BILL REQ. #:  S-0873.1 

Read first time 02/01/11.   Referred to Committee on Government Operations, Tribal Relations & Elections.

     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.