BILL REQ. #:  S-4076.4 

READ FIRST TIME 02/09/10.   

     AN ACT Relating to the administration, collection, use, and enforcement of tolls; amending RCW 47.56.010, 47.46.020, 47.46.105, 46.63.030, 46.63.160, 46.63.075, 47.56.167, 46.61.690, 46.16.216, and 46.20.270; adding a new section to chapter 47.56 RCW; prescribing penalties; and providing a contingent effective date.

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

Sec. 1   RCW 47.56.010 and 2002 c 114 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
     As used in this chapter:
     (1) "Toll bridge" means a bridge constructed or acquired under this chapter, upon which tolls are charged, together with all appurtenances, additions, alterations, improvements, and replacements thereof, and the approaches thereto, and all lands and interests used therefor, and buildings and improvements thereon.
     (2) "Toll road" means any express highway, superhighway, or motorway at such locations and between such termini as may be established by law, and constructed or to be constructed as a limited access highway under the provisions of this chapter by the department, and shall include, but not be limited to, all bridges, tunnels, overpasses, underpasses, interchanges, entrance plazas, approaches, toll houses, service areas, service facilities, communications facilities, and administration, storage, and other buildings that the department may deem necessary for the operation of the project, together with all property, rights, easements, and interests that may be acquired by the department for the construction or the operation of the project, all of which shall be conducted in the same manner and under the same procedure as provided for the establishing, constructing, operating, and maintaining of toll bridges by the department, insofar as those procedures are reasonably consistent and applicable.
     (3) "1950 Tacoma Narrows bridge" means the bridge crossing the Tacoma Narrows that was opened to vehicle travel in 1950.
     (4) "Electronic toll collection system" means a system that collects tolls by crediting or debiting funds from a customer's unique prepaid tolling account.
     (5) "Photo toll" means a toll charge associated with a particular vehicle that is identified by its license plate. A photo toll may be paid through one of the following methods:
     (a) A customer-initiated account that is prepaid or postpaid.
     (b) In response to a toll bill that is sent to the registered owner of the vehicle incurring the photo toll charge. The toll bill may designate a toll payment due date for the photo toll assessed.
     (6) "Photo toll system" means a camera-based imaging system that uses digital video or still image formats to record license plate images of vehicles using toll lanes for the purpose of collecting a photo toll.
     (7) "Toll payment due date" means the date when a toll must be paid to avoid a toll violation civil penalty. The toll payment due date is eighty days from the date the vehicle uses the toll facility and incurs the toll charge.

