H-3463.1
HOUSE BILL 2446
State of Washington
64th Legislature
2016 Regular Session
By Representatives Rossetti, Orcutt, and Blake
Read first time 01/13/16. Referred to Committee on Agriculture & Natural Resources.
AN ACT Relating to the distinction among the roles of governmental employee participants and nongovernmental employee participants on work groups established by the director of the department of fish and wildlife; and amending RCW 77.04.120.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec. 1.  RCW 77.04.120 and 2000 c 107 s 3 are each amended to read as follows:
(1) The director shall investigate the habits, supply, and economic use of food fish and shellfish in state and offshore waters.
(2) The director shall make an annual report to the governor on the operation of the department and the statistics of the fishing industry.
(3) Subject to RCW 40.07.040, the director shall provide a comprehensive biennial report of all departmental operations to the chairs of the committees on natural resources of the senate and house of representatives, the senate ways and means committee, and the house of representatives appropriations committee, including one copy to the staff of each of the committees, to reflect the previous fiscal period. The format of the report shall be similar to reports issued by the department from 1964-1970 and the report shall include, but not be limited to, descriptions of all department activities including: Revenues generated, program costs, capital expenditures, personnel, special projects, new and ongoing research, environmental controls, cooperative projects, intergovernmental agreements, and outlines of ongoing litigation, recent court decisions and orders on major issues with the potential for state liability. The report shall describe the status of the resource and its recreational, commercial, and tribal utilization. The report shall be made available to the public.
(4) In the director's execution of this section or any other duty or responsibility of the department, the director may appoint and utilize work groups, task forces, subcommittees, and other formally recognized and designated processes that are intended to collect, process, or disseminate expertise and opinions from other state agencies, other levels of government, Indian tribes, constituent groups, and unaffiliated citizens. Any process utilized by the director that includes the participation of nongovernmental employees, or a person acting in a nongovernmental role, must, unless otherwise specifically designated by an act of the legislature, be chaired by a nongovernmental participant and not by an employee of the department. Employees of the department must be limited to staff support and levels of participation less than that traditionally bestowed upon the chair.
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