Passed by the House March 1, 2019 Yeas 93 Nays 0
Speaker of the House of Representatives Passed by the Senate April 25, 2019 Yeas 48 Nays 0
President of the Senate | CERTIFICATE I, Bernard Dean, Chief Clerk of the House of Representatives of the State of Washington, do hereby certify that the attached is HOUSE BILL 1385 as passed by the House of Representatives and the Senate on the dates hereon set forth.
Chief Clerk Chief Clerk |
Approved | FILED |
| Secretary of State State of Washington |
HOUSE BILL 1385
Passed Legislature - 2019 Regular Session
State of Washington | 66th Legislature | 2019 Regular Session |
ByRepresentatives Springer, Kretz, Blake, Chandler, Gregerson, and Walsh; by request of Department of Agriculture
AN ACT Relating to exempting United States food and drug administration nonpublic information from disclosure under the state public disclosure act; reenacting and amending RCW
42.56.380; adding a new section to chapter
15.130 RCW; and creating a new section.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds that the United States food and drug administration has stopped sharing nonpublic information with the Washington state department of agriculture and has indicated that unless the state can protect nonpublic food and drug administration information from disclosure consistent with federal law, the food and drug administration may discontinue future contracts and cooperative agreements with the Washington state department of agriculture for food safety, feed safety, rapid response, and laboratory programs. The legislature further finds that the loss of these contracts and cooperative agreements would result in significant reductions in state food safety funding, staffing, and infrastructure. The loss of certain nonpublic information diminishes the department of agriculture's ability to respond to food-related public health emergencies and degrades the department of agriculture's capacity to support the movement of state agricultural products in interstate and international commerce. The legislature therefore intends to exempt United States food and drug administration nonpublic information from disclosure under the state public disclosure act when the department of agriculture obtains such information or records in the course of a federal contract or commissioning agreement entered into under the authority of chapter 15.130 RCW, the food safety and security act. NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. A new section is added to chapter
15.130 RCW under the subchapter heading "general provisions" to read as follows:
The following information or records obtained from the federal food and drug administration pursuant to a contract or commissioning agreement is exempt from public inspection and copying under chapter
42.56 RCW to the extent it is exempt from disclosure under 5 U.S.C. Sec. 552, the federal freedom of information act: Trade secrets; confidential commercial information; information under the federal deliberative process privilege; information compiled for law enforcement purposes; and information expressly required to be kept confidential by other federal laws.
Sec. 3. RCW
42.56.380 and 2018 c 170 s 1 and 2018 c 106 s 11 are each reenacted and amended to read as follows:
The following information relating to agriculture and livestock is exempt from disclosure under this chapter:
(1) Business-related information under RCW
15.86.110;
(2) Information provided under RCW
15.54.362;
(3) Production or sales records required to determine assessment levels and actual assessment payments to commodity boards and commissions formed under chapters
15.24, 15.26, 15.28, 15.44, 15.65, 15.66, 15.74, 15.88, 15.115, 15.100, 15.89, and
16.67 RCW or required by the department of agriculture to administer these chapters or the department's programs;
(4) Consignment information contained on phytosanitary certificates issued by the department of agriculture under chapters
15.13, 15.49, and
15.17 RCW or federal phytosanitary certificates issued under 7 C.F.R. 353 through cooperative agreements with the animal and plant health inspection service, United States department of agriculture, or on applications for phytosanitary certification required by the department of agriculture;
(5) Financial and commercial information and records supplied by persons (a) to the department of agriculture for the purpose of conducting a referendum for the potential establishment of a commodity board or commission; or (b) to the department of agriculture or commodity boards or commissions formed under chapter
15.24, 15.28, 15.44, 15.65, 15.66, 15.74, 15.88, 15.115, 15.100, 15.89, or
16.67 RCW with respect to domestic or export marketing activities or individual producer's production information;
(6) Information obtained regarding the purchases, sales, or production of an individual American ginseng grower or dealer, except for providing reports to the United States fish and wildlife service under RCW
15.19.080;
(7) Information collected regarding packers and shippers of fruits and vegetables for the issuance of certificates of compliance under RCW
15.17.140(2) and
15.17.143;
(8) Financial statements obtained under RCW
16.65.030(1)(d) for the purposes of determining whether or not the applicant meets the minimum net worth requirements to construct or operate a public livestock market;
(9) Information submitted by an individual or business to the department of agriculture under the requirements of chapters
16.36, 16.57, and
43.23 RCW for the purpose of herd inventory management for animal disease traceability. This information includes animal ownership, numbers of animals, locations, contact information, movements of livestock, financial information, the purchase and sale of livestock, account numbers or unique identifiers issued by government to private entities, and information related to livestock disease or injury that would identify an animal, a person, or location. Disclosure to local, state, and federal officials is not public disclosure. This exemption does not affect the disclosure of information used in reportable animal health investigations under chapter
16.36 RCW once they are complete;
(10) Results of testing for animal diseases from samples submitted by or at the direction of the animal owner or his or her designee that can be identified to a particular business or individual;
(11) Records of international livestock importation that can be identified to a particular animal, business, or individual received from the United States department of homeland security or the United States department of agriculture that are not disclosable by the federal agency under federal law including 5 U.S.C. Sec. 552;
(12) Records related to the entry of prohibited agricultural products imported into Washington state or that had Washington state as a final destination received from the United States department of homeland security or the United States department of agriculture that are not disclosable by the federal agency under federal law including 5 U.S.C. Sec. 552; ((and))
(13) Information obtained from the federal government or others under contract with the federal government or records obtained by the department of agriculture, in accordance with RCW
15.135.100; ((
and))
(14) Hop grower lot numbers and laboratory results associated with the hop grower lot numbers where this information is used by the department of agriculture to issue export documents; and
(15) Information or records obtained pursuant to a food and drug administration contract or commissioning agreement, in accordance with section 2 of this act.
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