2741-S.E AAS 3/4/94

2741-S.E AAS 3/4/94

ESHB 2741 - S COMM AMD (S5619.1)

By Committee on Natural Resources

ADOPTED AS AMENDED 3/4/94 3/4/94

Strike everything after the enacting clause and insert the following:

"NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds that:

(1) In times of decreasing revenues and increasing demands, it is critically important to ensure the efficient use of scarce financial resources by avoiding overlap and duplication of effort among watershed-based planning efforts;

(2) Comprehensive planning for the management of natural resources on a watershed basis is desirable because it has the potential to address multiple concerns in an integrated and efficient manner;

(3) Implementation of watershed-based planning may be complicated by multiple land ownerships, different management missions and objectives, different ways of collecting information, and legal constraints such as federal and state antitrust statutes;

(4) Many different entities, including federal, state, and local governments, tribes, and landowners are already conducting watershed-based planning, research, and monitoring programs;

(5) There exists a compelling need for a consistent process for collecting and sharing information and data among all interested parties;

(6) There also exists a compelling need to ensure that the goals and objectives of watershed planning efforts are coordinated and consistent with each other; and

(7) Coordination of state, federal, and local resources is needed to maximize the value of the state's forty million dollar biennial investment in anadromous fish protection to improve stocks in critical and depressed condition.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. (1) State agencies involved in watershed-based natural resource planning efforts shall coordinate their planning and implementation processes. These cooperating state agencies shall include, but not be limited to, the departments of natural resources, agriculture, ecology, fish and wildlife, health, and community, trade, and economic development; the Puget Sound water quality authority; and the office of the governor. These agencies will meet as a group and include at those meetings representatives of federal agencies, local governments, tribes, private landowners, environmental groups, the public water supply entities utilizing water from the watershed, resource user groups, and other interested parties.

(2) The commissioner of public lands shall coordinate discussions of watershed-based natural resource planning among these various parties. The department of natural resources will provide a reasonable level of staff support for the work of the group.

(3) On or before December 15, 1994, the department of natural resources shall prepare a report for the legislature based on the group's discussions and findings. At a minimum this report shall include:

(a) Identification of barriers to coordination and cooperation in watershed-based planning and management of natural resources;

(b) Recommendations on the collection, storage, and maintenance of information in watershed analysis, planning, monitoring, and research programs. These recommendations could lead to the establishment of protocols governing data collection and information exchange;

(c) Identification of actual and potential overlap and duplication of effort in watershed-based natural resource planning efforts;

(d) Identification of gaps of coverage in existing and proposed watershed planning projects;

(e) Examination of the possible establishment of a central depository and of a process for periodically updating and distributing information on watershed-based natural resource planning efforts;

(f) Identification of strategies for developing cooperative watershed-based planning efforts which provide an opportunity for participants to:

(i) Establish coordinated and consistent goals and objectives which emphasize the natural and economic values of the watershed; and

(ii) Identify approaches for coordinating and financing the implementation of watershed-based plans; and

(g) A process providing for ongoing review, revision, and update of watershed-based plans and management activities.

(4) The commissioner of public lands shall cochair with the director of the department of fish and wildlife, a committee named the watershed council. The council shall consist of, but not be limited to, the director of the department of ecology, the secretary of transportation, the chair of the conservation commission, a representative of forest landowners, and a representative of agricultural landowners for the purpose of coordinating the state's efforts in addressing threatened anadromous fish resources and to preclude endangered species listings. The council shall coordinate the allocation of state resources in conjunction with federal, tribal, private, and local resources for watershed restoration and protection in order to maximize the state's effort to improve fish stocks in critical and depressed condition. The coordination is intended to maximize the expenditure of public funds, not to change statutory mandates for specific programs.

The council shall report to the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the legislature on or before December 15, 1994. The report shall include a plan for coordinating and targeting existing and new state, federal, and local resources toward this goal of precluding endangered species listings. It will be the goal that at least fifty percent of the fiscal year 1995 watershed-related expenditures be targeted for this purpose. This plan shall include: (a) A prioritized listing of watersheds based on department of natural resources watershed analysis and department of fish and wildlife stock assessments; (b) a definition of the geographical unit for watershed management that all state agencies shall use; (c) recommendations for the establishment of common protocols governing data collection and a central depository of information to be used by all state agencies involved in watershed management efforts; (d) an identification of gaps of coverage in existing and proposed watershed planning efforts; (e) an identification of state agency responsibilities by watershed; (f) an identification of barriers to state agency cooperation in watershed management efforts and recommendations to overcome such barriers; (g) an identification of barriers and incentives to encourage local government and private landowner cooperation in watershed management activities; and (h) recommendations for integration of watershed habitat protection with land use planning and regulation by local governments under the growth management act.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. The military department shall consult with the watershed recovery council to identify and implement training and readiness exercises that will assist in the state's watershed restoration efforts. Particular emphasis shall be placed on projects that assist in fish passage barrier removal, erosion control, and road closure, obliteration, revegetation, and drainage improvements. If the watershed recovery council is not established by July 1, 1994, then the department shall consult with the commissioner of public lands and the director of fish and wildlife to identify and implement watershed restoration projects. Nothing in this section shall interfere with the duties and functions of the military department as prescribed under Title 38 RCW."

ESHB 2741 - S COMM AMD

By Committee on Natural Resources

ADOPTED 3/4/94

On page 1, line 2 of the title, after "planning;" strike the remainder of the title and insert "and creating new sections."