Passed by the House April 14, 2011 Yeas 60   ________________________________________ Speaker of the House of Representatives Passed by the Senate April 12, 2011 Yeas 32   ________________________________________ President of the Senate | I, Barbara Baker, Chief Clerk of the House of Representatives of the State of Washington, do hereby certify that the attached is SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 1084 as passed by the House of Representatives and the Senate on the dates hereon set forth. ________________________________________ Chief Clerk | |
Approved ________________________________________ Governor of the State of Washington | Secretary of State State of Washington |
State of Washington | 62nd Legislature | 2011 Regular Session |
READ FIRST TIME 02/03/11.
AN ACT Relating to creating the board on geographic names; amending RCW 43.30.215; adding new sections to chapter 43.30 RCW; and creating a new section.
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 6 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:
The board on geographic names is created to establish a procedure
for the retention and formal recognition of existing geographic names;
to standardize the procedures for naming or renaming geographical
features within the state of Washington; to identify one body as the
responsible agency to coordinate this important activity between local,
state, and federal agencies; to identify the responsible agency for the
purpose of serving the public interest; to avoid the duplication of
names for similar features whenever possible; and as far as possible,
to retain the significance, spelling, and color of names associated
with the early history of Washington.
The board on geographic names has the following duties:
(1) 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 do include human-made lakes;
(2) 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;
(3) 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;
(4) Serve as a state of Washington liaison with the United States
board on geographic names;
(5) Periodically issue a list of names approved by the board on
geographic names; and
(6) Establish policies to carry out the purposes of this section
and sections 3 through 5 of this act.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3 A new section is added to chapter 43.30 RCW
to read as follows:
(1) The board on geographic names shall establish a committee on
geographic names to assist the board in performing its duties and to
provide broader contextual, public, and tribal participation in naming
geographic features in the state. The committee shall report to the
board on geographic names and shall consist of:
(a) The commissioner or representative;
(b) The state librarian or the librarian's designee;
(c) The director of the department of archaeology and historic
preservation or the director's designee;
(d) A representative of the Washington state tribes, to be
appointed by the commissioner from nominations made by Washington's
recognized tribal governments. The tribal representative serves a
three-year term; and
(e) Three members from the public to be appointed by the
commissioner. Initial appointments of the public members appointed
under this subsection shall be as follows: One member for a one-year
term, one member for a two-year term, and one member for a three-year
term. Thereafter, each public member shall be appointed for a
three-year term.
(2) Each member of the committee shall continue in office until a
successor is appointed. The commissioner shall serve as chair of the
board.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 4 A new section is added to chapter 43.30 RCW
to read as follows:
(1) The committee on geographic names shall hold at least two
meetings each year, and may hold special meetings as called by the
chair or a majority of the members of the committee. All meetings must
be open to the public.
(a) Notice of all committee meetings shall be as provided in RCW
42.30.080. The notice must include the names to be considered by the
committee and the names to be adopted by the board on geographic names.
(b) Four committee members shall constitute a quorum.
(2) The committee shall establish rules for the conduct of its
affairs and to carry out the duties of this section.
(3) The committee shall cooperate with the United States board on
geographic names.
(4) The committee shall make reports and recommendations to the
board on geographic names following each meeting of the committee.
Recommendations regarding adoption of names may only be made following
consideration at two committee meetings.
(5) In considering the names and spellings of geographic place
names, the committee's recommendations to the board on geographic names
may only be made after careful deliberation of all available
information relating to such names, including the recommendations of
the United States board on geographic names.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 5 A new section is added to chapter 43.30 RCW
to read as follows:
(1) The board on geographic names shall consider the
recommendations made by the committee on geographic names for adoption
of names. The board on geographic names must either adopt the name as
recommended, or refer the matter back to the committee on geographic
names for further review.
(2) All geographic names adopted by the board on geographic names
shall be published in the Washington State Register.
(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.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 6 A new section is added to chapter 43.30 RCW
to read as follows:
The department of natural resources shall provide secretarial and
administrative services for the board on geographic names and shall
serve as custodian of the records.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 7 If specific funding for the purposes of this
act, referencing this act by bill or chapter number, is not provided by
June 30, 2011, in the omnibus appropriations act, this act is null and
void.