Sec. 2   RCW 47.46.020 and 1993 c 370 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
     As used in this chapter((,)):
     (1) "Electronic toll collection system" means a system that collects tolls by crediting or debiting funds from a customer's unique prepaid tolling account.
     (2) "Photo toll" means a charge associated with a particular vehicle that can only be identified by its license plate. A photo toll may be paid through one of the following methods:
     (a) A customer-initiated account that is prepaid or postpaid.
     (b) In response to a toll bill that is sent to the registered owner of the vehicle incurring the photo toll charge. The toll bill may designate a toll payment due date for the photo toll assessed.
     (3) "Photo toll system" means a camera-based imaging system that uses digital video or still image formats to record license plate images of vehicles using toll lanes for the purpose of collecting a photo toll.
     (4) "Toll payment due date" means the date when a toll must be paid to avoid a toll violation civil penalty. The toll payment due date is eighty days from the date the vehicle uses the toll facility and incurs the toll charge.
     (5) "Transportation systems and facilities" means capital-related improvements and additions to the state's transportation infrastructure, including but not limited to highways, roads, bridges, vehicles, and equipment, marine-related facilities, vehicles, and equipment, park and ride lots, transit stations and equipment, transportation management systems, and other transportation-related investments.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   A new section is added to chapter 47.56 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) A toll collection system may include, but is not limited to, electronic toll collection and photo tolling.
     (2)(a) A photo toll system may take photographs, digital photographs, microphotographs, videotapes, or other recorded images of the vehicle and vehicle license plate only.
     (b) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, all photographs, digital photographs, microphotographs, videotape, or other recorded images prepared under this section are for the exclusive use of the tolling agency for toll collection and enforcement purposes and are not open to the public and may not be used in a court in a pending action or proceeding unless the action or proceeding relates to a civil penalty under RCW 46.63.160. No photograph, digital photograph, microphotograph, videotape, or other recorded image may be used for any purpose other than toll collection or enforcement of civil penalties under RCW 46.63.160. Records identifying a specific instance of travel by a specific person or vehicle must be retained only as required to ensure payment and enforcement of tolls and to comply with state records retention policies. Aggregate records that do not identify an individual, vehicle, or account may be maintained.
     (3) The department and its agents shall only use electronic toll calculation system technology for toll collection purposes.
     (4) Tolls may be collected and paid by the following methods:
     (a) A customer may pay an electronic toll through an electronic toll collection account;
     (b) A customer may pay a photo toll either through a customer-initiated payment or in response to a toll bill; or
     (c) A customer may pay with cash on toll facilities that have a manual cash collection system.
     (5) To the extent practicable, the department shall adopt electronic toll collection options, which allow for anonymous customer accounts and anonymous accounts that are not linked to a specific vehicle.
     (6) The transportation commission shall adopt rules, in accordance with chapter 34.05 RCW, to assess administrative fees as appropriate for toll collection processes. Administrative fees must not exceed toll collection costs. All administrative fees collected under this section must be deposited into the toll facility account of the facility on which the toll was assessed.
     (7) Failure to pay a photo toll by the toll payment due date is a violation for which a notice of civil penalty may be issued under RCW 46.63.160.

Sec. 4   RCW 47.46.105 and 2004 c 230 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
     (((1) Tolls may be collected by any system that identifies the correct toll and collects the payment. Systems may include manual cash collection, electronic toll collection, and photo monitoring systems.
     (a) "Electronic toll collection system" means a system of collecting tolls or charges that is capable of charging the account of the toll patron the appropriate toll or charge by electronic transmission from the motor vehicle to the toll collection system, which information is used to charge the appropriate toll or charge to the patron's account. The department shall adopt rules that allow an open standard for automatic vehicle identification transponders used for electronic toll collection to be compatible with other electronic payment devices or transponders from the Washington state ferry system, other public transportation systems, or other toll collection systems to the extent that technology permits. The rules must also allow for multiple vendors providing electronic payment devices or transponders as technology permits.
     (b) "Photo monitoring system" means a vehicle sensor installed to work in conjunction with an electronic toll collection system in a toll facility that automatically produces one or more photographs, one or more microphotographs, a videotape, or other recorded images of each vehicle at the time it is used or operated within a toll facility.
     (c) No photograph, digital photograph, microphotograph, videotape, or other recorded image may be used for any purpose other than toll enforcement, nor retained longer than necessary to verify that tolls are paid, or to enforce toll evasion violations.
     (2) The department shall adopt rules to govern toll collection.))
     (1) A toll collection system may include, but is not limited to, electronic toll collection and photo tolling.
     (2)(a) A photo toll system may take photographs, digital photographs, microphotographs, videotapes, or other recorded images of the vehicle and vehicle license plate only.
     (b) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, all photographs, digital photographs, microphotographs, videotape, or other recorded images prepared under this section are for the exclusive use of the tolling agency for toll collection and enforcement purposes and are not open to the public and may not be used in a court in a pending action or proceeding unless the action or proceeding relates to a civil penalty under RCW 46.63.160. No photograph, digital photograph, microphotograph, videotape, or other recorded image may be used for any purpose other than toll collection or enforcement of civil penalties under RCW 46.63.160. Records identifying a specific instance of travel by a specific person or vehicle must be retained only as required to ensure payment and enforcement of tolls and to comply with state records retention policies.
     (3) The department and its agents shall only use electronic toll calculation system technology for toll collection purposes.
     (4) Tolls may be collected and paid by the following methods:
     (a) A customer may pay an electronic toll through an electronic toll collection account;
     (b) A customer who does not have an electronic toll collection account may pay a photo toll either through a customer-initiated payment or in response to a toll bill; or
     (c) A customer who does not have an electronic toll collection account may pay with cash on toll facilities that have a manual cash collection system.
     (5) To the extent practicable, the department shall adopt electronic toll collection options, which allow for anonymous customer accounts and anonymous accounts that are not linked to a specific vehicle.
     (6) The transportation commission shall adopt rules, in accordance with chapter 34.05 RCW, to assess administrative fees as appropriate for toll collection processes. Administrative fees must not exceed toll collection costs. All administrative fees collected under this section must be deposited into the toll facility account of the facility on which the toll was assessed.
     (7) Failure to pay a photo toll by the toll payment due date is a violation for which a notice of civil penalty may be issued under RCW 46.63.160.

