Background: Department of Commerce. The Washington State Department of Commerce (Department) was created in 2009 as a successor agency to the Department of Community, Trade, and Economic Development. The Department is a medium-sized, cabinet-level state agency with the mission to grow and improve jobs in Washington. The Department's work is organized around the eight priorities of competitiveness, education and workforce training, efficient and effective regulation, infrastructure investment, community capacity, rural focus, sector focus, and small business.

A variety of programs and functions including the State Energy Office and the Broadband Office are administered by the Department. The Department also provides administrative support for the Community Economic Revitalization Board.

Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT). WSDOT was created in 1977 to consolidate the functions of six separate agencies. WSDOT is responsible for administering the statewide transportation system and ensuring that people and goods move safely and efficiently across the state. In addition to building, maintaining, and operating the state highway system, WSDOT is responsible for the state ferry system, and works in partnership with others to maintain and improve local roads, railroads, airports, and multimodal alternatives to driving. WSDOT works toward achieving the goals of safety, preservation, mobility, environmental quality, system stewardship, and economic vitality.

National Pipeline Mapping System (NPMS). NPMS is a geographic information system created by the United States Department of Transportation, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), Office of Pipeline Safety in cooperation with other federal and state governmental agencies and the pipeline industry. Due to national security concerns pertaining to United States pipeline infrastructure, access to NPMS is restricted. The NPMS Public Map Viewer allows the general public to view maps containing certain information on a limited scale, in accordance with PHMSA's security policy. This limited scale prevents the general public from viewing a map at closer than a 1:24,000 scale – approximately 0.2 miles on the scale bar.

Summary of Bill: The Legislature finds that (1) significant public and private infrastructure investments are consistently made for the purposes of energy, information networks, water, sewer, and transportation, which are critical to contributing toward the nation's security interests, achieving long-term global competitiveness, and creating equal access to economic opportunity; and (2) access to a broader array of information would enable the state to make more informed investment decisions.

The Legislature intends to direct the creation and use of available maps and available data for the creation and use of digital cross-system infrastructure maps to inform and develop state economic development priorities and make investment decisions that support state and national interests.

The State Energy Office and the Broadband Office of the Department, the Public Works Board, and the Community Economic Revitalization Board, in collaboration with WSDOT and the Department of Natural Resources, are directed to develop digital layered maps that identify (1) major power facilities and energy infrastructure sites; (2) broadband availability; (3) water and sewer infrastructure; and (4) rail corridors, public highways, and ports.

Commercially available software and available maps, available data, and existing standards and services should be used when creating the maps. Such maps may not identify the geographic coordinates of facilities nor display images closer than 1:24,000 in scale. Any information exempt from disclosure under the security section of the Public Records Act is also restricted from display on the maps.

The Department and WSDOT are directed to analyze the maps to identify gaps in infrastructure corresponding with economic corridors and priority areas for future investment. A joint report on the infrastructure gaps and investment recommendations are due to the Legislature by January 1 of each year beginning in 2014.