BILL REQ. #:  S-4419.1 

Read first time 02/04/10.   Referred to Committee on Ways & Means.

     AN ACT Relating to forest fire protection and suppression; amending RCW 76.04.005, 76.04.167, 76.04.610, 76.04.620, 76.04.660, and 79.13.030; adding a new section to chapter 76.04 RCW; and providing an effective date.

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

Sec. 1   RCW 76.04.005 and 2007 c 480 s 12 are each amended to read as follows:
     ((As used in this chapter, the following terms have the meanings indicated)) The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter unless the context clearly requires otherwise.
     (1) "Additional fire hazard" means a condition existing on any land in the state:
     (a) Covered wholly or in part by forest debris which is likely to further the spread of fire and thereby endanger life or property; ((or))
     (b) When, due to the effects of disturbance agents, broken, down, dead, or dying trees exist on forest land in sufficient quantity to be likely to further the spread of fire within areas covered by a forest health hazard warning or order issued by the commissioner of public lands under RCW 76.06.180. The term "additional fire hazard" does not include green trees or snags left standing in upland or riparian areas under the provisions of RCW 76.04.465 or chapter 76.09 RCW; or
     (c) When defensible space has not been maintained.
     (2) "Closed season" means the period between April 15th and October 15th, unless the department designates different dates because of prevailing fire weather conditions.
     (3) "Department" means the department of natural resources, or its authorized representatives, as defined in chapter 43.30 RCW.
     (4) "Department protected lands" means all lands subject to the forest protection assessment under RCW 76.04.610 or covered under contract or agreement pursuant to RCW 76.04.135 by the department.
     (5) "Disturbance agent" means those forces that damage or kill significant numbers of forest trees, such as insects, diseases, wind storms, ice storms, and fires.
     (6) "Emergency fire costs" means those costs incurred or approved by the department for emergency forest fire suppression, including the employment of personnel, rental of equipment, and purchase of supplies over and above costs regularly budgeted and provided for nonemergency fire expenses for the biennium in which the costs occur.
     (7) "Forest debris" includes forest slash, chips, and any other vegetative residue resulting from activities on forest land.
     (8) "Forest fire service" includes all wardens, rangers, and other persons employed especially for preventing or fighting forest fires.
     (9) "Forest land" means any unimproved lands which have enough trees, standing or down, or flammable material, to constitute in the judgment of the department, a fire menace to life or property. Sagebrush and grass areas east of the summit of the Cascade mountains may be considered forest lands when such areas are adjacent to or intermingled with areas supporting tree growth. Forest land, for protection purposes, does not include structures.
     (10) "Forest landowner," "owner of forest land," "landowner," or "owner" means the owner or the person in possession of any public or private forest land.
     (11) "Forest material" means forest slash, chips, timber, standing or down, or other vegetation.
     (12) "Landowner operation" means every activity, and supporting activities, of a forest landowner and the landowner's agents, employees, or independent contractors or permittees in the management and use of forest land subject to the forest protection assessment under RCW 76.04.610 for the primary benefit of the owner. The term includes, but is not limited to, the growing and harvesting of forest products, the development of transportation systems, the utilization of minerals or other natural resources, and the clearing of land. The term does not include recreational and/or residential activities not associated with these enumerated activities.
     (13) "Participating landowner" means an owner of forest land whose land is subject to the forest protection assessment under RCW 76.04.610.
     (14) "Slash" means organic forest debris such as tree tops, limbs, brush, and other dead flammable material remaining on forest land as a result of a landowner operation.
     (15) "Slash burning" means the planned and controlled burning of forest debris on forest lands by broadcast burning, underburning, pile burning, or other means, for the purposes of silviculture, hazard abatement, or reduction and prevention or elimination of a fire hazard.
     (16) "Suppression" means all activities involved in the containment and control of forest fires, including the patrolling thereof until such fires are extinguished or considered by the department to pose no further threat to life or property.
     (17) "Unimproved lands" means those lands that will support grass, brush and tree growth, or other flammable material when such lands are not cleared or cultivated and, in the opinion of the department, are a fire menace to life and property.
     (18) "Defensible space" means the area around a residence that has been landscaped to reduce fire danger.

