AN ACT Relating to transportation; adding a new section to chapter 47.68 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 53.08 RCW; adding new chapters to Title 47 RCW; creating new sections; making appropriations; and declaring an emergency.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds the following statements to be true:

(1) The Seattle-Tacoma International Airport has insufficient capacity to meet the needs of Washington state through the decade of the 1990's.

(2) Significant expansion of the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport would be politically difficult and environmentally unsound.

(3) Significant expansion or creation of any airport along the Interstate 5 corridor would increase existing congestion and growth in the Puget Sound region.

(4) Significant expansion of the existing airport at Moses Lake, along the Interstate 90 corridor, will reduce growth pressures in the Puget Sound region and will provide an incentive for growth in central and eastern Washington.

(5) Modern technology and high speed rail transit will make it possible to move people and freight from Moses Lake to Seattle more safely and more quickly then they can now move from Tacoma to Seattle on Interstate 5.

(6) The establishment of a rapid transit link between western and eastern Washington will do more to improve the standard of living and quality of life of Washington's citizens than any project since the construction of Grand Coulee Dam.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. It is the intent of the legislature to:

(1) Place an immediate eighteen-month moratorium on physical expansion of capacity at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport;

(2) Support the Port of Moses Lake in its application to the federal government for recognition as an International Port of Entry; and

(3) Provide the governor with the authority to establish a public nonprofit corporation to be called the inland empire/puget sound super speed interconnect company and encourage private investments for this public purpose by allowing the directors to supersede certain environmental regulations with the consent of the governor.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. A new section is added to chapter 47.68 RCW to read as follows:

The secretary of transportation shall provide such assistance and support to the Port of Moses Lake as may be requested by the port to help facilitate federal approval of the Port of Moses Lake as an International Port of Entry.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. A new section is added to chapter 53.08 RCW to read as follows:

A port district operating an airport in a class AA county may not enlarge any runway or construct any new runway for a period of eighteen months from the effective date of this section unless the northwest regional international airport commission created by section 5 of this act approves the enlargement or new construction.

Any enlargements or new construction of runway space begun by a port district operating an airport in a class AA county prior to the effective date of this section but not completed on the effective date of this section shall not be completed for a period of eighteen months from the effective date of this section unless the northwest regional international airport commission created by section 5 of this act approves the enlargement or new construction.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. There is hereby established the northwest regional international airport commission. The commission shall consist of nine members appointed by the governor and confirmed by the senate. The commissioners shall serve six-year terms, except that two of the first commissioners shall be appointed to two-year terms and two of the first commissioners shall be appointed to four-year terms. No more than five members may be of the same political party, and at least four members must be from east of the Cascade Mountains. The commission shall determine the most appropriate method of making the Moses Lake airport the northwest regional international airport and shall report their findings to the 1991 legislature. The commission shall have such powers as are customary and necessary to carry out its duties.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. There is appropriated for the biennium ending June 30, 1991, to the northwest regional international airport commission, the sum of one million dollars from the general fund for the purpose of determining the most appropriate method of making the Moses Lake airport the northwest international airport and preparing a report to the legislature on their findings. All or part of these funds may be used by the commission for actual planning, design, or property acquisition expenditures.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. The governor is authorized to form a public nonprofit corporation in the same manner as a private nonprofit corporation is formed under chapter 24.03 RCW. The corporation shall be known as the inland empire/puget sound super speed interconnect company. The governor shall appoint a board of nine directors for the corporation. The directors shall serve six-year terms, except that two of the first directors shall be appointed to two-year terms and two of the first directors shall be appointed to four-year terms. At least four of the directors shall come from eastern Washington, and no more than five of the directors may be of the same political party. The purpose of this company shall be to cause the construction and operation of a rapid transit rail system between Seattle and Moses Lake. The directors shall determine the most appropriate method of providing for the construction and operation of a rapid transit rail system between Seattle and Moses Lake and shall report their findings to the 1991 legislature.

The directors shall have such powers as are customary and necessary to carry out their duties.

The corporation may acquire and transfer all forms of property by any lawful means, including condemnation, for the purpose of obtaining the use of necessary rights of way.

The corporation may enter into contracts with private companies to assist in the financing, construction, and operation of this rapid rail transit system.

The corporation may proceed with the development of the rail system without regard to the provisions of chapter 43.21C RCW if the directors and the governor declare the proposal to be environmentally sound.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 8. There is appropriated for the biennium ending June 30, 1991, to the inland empire/puget sound super speed interconnect company, if it is established, the sum of one million dollars from the general fund for the purpose of determining the most appropriate method of constructing and operating a rapid transit rail system between Seattle and Moses Lake and preparing a report to the legislature on its findings. All or part of these funds may be used by the company for actual planning, design, or property acquisition expenditures.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 9. This act is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety, or support of the state government and its existing public institutions, and shall take effect immediately.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 10. Sections 5 and 7 of this act shall each constitute a new chapter in Title 47 RCW.