Sec. 5   RCW 46.63.030 and 2007 c 101 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) A law enforcement officer has the authority to issue a notice of traffic infraction:
     (a) When the infraction is committed in the officer's presence;
     (b) When the officer is acting upon the request of a law enforcement officer in whose presence the traffic infraction was committed;
     (c) If an officer investigating at the scene of a motor vehicle accident has reasonable cause to believe that the driver of a motor vehicle involved in the accident has committed a traffic infraction; or
     (d) ((When the infraction is detected through the use of a photo enforcement system under RCW 46.63.160; or
     (e))) When the infraction is detected through the use of an automated traffic safety camera under RCW 46.63.170.
     (2) A court may issue a notice of traffic infraction upon receipt of a written statement of the officer that there is reasonable cause to believe that an infraction was committed.
     (3) If any motor vehicle without a driver is found parked, standing, or stopped in violation of this title or an equivalent administrative regulation or local law, ordinance, regulation, or resolution, the officer finding the vehicle shall take its registration number and may take any other information displayed on the vehicle which may identify its user, and shall conspicuously affix to the vehicle a notice of traffic infraction.
     (4) In the case of failure to redeem an abandoned vehicle under RCW 46.55.120, upon receiving a complaint by a registered tow truck operator that has incurred costs in removing, storing, and disposing of an abandoned vehicle, an officer of the law enforcement agency responsible for directing the removal of the vehicle shall send a notice of infraction by certified mail to the last known address of the person responsible under RCW 46.55.105. The notice must be entitled "Littering -- Abandoned Vehicle" and give notice of the monetary penalty. The officer shall append to the notice of infraction, on a form prescribed by the department of licensing, a notice indicating the amount of costs incurred as a result of removing, storing, and disposing of the abandoned vehicle, less any amount realized at auction, and a statement that monetary penalties for the infraction will not be considered as having been paid until the monetary penalty payable under this chapter has been paid and the court is satisfied that the person has made restitution in the amount of the deficiency remaining after disposal of the vehicle.

