BILL REQ. #: H-0243.4
State of Washington | 62nd Legislature | 2011 Regular Session |
Prefiled 01/07/11. Read first time 01/10/11. Referred to Committee on State Government & Tribal Affairs.
AN ACT Relating to creating the board on geographic names; amending RCW 43.30.215; and adding new sections to chapter 43.30 RCW.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec. 1 RCW 43.30.215 and 2003 c 334 s 112 are each amended to
read as follows:
The board shall:
(1) Perform duties relating to appraisal, appeal, approval, and
hearing functions as provided by law;
(2) Establish policies to ensure that the acquisition, management,
and disposition of all lands and resources within the department's
jurisdiction are based on sound principles designed to achieve the
maximum effective development and use of such lands and resources
consistent with laws applicable thereto;
(3) Constitute the board of appraisers provided for in Article 16,
section 2 of the state Constitution;
(4) Constitute the commission on harbor lines provided for in
Article 15, section 1 of the state Constitution as amended;
(5) Constitute the board on geographic names as provided for in
sections 2 through 4 of this act; and
(6) Adopt and enforce rules as may be deemed necessary and proper
for carrying out the powers, duties, and functions imposed upon it by
this chapter.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2 A new section is added to chapter 43.30 RCW
to read as follows:
(1) The board on geographic names is created. The board consists
of:
(a) The members of the board of natural resources listed in RCW
43.30.205;
(b) The state librarian or the librarian's designee; and
(c) The director of the department of archaeology and historic
preservation or the director's designee.
(2) The board on geographic names has the power and authority to:
(a) Establish the official names for the lakes, mountains, streams,
places, towns, and other geographic features within the state and the
spellings thereof except when a name is specified by law. For the
purposes of this subsection, geographic features do not include human-made features or administrative areas such as parks, game reserves, and
dams, but does include human-made lakes;
(b) Assign names to lakes, mountains, streams, places, towns, and
other geographic features in the state for which no generally accepted
name has been in use;
(c) Cooperate with county commissions, state departments, agencies,
the state legislature, and the United States board on geographic names
to establish, change, or determine the appropriate names of lakes,
mountains, streams, places, towns, and other geographic features for
the purposes of eliminating, as far as possible, duplications of place
names within the state;
(d) Serve as a state of Washington liaison with the United States
board on geographic names; and
(e) Periodically issue a list of names approved by the board on
geographic names.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3 A new section is added to chapter 43.30 RCW
to read as follows:
(1) The board on geographic names is authorized to establish
policies to carry out the purposes of sections 2 through 4 of this act.
In determining the names and spellings of geographic place names within
the state of Washington, the board on geographic name's decisions may
only be made after a careful consideration of all available information
relating to such names, including the recommendations of the United
States board on geographic names.
(2) The board on geographic names shall cooperate with the United
States board on geographic names.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 4 A new section is added to chapter 43.30 RCW
to read as follows:
(1) Adoption of names by the board on geographic names may take
place only after consideration at a previous meeting.
(2) All board on geographic name's determinations must be filed
with the code reviser and must be compiled and indexed in the same
manner as agency rules under RCW 34.05.210. Determinations by the
board on geographic names are not considered a rule under RCW
34.05.210.
(3) Whenever the board on geographic names has given a name to any
lake, stream, place, or other geographic feature within the state, the
name must be used in all maps, records, documents, and other
publications issued by the state or any of its departments and
political subdivisions, and that name is the official name of the
geographic feature.