HOUSE BILL REPORT

HB 1290

BYRepresentatives K. Wilson and Beck

Establishing a new geographic coordinate system for Washington.

House Committe on Natural Resources & Parks

Majority Report:  Do pass.  (9)

      Signed by Representatives Belcher, Chair; K. Wilson, Vice Chair; Beck, Ranking Republican Member; Brumsickle, Ferguson, Fuhrman, Hargrove, Raiter and Sayan.

House Staff:Bill Koss (786-7129)

AS PASSED HOUSE FEBRUARY 13, 1989

BACKGROUND:

The Department of Natural Resources is required to provide a reference system to identify and preserve survey points.  These survey points are widely used in surveying and map production. This reference system is known as the Washington Coordinate System.

In 1945, Washington adopted, as the Washington Coordinate System, a federal reference system supported and maintained by the National Geodetic Survey.  This system is known as the North American Datum of 1927 (NAD27).

Using NAD27, the Washington Coordinate System provides a common language for identifying location coordinates that are expressed in terms of an "x" value (an east-west direction) and a "y" value (a north-south direction).  The System requires that reference points be expressed in feet.  These values expressed in feet can then be entered into a computer data base and can be shared with anyone who chooses to use the coordinate system (the use of the Washington Coordinate System by mappers and surveyors in Washington is not mandatory).

A new reference system, known as NAD83, has been developed to reflect improved technology and accuracy.  The federal government is now using NAD83, and the National Geodetic Survey will continue to support and maintain this system.

As of January 1987, twenty states have adopted NAD83, with eleven other states preparing legislation for adoption.

SUMMARY:

Until 1990, persons choosing to use the Washington Coordinate System may use either NAD27 or its successor, NAD83.  Thereafter, persons choosing to use the System will be required to use NAD83.

Location coordinates used in the NAD83 system must be expressed in meters.

Fiscal Note:      Not Requested.

House Committee ‑ Testified For:    Grant Fredricks, Mike Kinnaman, Department of Natural Resources.

House Committee - Testified Against:      None Presented.

House Committee - Testimony For:    Recent advances in survey technology, such as laser transits and satellite information permit greater accuracy than available before.  The federal mapping system supports use of the more accurate data.  Before Washington surveyors may use the newest data, several references in existing law need to be made.

Participation in the new system will be voluntary.  No boundaries will be affected.  They will simply be measured more accurately.  In the event of a conflict between an existing legal description and a newly measured one, the former prevails.

House Committee - Testimony Against:      None Presented.