Sec. 6   RCW 46.63.160 and 2009 c 272 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) This section applies only to ((infractions issued under RCW 46.61.690 for toll collection evasion)) civil penalties for nonpayment of tolls detected through use of photo toll systems.
     (2) Nothing in this section prohibits a law enforcement officer from issuing a notice of traffic infraction to a person in control of a vehicle at the time a violation occurs under RCW 46.63.030(1) (a), (b), or (c).
     (3) ((Toll collection systems include manual cash collection, electronic toll collection, and photo enforcement systems.
     (4) "Electronic toll collection system" means a system of collecting tolls or charges that is capable of charging the account of the toll patron the appropriate toll or charge by electronic transmission from the motor vehicle to the toll collection system, which information is used to charge the appropriate toll or charge to the patron's account.
     (5) "Photo enforcement system" means a vehicle sensor installed to work in conjunction with an electronic toll collection system that automatically produces one or more photographs, one or more microphotographs, a videotape, or other recorded images of a vehicle operated in violation of an infraction under this chapter.
     (6) The use of a toll collection system is subject to the following requirements:
     (a) The department of transportation shall adopt rules that allow an open standard for automatic vehicle identification transponders used for electronic toll collection to be compatible with other electronic payment devices or transponders from the Washington state ferry system, other public transportation systems, or other toll collection systems to the extent that technology permits. The rules must also allow for multiple vendors providing electronic payment devices or transponders as technology permits.
     (b) The department of transportation may not sell, distribute, or make available in any way, the names and addresses of electronic toll collection system account holders.
     (7))) A notice of civil penalty may be issued by the department of transportation when a toll is assessed through use of a photo toll system and the toll is not paid by the toll payment due date, which is eighty days from the date the vehicle uses the toll facility and incurs the toll charge.
     (4) Any registered owner or renter of a vehicle traveling upon a toll facility operated under chapter 47.56 or 47.46 RCW is subject to a civil penalty governed by the administrative procedures set forth in this section when the vehicle incurs a toll charge and the toll is not paid by the toll payment due date, which is eighty days from the date the vehicle uses the toll facility and incurs the toll charge.
     (5) Consistent with chapter 34.05 RCW, the department of transportation shall develop an administrative adjudication process to review appeals of civil penalties issued by the department of transportation for toll nonpayment detected through the use of a photo toll system under this section.
     (6) The use of a photo ((enforcement)) toll system ((for issuance of notices of infraction)) is subject to the following requirements:
     (a) Photo ((enforcement)) toll systems may take photographs, digital photographs, microphotographs, videotapes, or other recorded images of the vehicle and vehicle license plate only.
     (b) ((A notice of infraction must be mailed to the registered owner of the vehicle or to the renter of a vehicle within sixty days of the violation. The law enforcement officer issuing the)) A notice of ((infraction shall)) civil penalty must include with it a certificate or facsimile thereof, based upon inspection of photographs, microphotographs, videotape, or other recorded images produced by a photo ((enforcement)) toll system, stating the facts supporting the notice of ((infraction)) civil penalty. This certificate or facsimile is prima facie evidence of the facts contained in it and is admissible in a proceeding ((charging a violation under this chapter)) established under subsection (5) of this section. The photographs, digital photographs, microphotographs, videotape, or other recorded images evidencing the ((violation)) toll nonpayment civil penalty must be available for inspection and admission into evidence in a proceeding to adjudicate the liability for the ((infraction)) civil penalty.
     (c) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, all photographs, digital photographs, microphotographs, videotape, or other recorded images prepared under this ((chapter)) section are for the exclusive use of the tolling agency ((and law enforcement in the discharge of duties under this section)) for toll collection and enforcement purposes and are not open to the public and may not be used in a court in a pending action or proceeding unless the action or proceeding relates to a ((violation)) civil penalty under this chapter. No photograph, digital photograph, microphotograph, videotape, or other recorded image may be used for any purpose other than toll collection or enforcement of ((violations)) civil penalties under this ((chapter nor retained longer than necessary to enforce this chapter or verify that tolls are paid)) section. Records identifying a specific instance of travel by a specific person or vehicle must be retained only as required to ensure payment and enforcement of tolls and to comply with state records retention policies.
     (d) All locations where a photo ((enforcement)) toll system is used must be clearly marked by placing signs in locations that clearly indicate to a driver that he or she is entering a zone where ((traffic laws are)) tolls are assessed and enforced by a photo ((enforcement)) toll system.
     (((8) Infractions)) (e) Within existing resources, the department of transportation shall conduct education and outreach efforts at least six months prior to activating an all-electronic photo toll system. Methods of outreach shall include a department presence at community meetings in the vicinity of a toll facility, signage, and information published in local media. Information provided shall include notice of when all electronic photo tolling shall begin and methods of payment. Additionally, the department shall provide quarterly reporting on education and outreach efforts and other data related to the issuance of civil penalties.
     (7) Civil penalties for toll nonpayment detected through the use of photo ((enforcement)) toll systems must be issued to the registered owner of the vehicle identified by the photo toll system, but are not part of the registered owner's driving record under RCW 46.52.101 and 46.52.120. ((Additionally, infractions generated by the use of photo enforcement systems under this section shall be processed in the same manner as parking infractions, including for the purposes of RCW 3.50.100, 35.20.220, 46.16.216, and 46.20.270(3).
     (9))) (8) The civil penalty for ((an infraction)) toll nonpayment detected through the use of a photo ((enforcement)) toll system ((shall be)) is forty dollars plus ((an additional toll penalty. The toll penalty is equal to three times the cash toll for a standard passenger car during peak hours. The toll penalty may not be reduced. The court shall remit the toll penalty to the department of transportation or a private entity under contract with the department of transportation for deposit in the statewide account in which tolls are deposited for the tolling facility at which the violation occurred. If the driver is found not to have committed an infraction under this section, the driver shall pay the toll due at the time the photograph was taken, unless the toll has already been paid)) the photo toll and associated fees.
     (((10))) (9) All civil penalties, including the photo toll and associated fees, collected under this section must be deposited into the toll facility account of the facility on which the toll was assessed. However, beginning on July 1, 2011, civil penalties deposited into the Tacoma Narrows toll bridge account created under RCW 47.56.165 must first be allocated toward repayment of operating loans and reserve payments provided to the account from the motor vehicle account under section 1005(15), chapter 518, Laws of 2007.
     (10) If the registered owner of the vehicle is a rental car business, the department of transportation ((or a law enforcement agency)) shall, before a ((notice of infraction being)) toll bill is issued ((under this section)), provide a written notice to the rental car business that a ((notice of infraction)) toll bill may be issued to the rental car business if the rental car business does not, within ((eighteen)) thirty days of the mailing of the written notice, provide to the issuing agency by return mail:
     (a) A statement under oath stating the name and known mailing address of the individual driving or renting the vehicle when the ((infraction occurred)) toll was assessed; or
     (b) A statement under oath that the business is unable to determine who was driving or renting the vehicle at the time the ((infraction occurred)) toll was assessed because the vehicle was stolen at the time ((of)) the ((infraction)) toll was assessed. A statement provided under this subsection must be accompanied by a copy of a filed police report regarding the vehicle theft; or
     (c) In lieu of identifying the vehicle operator, the rental car business may pay the applicable toll and fee.
     Timely mailing of this statement to the issuing ((law enforcement)) agency relieves a rental car business of any liability under this ((chapter)) section for the ((notice of infraction)) payment of the toll.
     (11) Consistent with chapter 34.05 RCW, the department of transportation shall develop rules to implement this section.
     (12) For the purposes of this section, "photo toll system" means the system defined in RCW 47.56.010 and 47.46.020.