Sec. 2   RCW 76.04.167 and 2001 c 279 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) The legislature hereby finds and declares that:
     (a) Forest wild fires are a threat to public health and safety and can cause catastrophic damage to public and private resources, including clean air, clean water, fish and wildlife habitat, timber resources, forest soils, scenic beauty, recreational opportunities, economic and employment opportunities, structures, and other improvements;
     (b) Forest landowners and the public have a shared interest in protecting forests and forest resources by preventing and suppressing forest wild fires; and
     (c) ((A recent independent analysis of the state fire program considered it imperative to restore a more equitable split between the general fund and forest protection assessments;
     (d) Without a substantial increase in forest protection funds, the state's citizens will be paying much more money for emergency fire suppression; and
     (e))) It is therefore the intent of the legislature that the costs of fire protection and suppression be equitably shared between the forest protection assessment account and state contributions to ensure that there will be sufficient firefighters who are equipped and trained to respond quickly to fires in order to keep fires small and manage those large fires that do occur. ((In recognition of increases in landowner assessments, the legislature declares its intent that increases in the state's share for forest protection should be provided to stabilize the funding for the forest protection program, and that sufficient state funds should be committed to the forest protection program so that the recommendations contained in the 1997 tridata report can be implemented on an equitable basis.))
     (2) The legislature hereby finds and declares that it is in the public interest to establish and maintain a complete, cooperative, and coordinated forest fire protection and suppression program for the state; that, second only to saving lives, the primary mission of the department is protecting forest resources and suppressing forest wild fires; that a primary mission of rural fire districts and municipal fire departments is protecting improved property and suppressing structural fires; and that the most effective way to protect structures is for the department to focus its efforts and resources on aggressively suppressing forest wild fires.
     (3) The legislature also acknowledges the natural role of fire in forest ecosystems, and finds and declares it in the public interest to use fire under controlled conditions to prevent wild fires by maintaining healthy forests and eliminating sources of fuel.

Sec. 3   RCW 76.04.610 and 2007 c 110 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1)(a) If any owner of forest land within a forest protection zone neglects or fails to provide adequate fire protection as required by RCW 76.04.600, the department shall provide such protection and shall annually impose the following assessments on each parcel of such land: (i) ((A flat fee assessment of seventeen dollars and fifty cents; and (ii) twenty-seven cents on each acre exceeding fifty acres)) For parcels within high risk counties as specified in subsection (3) of this section:
     (A) A flat fee assessment of sixty-eight dollars and fifty cents; and
     (B) An acreage assessment of one dollar and eight cents on each acre exceeding fifty acres.
     (ii) For parcels within medium risk counties as specified in subsection (3) of this section:
     (A) A flat fee assessment of thirty-four dollars and fifty cents; and
     (B) An acreage assessment of fifty-four cents on each acre exceeding fifty acres.
     (iii) For all parcels within low risk counties as specified in subsection (3) of this section:
     (A) A flat fee assessment of seventeen dollars and fifty cents; and
     (B) An acreage fee of twenty-seven cents on each acre exceeding fifty acres.
     (b) Assessors may, at their option, collect the assessment on tax exempt lands. If the assessor elects not to collect the assessment, the department may bill the landowner directly.
     (2) ((An owner who has paid assessments on two or more parcels, each containing fewer than fifty acres and each within the same county, may obtain the following refund:
     (a) If all the parcels together contain less than fifty acres, then the refund is equal to the flat fee assessments paid, reduced by the total of (i) seventeen dollars and (ii) the total of the amounts retained by the county from such assessments under subsection (5) of this section.
     (b) If all the parcels together contain fifty or more acres, then the refund is equal to the flat fee assessments paid, reduced by the total of (i) seventeen dollars, (ii) twenty-seven cents for each acre exceeding fifty acres, and (iii) the total of the amounts retained by the county from such assessments under subsection (5) of this section.
     Applications for refunds shall be submitted to the department on a form prescribed by the department and in the same year in which the assessments were paid. The department may not provide refunds to applicants who do not provide verification that all assessments and property taxes on the property have been paid. Applications may be made by mail.
     In addition to the procedures under this subsection,)) (a) Property owners with multiple parcels in a single county ((who qualify for a refund under this section)) may apply to the department on an application listing all the parcels owned in order to have the assessment computed on all parcels but billed to a single parcel. ((Property owners with the following number of parcels may apply to the department in the year indicated:

     Year                         Number of Parcels
     2002                         10 or more parcels
     2003                         8 or more parcels
     2004 and thereafter          6 or more parcels))

