AN ACT Relating to providing for storm water, flood control, and water supply infrastructure in the state; adding a new chapter to Title 70 RCW; creating a new section; and providing for submission of this act to a vote of the people.

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

PART ONE

To carry out the intent of this chapter, agencies of state and local government are directed to act without delay in responding to this crisis in implementing the measures funded by this act. Agencies are also directed to find ways to minimize costs of implementation and to process related permit applications expeditiously. The legislature intends that funding provided by this act achieve significant and measurable reduction in storm water pollution and flood damage and enhancement of aquatic species and water supply. Agencies are directed to act aggressively to meet these objectives.

(1) "Department" means the department of ecology.

(2) "Project" means a proposal from a sponsor for water management activities or infrastructure that advances the priorities provided in section 103 of this act.

(3) "Project sponsor" or "sponsor" means an agency as defined in RCW 42.56.010, a federally recognized Indian tribe in Washington, or a federal agency that operates a flood control or water supply project in the state.

(1) Reducing storm water pollution from existing infrastructure and development;

(2) Reducing the risk of flooding, protecting against damage caused by floods, and protecting or restoring naturally functioning areas where floods occur; and

(3) Improving the availability and reliability of water supplies for instream and out-of-stream uses.

(2) The department must seek assistance from advisory groups that will consult with the department to ensure that the competitive grant process is administered with due consideration for the views and advice of organizations and individuals who demonstrate concern for water management in Washington. The department may consult with any advisory groups with which the department has consulted on similar projects. The department is further permitted to establish and convene new volunteer advisory groups to consult with the department and assist the department in the administration of the competitive grant process. However, the department shall establish or consult with at least one advisory group for each priority for water infrastructure projects as described in section 103 of this act. The department must provide for appropriate participation by designees of the Washington state conservation commission and the Puget Sound partnership on the volunteer advisory groups. The department must consider the advice of each advisory group, but the department retains full authority to administer the competitive grant process consistent with this chapter.

(2) Project sponsors who apply for funding through the competitive grant process must provide a minimum of twenty percent match of the nonfederal share of project costs, but the department must give a preference to projects that provide a higher level of local or private funding, and must honor pre-existing project financial agreements. The match may include funds, commitments, or contributions dedicated to the accomplishment of the project, such as: Cash on hand; the value of real property when acquired solely for the purpose of the project; the proceeds of a letter of credit or other binding loan commitment; a pledge commitment; and in-kind contributions, including private and local government funds. Project sponsors may receive credit for properly documented matching funds that were contributed no earlier than ten years prior to the effective date of this section and that were dedicated to the accomplishment of the project or were incurred for remediation and recovery from past damage that the project is intended to remedy where damage exceeded fifty million dollars. The department shall develop criteria for documenting the value of the match.

(3) Although projects may be consistent with more than one priority described in section 103 of this act, project sponsors must identify in an application which priority is the primary priority advanced by the project.

(4) Every two years the department shall evaluate all applications submitted for the competitive grant process and create ranked lists for projects under each priority described in section 103 of this act. Before finalizing its ranked lists, the department shall make preliminary ranked lists available to the public and solicit public comment for at least thirty days after the date the preliminary ranked lists are made available to the public. After considering public comments and before November 1st of each year for which projects are ranked, the department shall recommend to the governor ranked lists of all projects to be funded. The ranked lists must be concurrently provided to the appropriate fiscal and policy committees of the legislature. The governor may remove projects from the list recommended by the department and must submit the project list to the legislature. The governor may not add projects to the list. The legislature may remove projects from the list recommended by the governor. The department may not sign contracts or otherwise financially obligate funds from the water infrastructure account, created in section 108 of this act, before the legislature has appropriated funds for specific listed projects.

(5) No provision of chapter ....., Laws of 2015 (this act) alters or diminishes existing legal obligations to complete environmental review and obtain necessary permits for any project.

(6)(a) In ranking projects that promote the priority of reducing storm water pollution from existing infrastructure and development under section 103 of this act, the department shall use the eligibility and ranking criteria the department uses for the statewide storm water financial assistance program, as those criteria existed on the effective date of this section. In order to receive funding under chapter ....., Laws of 2015 (this act), projects and activities must have a high water quality or ecological benefit and address pollution from existing infrastructure. A project that relies on low-impact development retrofit techniques to reduce storm water impacts must be preferred over projects that are otherwise rated equally but that do not include low-impact development retrofit techniques.

(b) Consistent with section 104(1) of this act, the department shall aggressively pursue the implementation of projects that promote the priority of reducing the risk of flooding, protecting against damage caused by floods, and protecting or restoring naturally functioning areas where floods occur, as required by section 103 of this act. The department must rank these projects based on the following criteria, in descending order of importance.

