covered vessel owner or operator or the contracting organization shall submit a report to the department. The report must provide a detailed description of the incident necessitating a response and actions taken to render assistance, and include high quality photographic documentation.

Sec. 4   RCW 88.46.068 and 2006 c 316 s 4 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) The department shall ((by rule)) adopt by rule procedures to determine the adequacy of contingency plans approved under RCW 88.46.060. The rules shall require random practice drills without prior notice that will test the adequacy of the responding entities. The rules may provide for unannounced practice drills of individual contingency plans.
     (2) The department shall also determine the adequacy of emergency response towing vessels provided under the emergency response system required by RCW 88.46.130. Adequacy may be determined through practice drills, which may be conducted without prior notice. Successful responses to vessel emergencies may satisfy this requirement. Drills must test emergency response towing vessels' ability to respond to worst case scenarios.
     (3) The department shall review and publish a report on the drills, including an assessment of response time and available equipment and personnel compared to those listed in the contingency plans relying on the responding entities, and requirements, if any, for changes in the plans or their implementation.
     (4) The department may require additional drills and changes in arrangements for implementing approved plans which are necessary to ensure their effective implementation.

Sec. 5   RCW 88.46.130 and 1991 c 200 s 426 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) By July 1, 2010, covered vessels operating in state waters in the Strait of Juan de Fuca shall establish and fund an emergency response system ((for the Strait of Juan de Fuca shall be established by July 1, 1992. In establishing the emergency response system, the administrator shall consider the recommendations of the regional marine safety committees. The administrator shall also consult with the province of British Columbia regarding its participation in the emergency response system)) providing at least one emergency response towing vessel stationed at Neah Bay.
     (2) Any emergency response towing vessel provided under this section must:
     (a) Be available to serve vessels in distress in the Strait of Juan de Fuca and off of the western coast of the state from Cape Flattery light south to Cape Disappointment light; and
     (b) Meet the requirements specified in section 2 of this act.
     (3) In addition to meeting requirements specified in RCW 88.46.060, contingency plans for covered vessels operating in the Strait of Juan de Fuca must provide for the emergency response system required by this section. Documents demonstrating compliance with this section must be submitted to the department by January 1, 2010. An initial contingency plan submitted to the department after January 1, 2010, must be accompanied by documents demonstrating compliance with this section.
     (4) The requirements of this section are met if:
     (a) Covered vessels provide at least one emergency response towing vessel that complies with subsection (2) of this section; or
     (b) The United States government implements a system of protective measures that the department determines to be substantially equivalent.
     (5) The director may suspend the requirement for an emergency response system created in this section if the director determines that an emergency response towing vessel meeting the requirements specified in section 2 of this act is unavailable.
     (6) As used in this section, "Strait of Juan de Fuca" means waters off of the northern coast of the Olympic Peninsula, from Cape Flattery light east to New Dungeness light, terminating at a line drawn from New Dungeness light to Discovery Island.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 6   (1) The director of the department of ecology, or the director's designee, shall initiate discussions with the director's counterpart in the government for the Canadian province of British Columbia to explore options for Washington and British Columbia to share the marine emergency response assets required under this act.
     (2) The department of ecology must report any progress or outcomes from discussions initiated under this section to appropriate committees of the legislature by January 1, 2011.
     (3) This section expires July 31, 2011.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 7   If any provision of this act or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the act or the application of the provision to other persons or circumstances is not affected.