     (b) The department must compute the correct assessment and allocate one parcel in the county to use to collect the assessment. The county must then bill the forest fire protection assessment on that one allocated identified parcel. The landowner is responsible for notifying the department of any changes in parcel ownership.
     (((3) Beginning January 1, 1991,)) (c) Under the administration and at the discretion of the department up to two hundred thousand dollars per year of this assessment shall be used in support of those rural fire districts assisting the department in fire protection services on forest lands.
     (((4))) (3)(a) For the purpose of this chapter, the department may divide the forest lands of the state, or any part thereof, into districts, for fire protection and assessment purposes, may classify lands according to the character of timber prevailing, and the fire hazard existing, and place unprotected lands under the administration of the proper district. Beginning December 1, 2010, and every five years thereafter, the department shall review the emergency fire suppression expenditures of the department for fires classified, by rule of the department, type one through three over the previous five years, less expenditures from the landowners contingency forest fire suppression account and reimbursements for suppression activities on federal land, and categorize the counties as either high risk, medium risk, or low risk. The department shall provide this information to the counties and the counties shall modify the assessments as necessary to satisfy the requirements in subsection (1) of this section.
     (b) To establish risk, the department shall determine, in descending order, the per acre cost of fire suppression within each county and designate risk as follows:
     (i) High risk are those counties that encompass, in descending order, at least sixty percent of the per acre suppression costs;
     (ii) Medium risk are those counties that encompass, in descending order, at least twenty percent of the per acre suppression costs; and
     (iii) Low risk are those counties not specified in (a) and (b) of this subsection.
     (c) For fires that occur in more than one county, the department shall apportion the costs among the affected counties according to the percentage of land affected.
     (d) Amounts paid or contracted to be paid by the department for protection of forest lands from funds at its disposal shall be a lien upon the property protected, unless reimbursed by the owner within ten days after October 1st of the year in which they were incurred. The department shall be prepared to make statement thereof, upon request, to a forest owner whose own protection has not been previously approved as to its adequacy, the department shall report the same to the assessor of the county in which the property is situated. The assessor shall extend the amounts upon the tax rolls covering the property, and upon authorization from the department shall levy the forest protection assessment against the amounts of unimproved land as shown in each ownership on the county assessor's records. The assessor may then segregate on the records to provide that the improved land and improvements thereon carry the millage levy designed to support the rural fire protection districts as provided for in RCW 52.16.170.
     (((5))) (4) The amounts assessed shall be collected at the time, in the same manner, by the same procedure, and with the same penalties attached that general state and county taxes on the same property are collected, except that errors in assessments may be corrected at any time by the department certifying them to the treasurer of the county in which the land involved is situated. Assessments shall be known and designated as assessments of the year in which the amounts became reimbursable. Upon the collection of assessments the county treasurer shall place fifty cents of the total assessments paid on a parcel for fire protection into the county current expense fund to defray the costs of listing, billing, and collecting these assessments. The treasurer shall then transmit the balance to the department. Collections shall be applied against expenses incurred in carrying out the provisions of this section, including necessary and reasonable administrative costs incurred by the department in the enforcement of these provisions. The department may also expend sums collected from owners of forest lands or received from any other source for necessary administrative costs in connection with the enforcement of RCW 76.04.660.
     (((6))) (5) When land against which forest protection assessments are outstanding is acquired for delinquent taxes and sold at public auction, the state shall have a prior lien on the proceeds of sale over and above the amount necessary to satisfy the county's delinquent tax judgment. The county treasurer, in case the proceeds of sale exceed the amount of the delinquent tax judgment, shall immediately remit to the department the amount of the outstanding forest protection assessments.
     (((7))) (6) All nonfederal public bodies owning or administering forest land included in a forest protection zone shall pay the forest protection assessments provided in this section and the special forest fire suppression account assessments under RCW 76.04.630. The forest protection assessments and special forest fire suppression account assessments shall be payable by nonfederal public bodies from available funds within thirty days following receipt of the written notice from the department which is given after October 1st of the year in which the protection was provided. Unpaid assessments are not a lien against the nonfederal publicly owned land but shall constitute a debt by the nonfederal public body to the department and are subject to interest charges at the legal rate.
     (((8))) (7) A public body, having failed to previously pay the forest protection assessments required of it by this section, which fails to suppress a fire on or originating from forest lands owned or administered by it, is liable for the costs of suppression incurred by the department or its agent and is not entitled to reimbursement of costs incurred by the public body in the suppression activities.
     (((9))) (8) The department may adopt rules to implement this section, including, but not limited to, rules on levying and collecting forest protection assessments.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 4   A new section is added to chapter 76.04 RCW to read as follows:
     There is imposed a fee of twenty dollars on each building permit issued by a county or city for structures that will be erected within the forest protection zones as specified in RCW 76.04.610. Quarterly, each county and city shall remit moneys collected under this section to the state treasury for deposit into the forest protection assessment account.