(i) The degree to which projects achieve multiple benefits, including, but not limited to: Cost-effective flood hazard reduction to people and property; flood risk reduction; recovery of salmon and other native fish; water quality improvements; habitat restoration; agricultural viability; public access; and channel migration zone protection;

(ii) Projects in counties that have historically been and are projected to continue to be at greatest risk and most vulnerable to flooding, with a priority for projects that address areas that have experienced multiple emergency flood proclamations;

(iii) Projects that are consistent with and recommended by a collaborative planning and approval process that involves a broad range of stakeholders, including local governments, Indian tribes, state and federal agencies, the environmental community, local landowners, and other interests that include opportunities for public comment, such as a governor's basin-wide planning process, a salmon recovery plan, a hazard mitigation plan, a comprehensive plan, a watershed plan, or other applicable plans;

(iv) Projects that address both reduction and prevention of flood risks, and protections or restoration of floodplain ecosystem functions;

(v) Projects that minimize or eliminate future damage to or disruption of critical infrastructure, including transportation corridors, economic activity and jobs, and emergency response capability;

(vi) Projects that prepare for the uncertain effects of climate change; and

(vii) Projects that are developed using a collaborative process involving a broad range of stakeholders, including local governments, Indian tribes, state and federal agencies, the environmental community, local landowners, and other interests.

(c) In ranking projects that promote the priority of improving the availability and reliability of water supplies under section 103 of this act, the department shall prefer projects that are consistent with or designed to implement an integrated plan, as defined in RCW 90.38.010, and projects that are consistent with satisfying the water supply needs identified in RCW 90.90.020. For all other projects that promote the priority of improving the availability and reliability of water supplies, the department shall prefer projects that:

(i) Improve the availability and reliability of water supplies for beneficial uses;

(ii) Provide for effective management of water in order to prevent variability in water supplies and prepare for the uncertain effects of climate change;

(iii) Achieve multiple benefits;

(iv) Mitigate impacts to fish and wildlife caused by the project; and

(v) Include practicable conservation measures, where feasible, to ensure efficient use of water.

(7) Projects located in or proposed for the Puget Sound watershed must be evaluated by the Puget Sound partnership for consistency with the Puget Sound action agenda.

(8) The department shall, to the greatest extent practicable, seek to rank projects so that after twenty years, approximately equal amounts of funding will have been allocated to each of the priorities for water infrastructure projects described in section 103 of this act.

(9) The department must manage available resources in the water infrastructure account, created in section 108 of this act, in a fiscally prudent manner. In recommending projects and managing available resources, the department must consider the annual cash flow requirements of major projects that receive appropriations expected to cross multiple biennia. To effectively monitor expected revenues and expenditures, the department must develop a comprehensive ten-year financing report that identifies long-term cash flow requirements for approved and recommended projects, projected revenues, and year-end account balances. In recommending major multibiennial projects, the department must include separate budget estimates for all phases of the projects including expected future biennium appropriations.

(2) The joint legislative audit and review committee shall conduct at least one performance audit every ten years to provide an objective and systematic assessment of whether funds provided under this act are being used in an effective and efficient manner.

(3) The joint legislative audit and review committee must work with the department to determine if appropriate and reliable benefit/cost methodologies exist that might inform the prioritization process specified in section 105 of this act. The committee must also review whether appropriate and reliable benefit/cost methodologies are used to evaluate capital budget projects proposed by the department.

PART TWO

(a) For residential parcels and undeveloped parcels the rate is:

(i) Thirty-five dollars for parcels less than or equal to one acre;

(ii) Sixty dollars for parcels greater than one acre and less than or equal to five acres; and

(iii) Ninety dollars for parcels greater than five acres.

(b) For nonresidential developed parcels the rate is:

(i) One hundred twenty-five dollars for parcels less than or equal to one acre;

(ii) Two hundred fifty dollars for parcels greater than one acre and less than or equal to five acres;

(iii) Three hundred seventy-five dollars for parcels greater than five acres and less than or equal to ten acres; and

(iv) Five hundred dollars for parcels greater than ten acres.

(2) A property owner who owns multiple parcels of undeveloped parcels in the same county must be assessed as if the multiple parcels were one parcel.

(3) A property owner who owns a residential parcel and who owns a contiguous undeveloped parcel or parcels must be assessed as if the parcels were one residential parcel.

(4) Parcels that are classified as designated forest land under chapter 84.33 RCW and timber land under chapter 84.34 RCW are exempt from the benefit assessment imposed in this section.

(5) Parcels that are classified as designated agriculture land under chapter 84.34 RCW in counties in which irrigation services are not provided in the county by irrigation districts established under chapter 87.03 RCW are exempt from the benefit assessment imposed in this section.

(6) The amount of the benefit assessment constitutes a lien against the property. The assessment is subject to the same provisions as those for property tax collections, as provided in RCW 84.56.020 and must be collected by the county treasurer under the authority in RCW 84.56.035.

(7) Each January, the rates under subsection (1) of this section must be increased by the year over year percentage change in the implicit price deflator for the United States as published for the most recent twelve-month period.

(8) All revenues generated under this section must be transferred to the state treasurer to be deposited into the water infrastructure account. The revenues are intended to be in addition to current appropriation levels and must not supplant current appropriation levels for similar water infrastructure projects.

(9) The definitions in this subsection apply throughout this section unless the context clearly requires otherwise.

(a) "Nonresidential developed parcel" means all private and public parcels that have one or more useful structures.

(b) "Residential parcel" means a parcel with inhabitable residences with one to four units.

(c) "Undeveloped parcel" means all parcels that do not meet the definitions in (a) and (b) of this subsection.

(d) "Useful structures" means inhabitable residential structures with either more than four units or other improvements with a total assessed value greater than twenty-five thousand dollars, or both.

PART THREE

--- END ---