S-4488               _______________________________________________

                                                   SENATE BILL NO. 6750

                        _______________________________________________

State of Washington                               51st Legislature                              1990 Regular Session

By Senators Patrick, Rasmussen, Thorsness, Hansen and McCaslin

Read first time 1/24/90 and referred to Committee on  Law & Justice.

AN ACT Relating to liability for governmental actions; and amending RCW 64.40.020.

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

        Sec. 1.  Section 2, chapter 232, Laws of 1982 and RCW 64.40.020 are each amended to read as follows:

          (1) Owners of a property interest who have filed an application for a permit have an action for damages to obtain relief from acts of an agency which are arbitrary, capricious, unlawful, or exceed lawful authority, or relief from a failure to act within time limits established by law((:  PROVIDED, That the action is unlawful or in excess of lawful authority only if the final decision of the agency was made with knowledge of its unlawfulness or that it was in excess of lawful authority, or it should reasonably have been known to have been unlawful or in excess of lawful authority)).

          (2) The prevailing party in an action brought pursuant to this chapter may be entitled to reasonable costs and attorney's fees.

          (3) No cause of action is created for relief from unintentional procedural or ministerial errors of an agency.

          (4) Invalidation of any regulation in effect prior to the date an application for a permit is filed with the agency shall not constitute a cause of action under this chapter.