BILL REQ. #:  Z-0633.1 

Read first time 01/17/14.   Referred to Committee on Agriculture & Natural Resources.

     AN ACT Relating to ensuring hunter safety; amending RCW 77.32.155, 77.32.010, and 77.12.184; adding a new section to chapter 77.15 RCW; and prescribing penalties.

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

Sec. 1   RCW 77.32.155 and 2013 c 23 s 243 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1)(((a) When purchasing any hunting license, persons under the age of eighteen shall present certification of completion of a course of instruction of at least ten hours in the safe handling of firearms, safety, conservation, and sporting/hunting behavior. All persons purchasing any hunting license for the first time, if born after January 1, 1972, shall present such certification.
     (b)(i))) The ((director may establish)) department is authorized to create and administer a program for training persons in the safe handling of firearms, outdoor safety, wildlife conservation, and ((sporting/)) ethical hunting behavior and shall prescribe the type of instruction and the qualifications of the instructors. ((The director shall, as part of establishing the training program, exempt members of the United States military from the firearms skills portion of any instruction course completed over the internet.
     (ii) The director may cooperate with the national rifle association, organized sports/outdoor enthusiasts' groups, or other public or private organizations when establishing the training program.
     (c) Upon the successful completion of a course established under this section, the trainee shall receive a hunter education certificate signed by an authorized instructor. The certificate is evidence of compliance with this section.
     (d) The director may accept certificates from other states that persons have successfully completed firearm safety, hunter education, or similar courses as evidence of compliance with this section.))
     (2) To purchase a Washington hunting license for the first time, a person born after January 1, 1972, must present proof of successfully passing a hunter education training course. Proof is either:
     (a) A hunter education certificate of completion from a course instructed by or being taught under a contract with the department in the safe handling of firearms, outdoor safety, wildlife conservation, and ethical hunting behavior; or
     (b) A hunter education certificate from another state or country whose course is department approved.
     (3) No one under age eight is eligible to take a hunter education training course in Washington.
     (4) Active duty members of the United States military who are residents of or stationed in Washington are exempt from the firearms skills portion of any Washington hunter education training course instructed by or being taught under a contract with the department and completed over the internet.
     (5) Beginning July 1, 2014, the department is authorized to charge a registration fee of not more than twenty dollars for any hunter education training course. This fee must be collected as program income as defined in 50 C.F.R. Sec. 80.120 (2011).
     (6) Upon the successful completion of a hunter education training course instructed by or being taught under a contract with the department in the safe handling of firearms, outdoor safety, wildlife conservation, and ethical hunting behavior, the trainee must receive an approved hunter education certificate.
     (7) The department is authorized to collect an application fee, not to exceed ten dollars, for providing a duplicate hunter education certificate. This fee must be collected as program income as defined in 50 C.F.R. Sec. 80.120 (2011).
     (8)(a) The ((director)) department may authorize a once in a lifetime, one license year deferral of hunter education training for individuals who are accompanied ((by a nondeferred Washington-licensed hunter who has held a Washington hunting license for the prior three years and is over eighteen years of age)), while hunting, by a hunter currently licensed to hunt in Washington, age eighteen or older, and whose Washington license is not a one-year deferral license. The commission shall adopt rules for the administration of this subsection to avoid potential fraud and abuse.
     (b) The ((director)) department is authorized to collect an application fee, not to exceed twenty dollars, for obtaining the once in a lifetime, one license year deferral of hunter education training from the department. This fee must be collected as program income as defined in 50 C.F.R. Sec. 80.120 (2011), deposited into the fish and wildlife enforcement reward account, and ((must be)) used exclusively to administer the deferral program created in this subsection.
     (((c))) (9) For the purposes of this ((subsection)) section, "accompanied" means to go along with another person while staying within a range of the other person that permits continual unaided visual and auditory communication.
     (((3))) (10)(a) To encourage the participation of an adequate number of instructors for ((the)) hunter education training ((program)) courses, the commission shall develop nonmonetary incentives available to individuals who commit to serving as an instructor. The incentives may include additional hunting opportunities for instructors.
     (b) The department may provide reimbursement for instructor expenditures incurred in providing hunter education training courses.
     (c) The commission shall adopt rules specifying the use of program funds for reimbursing instructors. In no case may the total amount of all reimbursements exceed annual program income generated by fees.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   A new section is added to chapter 77.15 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) All hunters under age fourteen must be accompanied, while hunting:
     (a) By a hunter:
     (i) Who is currently licensed to hunt in Washington;
     (ii) Whose Washington hunting license is not a one-year deferral license; and
     (iii) Who is age eighteen or older; or
     (b) By a person who is age eighteen or older who has successfully completed a hunter education training course as described in RCW 77.32.155.
     (2) However, a hunter under the age of fourteen is not required to be accompanied if he or she is the immediate family member of a private property owner or lessee and is hunting on property his or her family owns or is leasing.
     (3) For the purposes of this section, the term "accompanied" has the same meaning as defined in RCW 77.32.155.
     (4) A violation of this section is a natural resource infraction subject to the provisions of chapter 7.84 RCW.

Sec. 3   RCW 77.32.010 and 2011 c 320 s 19 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1)(a) Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, a recreational license issued by the ((director)) department is required to hunt for or take wild animals or wild birds, fish for, take, or harvest fish, shellfish, and seaweed. A recreational fishing or shellfish license is not required for carp, smelt, and crawfish, and a hunting license is not required for bullfrogs.
     (b) A person must be at least eight years old and in compliance with RCW 77.32.155 to be issued a hunting license, unless that person has been issued a Washington hunter education certificate prior to the effective date of this section.
     (c) All hunters under the age of fourteen are required to hunt in compliance with section 2 of this act.
     (2) A pass or permit issued under RCW 79A.80.020, 79A.80.030, or 79A.80.040 is required to park or operate a motor vehicle on a recreation site or lands, as defined in RCW 79A.80.010.
     (3) During the 2009-2011 fiscal biennium to enable the implementation of the pilot project established in section 307, chapter 329, Laws of 2008, a fishing permit issued to a nontribal member by the Colville Tribes shall satisfy the license requirements in subsection (1) of this section on the waters of Lake Rufus Woods and on the north shore of Lake Rufus Woods, and a Colville Tribes tribal member identification card shall satisfy the license requirements in subsection (1) of this section on all waters of Lake Rufus Woods.

Sec. 4   RCW 77.12.184 and 2009 c 333 s 31 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) The department shall deposit all moneys received from the following activities into the state wildlife account created in RCW 77.12.170, except for moneys received for the purposes of providing the hunter education program as described in RCW 77.32.155:
     (a) The sale of interpretive, recreational, historical, educational, and informational literature and materials;
     (b) The sale of advertisements in regulation pamphlets and other appropriate mediums; and
     (c) Enrollment fees in department-sponsored educational training events.
     (2) Moneys collected under subsection (1) of this section shall be spent primarily for producing regulation booklets for users and for the development, production, reprinting, and distribution of informational and educational materials. The department may also spend these moneys for necessary expenses associated with training activities, and other activities as determined by the ((director)) department.
     (3) Regulation pamphlets may be subsidized through appropriate advertising, but must be made available free of charge to the users.
     (4) The ((director)) department may enter into joint ventures with other agencies and organizations to generate revenue for providing public information and education on wildlife and hunting and fishing rules.