H-0876.1
HOUSE BILL 1405
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State of Washington | 64th Legislature | 2015 Regular Session |
By Representatives Wylie, Moeller, and Tarleton
Read first time 01/20/15. Referred to Committee on Transportation.
AN ACT Relating to development of a bistate transportation project; adding a new section to chapter
47.28 RCW; and creating a new section.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The development of a bistate megaproject takes years of hard work and difficult decisions. Once a megaproject has reached the stage in its development when the federal government has issued a record of decision, the megaproject must move forward. To allow otherwise is to waste tens of millions of dollars of taxpayer money, destroy bistate relationships and trust, and stall economic growth and productivity in the entire region.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. A new section is added to chapter 47.28 RCW to read as follows:
(1) As used in this section, "bistate megaproject" means a highway construction project valued at five hundred million dollars or more that extends across the border between Washington and another state.
(2) Prior to working with another state on an environmental impact statement that complies with the national environmental policy act on a bistate megaproject, the department must enter into a contract with the department that manages transportation construction in the neighboring state in which the megaproject will be located. The terms of the contract must, at a minimum, contain the following provision: A state whose legislative body fails to adopt a financing plan that identifies the sources of funding to fully complete the megaproject within eight years of the date of receipt of the record of decision must be held responsible for: (a) Reimbursing all of the neighboring state's expenditures on the project to date, (b) any federal funds expended in the development of the project to date, and (c) any other liquidated damages as negotiated and agreed to by the states.
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