HOUSE BILL REPORT

SB 6292

BYSenators Hansen and Rasmussen

Making owners of mosquito infested land responsible for their control.

House Committe on Agriculture & Rural Development

Majority Report:  Do pass.  (8)

      Signed by Representatives Rayburn, Chair; Kremen, Vice Chair; Nealey, Ranking Republican Member; Grant, Jesernig, Kirby, Rasmussen and Youngsman.

House Staff:Kenneth Hirst (786-7105)

Rereferred House Committee on Appropriations

Majority Report:  Do pass.  (17)

      Signed by Representatives Grant, Vice Chair; H. Sommers, Vice Chair; Silver, Ranking Republican Member; Belcher, Bowman, Dorn, Doty, Ebersole, Hine, Inslee, May, Nealey, Padden, Rust, Valle, Wang and Wineberry.

House Staff:      Nancy Stevenson (786-7137)

AS REPORTED BY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS MARCH 1, 1990

BACKGROUND:

A mosquito control district may be formed if a ballot measure proposing the district is approved by the voters.  Such a district may take actions to exterminate mosquitos. These actions may include the abatement of stagnant pools of water and other mosquito breeding places and the construction of dikes and ditches.

SUMMARY:

The board of trustees of a mosquito control district may adopt by resolution a policy declaring that the control of mosquitos within the district is the responsibility of the owners of lands from which the mosquitos originate.  The board may require by rule that owners of land perform acts necessary to control mosquitos.  "Owners" of land include those with management control of land.

If the board finds that an owner has not taken sufficient control action, the board must notify the owner. If the owner does not take sufficient action, the board may control the mosquitos, or cause them to be controlled, at the expense of the owner.  Such an expense constitutes a lien against the property. In an action to recover the control expenses, the necessary costs and expenses incurred by the board, including reasonable attorneys' fees, may also be recovered.

CHANGES PROPOSED BY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS:  None.

Fiscal Note:      Not Requested.

Effective Date:The bill contains an emergency clause and takes effect immediately.

House Committee ‑ Testified For:    (Agriculture & Rural Development)  Senator Hansen; Jim Thompson, Grant County Mosquito Control District; and Roger Morton, Benton County Mosquito Control District.

(Appropriations)  No one.

House Committee - Testified Against:      (Agriculture & Rural Development)  Dick Junk, Washington Forest Protection Association; and Jenene Fenton, Department of Wildlife.

(Appropriations)  No one.

House Committee - Testimony For:    (Agriculture & Rural Development)  (1) When the Columbia Basin Project was developed, a mosquito control district was formed to combat the mosquito borne encephalitis found in humans and horses.  Now, some public agencies, such as the Department of Wildlife, will not permit chemical controls on the lands they manage but are not conducting the good land management practices that would control mosquitos without chemicals.  The bill gives districts the option of requiring the mosquitos to be controlled.  (2) The bill is similar to the Health Code requirements of the state of California.

(Appropriations)  None.

House Committee - Testimony Against:      (Agriculture & Rural Development)  (1) Private forest landowners are being asked to preserve wetlands and reduce their use of chemicals.  A mosquito district could require these private owners to take steps to control mosquitos in these wetlands.  (2) The Department of Wildlife has just signed a one-year agreement with Grant County's mosquito district to address this problem.  The agreement should be given an opportunity to work.

(Appropriations)  None.