Sec. 7   RCW 46.63.075 and 2005 c 167 s 3 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) In a traffic infraction case involving an infraction detected through the use of ((a photo enforcement system under RCW 46.63.160, or detected through the use of)) an automated traffic safety camera under RCW 46.63.170, proof that the particular vehicle described in the notice of traffic infraction was in violation of any such provision of RCW ((46.63.160 or)) 46.63.170, together with proof that the person named in the notice of traffic infraction was at the time of the violation the registered owner of the vehicle, constitutes in evidence a prima facie presumption that the registered owner of the vehicle was the person in control of the vehicle at the point where, and for the time during which, the violation occurred.
     (2) This presumption may be overcome only if the registered owner states, under oath, in a written statement to the court or in testimony before the court that the vehicle involved was, at the time, stolen or in the care, custody, or control of some person other than the registered owner.

Sec. 8   RCW 47.56.167 and 2008 c 122 s 23 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) The toll collection account is created in the custody of the state treasurer for the deposit of prepaid customer tolls and clearing activities benefiting multiple toll facilities.
     (2) All receipts from prepaid customer tolls must be deposited into the account. ((Distributions from the account)) Prepaid customer tolls may be used only to refund customer((s')) prepaid tolls or for distributions ((into)) to the appropriate toll facility account((. Distributions into the appropriate toll facility account shall be based on charges incurred at each toll facility and shall include a proportionate share of interest earned from amounts deposited into the account)) based on an equitable methodology to be determined by the department in consultation with the office of financial management. For purposes of accounting, distributions from the account constitute earned toll revenues in the receiving toll facility account at the time of distribution.
     (3) Operations that benefit multiple toll facilities may be recorded in the account. At least monthly, operating activities must be distributed to the benefiting toll facility accounts.
     (4) On a monthly basis, interest earnings on deposits in the account must be distributed to the toll facility accounts based on an equitable methodology to be determined by the department in consultation with the office of financial management.
     (5) Only the secretary of transportation or the secretary's designee may authorize distributions from the account. Distributions of revenue and refunds from this account are not subject to the allotment procedures under chapter 43.88 RCW and an appropriation is not required.

