AN ACT Relating to water quality management; and amending RCW 90.70.060.

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

Sec. 1. Section 8, chapter 451, Laws of 1985 and RCW 90.70.060 are each amended to read as follows:

The plan adopted by the authority shall be a positive document prescribing the needed actions for the maintenance and enhancement of Puget Sound water quality. The plan shall address all the waters of Puget Sound, the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and, to the extent that they affect water quality in Puget Sound, all waters flowing into Puget Sound, and adjacent lands. The authority may define specific geographic boundaries within which the plan applies. The plan shall coordinate and incorporate existing planning and research efforts of state agencies and local government related to Puget Sound, and shall avoid duplication of existing efforts. The plan shall include:

(1) A statement of the goals and objectives for long and short-term management of the water quality of Puget Sound;

(2) A resource assessment which identifies critically sensitive areas, key characteristics, and other factors which lead to an understanding of Puget Sound as an ecosystem;

(3) Demographic information and assessment as relates to future water quality impacts on Puget Sound;

(4) An identification and legal analysis of all existing laws governing actions of government entities which may affect water quality management of Puget Sound, the interrelationships of those laws, and the effect of those laws on implementation of the provisions of the plan;

(5) Review and assessment of existing criteria and guidelines for governmental activities affecting Puget Sound's resources, including shoreline resources, aquatic resources, associated watersheds, recreational resources and commercial resources;

(6) Identification of research needs and priorities;

(7) Recommendations for guidelines, standards, and timetables for protection and clean-up activities and the establishment of priorities for major clean-up investments and nonpoint source management, and the projected costs of such priorities;

(8) A procedure assuring local government initiated planning for Puget Sound water quality protection;

(9) Ways to better coordinate federal, state, and local planning and management activities affecting Puget Sound's water quality;

(10) Public involvement strategies, including household hazardous waste education, community clean-up efforts, and public participation in developing and implementing the plan;

(11) Recommendations on protecting, preserving and, where possible, restoring wetlands and wildlife habitat and shellfish beds throughout Puget Sound;

(12) Recommendations for a comprehensive water quality and sediment monitoring program;

(13) Analysis of current industrial pretreatment programs for toxic wastes, and procedures and enforcement measures needed to enhance them;

(14) Recommendations for a program of dredge spoil disposal, including interim measures for disposal and storage of dredge spoil material from or into Puget Sound;

(15) Definition of major public actions subject to review and comment by the authority because of a significant impact on Puget Sound water quality and related resources, and development of criteria for review thereof;

(16) Recommendations for implementation mechanisms to be used by state and local government agencies;

(17) Standards and procedures for reporting progress by state and local governments in the implementation of the plan;

(18) Recommendations for implementation of waivers from the uniform national requirements of secondary treatment. In making recommendations the authority shall consider the criteria specified in the federal clean water act;

(19) An analysis of resource requirements and funding mechanisms for updating of the plan and plan implementation; and

(20) Legislation needed to assure plan implementation.

The authority shall circulate and receive comments on drafts of the plan mandated herein, and keep a record of all relevant comments made at public hearings and in writing. These records should be made easily available to interested persons.