H-2071              _______________________________________________

                                                   HOUSE BILL NO. 1159

                        _______________________________________________

State of Washington                              50th Legislature                              1987 Regular Session

By Representatives Cole, Winsley, Nelson, Sayan, Rayburn and Leonard

Read first time 3/2/87 and referred to Committee on Natural Resources.

AN ACT Relating to the harvesting of wild mushrooms; adding a new chapter to Title 15 RCW; and prescribing penalties.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1.  Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter.

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

          (2) "Wild mushroom" means a mushroom that is not cultivated or propagated by artificial means.

          (3) "Mushroom buyer" means any person who obtains wild mushrooms from another person for eventual conveyance to a mushroom processor.

          (4) "Mushroom harvester" means a person who picks wild mushrooms for sale to a mushroom buyer or processor, or who picks wild mushrooms as an employee of a mushroom buyer or processor.

          (5) "Mushroom processor" means a person, other than a mushroom buyer, who purchases and processes wild mushrooms in any manner whatsoever for eventual resale.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2.     (1) A person may not act as a mushroom buyer or mushroom processor without an annual license.  Any person applying for such a license shall file an application on a form prescribed by the department, and accompanied by the following license fee:

          (a) Mushroom buyer, fifty dollars;

          (b) Mushroom processor, two hundred fifty dollars.

          (2) The mushroom buyer or mushroom processor shall display the license in a manner visible to the public.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3.     (1) A mushroom buyer who obtains wild mushrooms shall, at the time, complete a form prescribed by the department, that includes the following:

          (a) The site at which the mushrooms were purchased by the buyer;

          (b) The amount, by weight, of each species of mushrooms obtained;

          (c) The approximate location of the harvest site;

          (d) The date that the mushrooms were harvested;

          (e) The price paid to the harvester;

          (f) Any additional information that the department, by rule, may require.

          (2) Forms completed under this section shall be given to the mushroom processor upon delivery of the mushrooms to the processor.

          (3) A mushroom processor shall complete the form required under subsection (1) of this section when obtaining wild mushrooms directly from a mushroom harvester.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4.     A mushroom processor may acquire wild mushrooms only from licensed mushroom buyers or from mushroom harvesters under section 3(3) of this act.  A mushroom processor who obtains wild mushrooms from a mushroom buyer shall obtain the completed forms prescribed in section 3(1) of this act upon receipt of the mushrooms.

          The mushroom processor shall retain and transmit each completed form to the department annually by December 31st.  The department shall make the information available to the public and shall publish harvest totals in conjunction with United States department of agriculture crop reporting statistics.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5.     The department shall encourage voluntary reporting of the information prescribed under section 3(1) of this act by recreational mushroom harvesters and mycological societies.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 6.     The department may adopt rules under chapter 34.04 RCW for the administration of this chapter.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 7.     A violation of this chapter is a misdemeanor for a first offense and a gross misdemeanor for any subsequent offense committed within five years of the previous conviction.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 8.     Sections 1 through 7 of this act shall constitute a new chapter in Title 15 RCW.