| Passed by the Senate March 7, 2009 YEAS 44 ________________________________________ President of the Senate Passed by the House April 1, 2009 YEAS 96 ________________________________________ Speaker of the House of Representatives | I, Thomas Hoemann, Secretary of the Senate of the State of Washington, do hereby certify that the attached is SENATE BILL 5944 as passed by the Senate and the House of Representatives on the dates hereon set forth. ________________________________________ Secretary | |
| Approved ________________________________________ Governor of the State of Washington | Secretary of State State of Washington |
| State of Washington | 61st Legislature | 2009 Regular Session |
Read first time 02/09/09. Referred to Committee on Environment, Water & Energy.
AN ACT Relating to Lake Whatcom phosphorus loading; adding a new section to chapter 90.71 RCW; and creating a new section.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1 (1) The legislature finds that:
(a) The Puget Sound 2020 action agenda identifies water pollution
as a primary threat to the health of Puget Sound and restoration of
polluted waters as a top priority;
(b) Lake Whatcom is the drinking water reservoir for the city of
Bellingham and the Lake Whatcom watershed provides fresh drinking water
to one-half the population of Whatcom county;
(c) Whatcom creek flows out of Lake Whatcom and directly into
Bellingham Bay which is the subject of a multiagency clean-up effort,
the Bellingham Bay demonstration pilot project;
(d) The Puget Sound 2020 action agenda's area profile for Whatcom
county identifies phosphorous pollution of Lake Whatcom as a key
threat;
(e) Silver Beach creek is a major tributary to Lake Whatcom and its
watershed is shared by the city of Bellingham and Whatcom county;
(f) Two decades of monitoring has shown that Silver Beach creek has
some of the highest phosphorus loading of Lake Whatcom tributaries;
(g) Implementation of the recently completed watershed management
plan and water cleanup plan for Lake Whatcom is identified as a
priority strategy in the Puget Sound 2020 action agenda's priorities
for Whatcom county; and
(h) Implementation of operations and management plans to manage on-site sewage systems around Lake Whatcom is identified as a key
restoration strategy in Whatcom county.
(2) The legislature intends by this act to assist the city of
Bellingham and Whatcom county in implementing a demonstration program
to reduce phosphorus loading in the Lake Whatcom and Whatcom creek
watershed and to share the lessons learned from this program with other
jurisdictions in the Puget Sound basin working to reduce phosphorus
loading.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2 A new section is added to chapter 90.71 RCW
to read as follows:
(1) The partnership shall assist the city of Bellingham and Whatcom
county to implement a demonstration program regarding phosphorus
loading into Lake Whatcom. The partnership shall assist the city and
county to secure funding from federal and nongovernmental sources and
work to secure funding commitments from the city and county as well.
The demonstration program must be implemented by the city and the
county and include elements for prevention, education, compliance, and
monitoring to reduce to a minimum the introduction of phosphorus-bearing materials into Lake Whatcom. The partnership shall share the
results of this program with other jurisdictions in Puget Sound seeking
to reduce phosphorus loading.
(2) Any grant made under this section must be matched by at least
an equal amount from nonstate sources.