Sec. 9   RCW 46.61.690 and 2004 c 231 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) Any person who uses a toll bridge, toll tunnel, toll road, or toll ferry, and the approaches thereto, operated by the state of Washington, the department of transportation, a political subdivision or municipal corporation empowered to operate toll facilities, or an entity operating a toll facility under a contract with the department of transportation, a political subdivision, or municipal corporation, at the entrance to which appropriate signs have been erected to notify both pedestrian and vehicular traffic that it is entering a toll facility or its approaches and is subject to the payment of tolls at the designated station for collecting tolls, commits a traffic infraction if:
     (((1))) (a) The person does not pay, refuses to pay, evades, or attempts to evade the payment of such tolls, or uses or attempts to use any spurious, counterfeit, or stolen ticket, coupon, token, or electronic device for payment of any such tolls((, or));
     (((2))) (b) The person turns, or attempts to turn, the vehicle around in the bridge, tunnel, loading terminal, approach, or toll plaza where signs have been erected forbidding such turns((, or));
     (((3))) (c) The person refuses to move a vehicle through the toll facility after having come within the area where signs have been erected notifying traffic that it is entering the area where toll is collectible or where vehicles may not turn around and where vehicles are required to pass through the toll facility for the purpose of collecting tolls; or
     (d) The driver of the vehicle displays any vehicle license number plate or plates that have been, in any manner, changed, altered, obscured, or disfigured, or have become illegible.
     (2) Subsection (1)(a) of this section does not apply to toll nonpayment detected through the use of photo toll systems under RCW 46.63.160.

Sec. 10   RCW 46.16.216 and 2004 c 231 s 4 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) To renew a vehicle license, an applicant shall satisfy all listed standing, stopping, and parking violations, and ((other infractions)) civil penalties issued under RCW ((46.63.030(1)(d))) 46.63.160 for the vehicle incurred while the vehicle was registered in the applicant's name and forwarded to the department pursuant to RCW 46.20.270(3). For the purposes of this section, "listed" standing, stopping, and parking violations, and ((other infractions)) civil penalties issued under RCW ((46.63.030(1)(d))) 46.63.160 include only those violations for which notice has been received from state or local agencies or courts by the department one hundred twenty days or more before the date the vehicle license expires and that are placed on the records of the department. Notice of such violations received by the department later than one hundred twenty days before that date that are not satisfied shall be considered by the department in connection with any applications for license renewal in any subsequent license year. The renewal application may be processed by the department or its agents only if the applicant:
     (a) Presents a preprinted renewal application showing no listed standing, stopping, or parking violations, or ((other infractions)) civil penalties issued under RCW ((46.63.030(1)(d))) 46.63.160, or in the absence of such presentation, the agent verifies the information that would be contained on the preprinted renewal application; or
     (b) If listed standing, stopping, or parking violations, or ((other infractions)) civil penalties issued under RCW ((46.63.030(1)(d))) 46.63.160 exist, presents proof of payment and pays a fifteen dollar surcharge.
     (2) The surcharge shall be allocated as follows:
     (a) Ten dollars shall be deposited in the motor vehicle fund to be used exclusively for the administrative costs of the department of licensing; and
     (b) Five dollars shall be retained by the agent handling the renewal application to be used by the agent for the administration of this section.
     (3) If there is a change in the registered owner of the vehicle, the department shall forward the information regarding the change to the state or local charging jurisdiction and release any hold on the renewal of the vehicle license resulting from parking violations or ((other infractions)) civil penalties issued under RCW ((46.63.030(1)(d))) 46.63.160 incurred while the certificate of license registration was in a previous registered owner's name.
     (4) The department shall send to all registered owners of vehicles who have been reported to have outstanding listed parking violations or ((other infractions)) civil penalties issued under RCW ((46.63.030(1)(d))) 46.63.160, at the time of renewal, a statement setting out the dates and jurisdictions in which the violations occurred as well as the amounts of unpaid fines and penalties relating to them and the surcharge to be collected.

