Washington State

House of Representatives

Office of Program Research

BILL

ANALYSIS

State Government & Tribal Affairs Committee

SSB 6359

This analysis was prepared by non-partisan legislative staff for the use of legislative members in their deliberations. This analysis is not a part of the legislation nor does it constitute a statement of legislative intent.

Brief Description: Modifying provisions related to the office of regulatory assistance.

Sponsors: Senate Committee on Economic Development, Trade & Innovation (originally sponsored by Senators Eide, Kastama, Kilmer and McAuliffe).

Brief Summary of Substitute Bill

  • Makes changes to services provided by the Office of Regulatory Assistance.

Hearing Date: 2/16/12

Staff: Marsha Reilly (786-7135).

Background:

The Office of Regulatory Assistance (ORA) provides environmental permitting assistance in navigating the permit process and provides assistance to citizens and businesses by helping to identify licensing and permitting requirements. The ORA also assists with the regulatory process by identifying conflicts and overlap in the state's rules, statutes, and operational practices. Specifically, the ORA:

The ORA is authorized to enter into cost-reimbursement agreements with a project proponent to recover reasonable costs incurred in providing project scoping, coordinating a permit process, and implementing multiagency permitting teams.

The ORA is required to submit a biennial report to the Governor and the appropriate committees of the Legislature. The report must including information on cost-reimbursement services; the numbers and types of of projects in which assistance was provided and the resolution of conflicts on such projects; and the agencies involved on specific projects. Recommendations on system improvements must also be included in the report.

Summary of Bill:

As part of its services, the ORA must provide information to local jurisdictions regarding best permitting practices, methods to improve communication with state agencies, and effective means of assessing and communicating expected project timelines and costs.

For project scoping services, the Director of the ORA may require a state or local agency to attend a project scoping meeting in order to identify the relevant issues and information needs of a permit applicant. Under a fully coordinated permit process, each participating agency must designate a single point of contact for coordinating with the ORA.

The following applies to a project under a cost-reimbursement agreement:

Upon request, the ORA must verify whether the agencies have met the obligations contained in the project work plan and cost-reimbursement agreement. Notification and an explanation must be given to the ORA if any party is unable to meet its obligations under the agreement. The ORA must notify all parties to the agreement and work collaboratively to resolve the issue.

All cost-reimbursement agreement and solicitation receipts must be deposited into the multiagency permitting team account. Expenditures from the account may only be used for administrative purposes of the multiagency permitting teams including staffing, consulting, technology and other administrative costs.

A certification process is established for local level permitting. The ORA is required to work with local jurisdictions to establish criteria and the process for certifying a permit process as streamlined. Once certified, a local jurisdiction will receive priority when applying for state infrastructure funding.

Appropriation: None.

Fiscal Note: Available.

Effective Date: The bill takes effect 90 days after adjournment of the session in which the bill is passed.