BILL REQ. #:  H-3488.1 

Read first time 01/17/12.   Referred to Committee on Agriculture & Natural Resources.

     AN ACT Relating to state bounties for invasive species; amending RCW 77.15.425; and adding a new section to chapter 77.12 RCW.

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

Sec. 1   RCW 77.15.425 and 2009 c 333 s 18 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) The fish and wildlife enforcement reward account is created in the custody of the state treasurer. Deposits to the account include: Receipts from fish and shellfish overages as a result of a department enforcement action; fees for hunter education deferral applications; fees for master hunter applications and master hunter certification renewals; all receipts from criminal wildlife penalty assessments under RCW 77.15.400 and 77.15.420; all receipts of court-ordered restitution or donations associated with any fish, shellfish, or wildlife enforcement action; and proceeds from forfeitures and evidence pursuant to RCW 77.15.070 and 77.15.100. The department may accept money or personal property from persons under conditions requiring the property or money to be used consistent with the intent of expenditures from the fish and wildlife enforcement reward account.
     (2) Expenditures from the account may be used only for investigation and prosecution of fish and wildlife offenses, to provide rewards to persons informing the department about violations of this title and rules adopted under this title, to offset department-approved costs incurred to administer the hunter education deferral program and the master hunter (([permit])) permit program, for the payment of invasive species bounties under section 2 of this act, and for other valid enforcement uses as determined by the commission. Only the director or the director's designee may authorize expenditures from the account. The account is subject to allotment procedures under chapter 43.88 RCW, but an appropriation is not required for expenditures.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   A new section is added to chapter 77.12 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) The department must establish a program to assist with the eradication of invasive species by paying cash bounties to citizens in exchange for their participation in eradication efforts.
     (2) The framework of the bounty program must be established by the department by rule. The rules must include how the department will identify species eligible for a bounty, how a participant must confirm their successful eradication assistance efforts, and how much of a bounty will be paid for each included species.
     (3) All bounties must be paid from the fish and wildlife enforcement reward account created in RCW 77.15.425.
     (4) The department may determine which invasive species are eligible for inclusion in the bounty program. This list of included species may include any of the following:
     (a) Invasive species;
     (b) Aquatic invasive species;
     (c) Prohibited aquatic animal species;
     (d) Regulated aquatic animal species;
     (e) Nonnative avian species of the family Strigidae that are displacing native avian species; and     
     (f) Mammalian predators of a species that has been eradicated in Washington in its native form if that species is reemerging into Washington through the migration of individual animals from a nonnative gene pool.