Sec. 11   RCW 46.20.270 and 2009 c 181 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) Whenever any person is convicted of any offense for which this title makes mandatory the withholding of the driving privilege of such person by the department, the court in which such conviction is had shall forthwith mark the person's Washington state driver's license or permit to drive, if any, in a manner authorized by the department. A valid driver's license or permit to drive marked under this subsection shall remain in effect until the person's driving privilege is withheld by the department pursuant to notice given under RCW 46.20.245, unless the license or permit expires or otherwise becomes invalid prior to the effective date of this action. Perfection of notice of appeal shall stay the execution of sentence including the withholding of the driving privilege.
     (2) Every court having jurisdiction over offenses committed under this chapter, or any other act of this state or municipal ordinance adopted by a local authority regulating the operation of motor vehicles on highways, or any federal authority having jurisdiction over offenses substantially the same as those set forth in this title ((46 RCW)) which occur on federal installations within this state, shall immediately forward to the department a forfeiture of bail or collateral deposited to secure the defendant's appearance in court, a payment of a fine, penalty, or court cost, a plea of guilty or nolo contendere or a finding of guilt, or a finding that any person has committed a traffic infraction an abstract of the court record in the form prescribed by rule of the supreme court, showing the conviction of any person or the finding that any person has committed a traffic infraction in said court for a violation of any said laws other than regulations governing standing, stopping, parking, and pedestrian offenses.
     (3) Every state agency or municipality having jurisdiction over offenses committed under this chapter, or under any other act of this state or municipal ordinance adopted by a state or local authority regulating the operation of motor vehicles on highways, may forward to the department within ten days of failure to respond, failure to pay a penalty, failure to appear at a hearing to contest the determination that a violation of any statute, ordinance, or regulation relating to standing, stopping, parking, or ((other infraction)) civil penalties issued under RCW ((46.63.030(1)(d))) 46.63.160 has been committed, or failure to appear at a hearing to explain mitigating circumstances, an abstract of the citation record in the form prescribed by rule of the department, showing the finding by such municipality that two or more violations of laws governing standing, stopping, and parking or one or more ((other infractions)) civil penalties issued under RCW ((46.63.030(1)(d))) 46.63.160 have been committed and indicating the nature of the defendant's failure to act. Such violations or infractions may not have occurred while the vehicle is stolen from the registered owner or is leased or rented under a bona fide commercial vehicle lease or rental agreement between a lessor engaged in the business of leasing vehicles and a lessee who is not the vehicle's registered owner. The department may enter into agreements of reciprocity with the duly authorized representatives of the states for reporting to each other violations of laws governing standing, stopping, and parking.
     (4) For the purposes of this title and except as defined in RCW 46.25.010, "conviction" means a final conviction in a state or municipal court or by any federal authority having jurisdiction over offenses substantially the same as those set forth in this title which occur on federal installations in this state, an unvacated forfeiture of bail or collateral deposited to secure a defendant's appearance in court, the payment of a fine or court cost, a plea of guilty or nolo contendere, or a finding of guilt on a traffic law violation charge, regardless of whether the imposition of sentence or sanctions are deferred or the penalty is suspended, but not including entry into a deferred prosecution agreement under chapter 10.05 RCW.
     (5) For the purposes of this title, "finding that a traffic infraction has been committed" means a failure to respond to a notice of infraction or a determination made by a court pursuant to this chapter. Payment of a monetary penalty made pursuant to RCW 46.63.070(2) is deemed equivalent to such a finding.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 12   This act takes effect upon certification by the secretary of transportation that the new statewide tolling operations center and photo toll system are fully operational. A notice of certification must be filed with the code reviser for publication in the state register. If a certificate is not issued by the secretary of transportation by December 1, 2012, this act is null and void.