Sec. 5   RCW 76.04.620 and 1986 c 100 s 36 are each amended to read as follows:
     ((Biennial general fund appropriations to the department of natural resources normally provide funds for the purpose of paying the emergency fire costs and expenses incurred and/or approved by the department in forest fire suppression or in reacting to any potential forest fire situation.)) When a determination is made that the fire started in the course of or as a result of a landowner operation, moneys expended from such appropriations in the suppression of the fire shall be recovered from the landowner contingency forest fire suppression account. The department shall transmit to the state treasurer for deposit in the general fund any such moneys which are later recovered. Moneys recovered during the biennium in which they are expended may be spent for purposes set forth in this section during the same biennium, without reappropriation. Loans between the general fund and the landowner contingency forest fire suppression account are authorized for emergency fire suppression. The loans shall not exceed the amount appropriated for emergency forest fire suppression costs and shall bear interest at the then current rate of interest as determined by the state treasurer.

Sec. 6   RCW 76.04.660 and 2007 c 480 s 13 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) The owner of land on which there is an additional fire hazard, when the hazard is the result of a landowner operation, including not maintaining adequate defensible space, or the land is within an area covered by a forest health hazard warning issued under RCW 76.06.180, shall take reasonable measures to reduce the danger of fire spreading from the area and may abate the hazard by burning or other satisfactory means.
     (2) An extreme fire hazard shall exist within areas covered by a forest health hazard order issued by the commissioner of public lands under RCW 76.06.180 in which there is an additional fire hazard caused by disturbance agents and the landowner has failed to take such action as required by the forest health hazard order. The duties and liability of such landowner under this chapter are as described in subsections (((5), (6), and)) (7), (8), and (9) of this section.
     (3) The department shall adopt rules defining areas of extreme fire hazard that the owner and person responsible shall abate. The areas shall include but are not limited to high risk areas such as where life or buildings may be endangered, areas adjacent to public highways, and areas of frequent public use.
     (4) The department shall adopt rules defining areas of defensible space that the owner and person responsible shall maintain.
     (5) The department shall adopt rules defining the different classification of fires ranging from type one through type five.
     (6) The department may adopt rules, after consultation with the forest fire advisory board, defining other conditions of extreme fire hazard with a high potential for fire spreading to lands in other ownerships. The department may prescribe additional measures that shall be taken by the owner and person responsible to isolate or reduce the extreme fire hazard.
     (((5))) (7) The owner or person responsible for the existence of the extreme fire hazard is required to abate, isolate, or reduce the hazard. The duty to abate, isolate, or reduce, and liability under this chapter, arise upon creation of the extreme fire hazard. Liability shall include but not be limited to all fire suppression expenses incurred by the department, regardless of fire cause.
     (((6))) (8) If the owner or person responsible for the existence of the additional fire hazard, extreme fire hazard, or forest debris subject to RCW 76.04.650 refuses, neglects, or unsuccessfully attempts to abate, isolate, or reduce the same, the department may summarily abate, isolate, or reduce the hazard as required by this chapter and recover twice the actual cost thereof from the owner or person responsible. Landowner contingency forest fire suppression account moneys may be used by the department, when available, for this purpose. Moneys recovered by the department pursuant to this section shall be returned to the landowner contingency forest fire suppression account.
     (((7))) (9) Such costs shall include all salaries and expenses of people and equipment incurred therein, including those of the department. All such costs shall also be a lien upon the land enforceable in the same manner with the same effect as a mechanic's lien.
     (((8))) (10) The summary action may be taken only after ten days' notice in writing has been given to the owner or reputed owner of the land on which the extreme fire hazard or forest debris subject to RCW 76.04.650 exists. The notice shall include a suggested method of abatement and estimated cost thereof. The notice shall be by personal service or by registered or certified mail addressed to the owner or reputed owner at the owner's last known place of residence.
     (((9))) (11) A landowner or manager may make a written request to the department to inspect their property and provide a written notice that they have complied with a forest health hazard warning or forest health hazard order, or otherwise adequately abated, isolated, or reduced an additional or extreme fire hazard. An additional or extreme fire hazard shall be considered to continue to exist unless and until the department, in its sole discretion, issues such notice.

Sec. 7   RCW 79.13.030 and 2003 c 334 s 367 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) Every lease issued by the department must contain:
     (((1))) (a) The specific use or uses to which the land is to be employed;
     (((2))) (b) The improvements required, if any;
     (((3))) (c) Provisions providing that the rent is payable in advance in quarterly, semiannual, or annual payments as determined by the department, or as agreed upon by the lessee and the department;
     (((4))) (d) Other terms and conditions as the department deems advisable, subject to review by the board, to achieve the purposes of the state Constitution and this chapter.
     (2) Beginning July 1, 2010, all lessees of land under this section are subject to an annual emergency fire suppression assessment equal to five percent of the annual lease amount. Funds collected for this purpose shall be deposited into the forest protection assessment account as specified in RCW 76.04.610.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 8   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.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 9   This act takes effect July 1, 2010.