S-1095.1                   _______________________________________________

                                                     SENATE BILL 5572

                              _______________________________________________

State of Washington                              53rd Legislature                             1993 Regular Session

By Senators Prentice, Vognild, Prince, Hargrove, Barr, McAuliffe, Haugen, Snyder, Pelz, Loveland, Sheldon, Moore, Erwin, Fraser, M. Rasmussen and Wojahn

Read first time 02/03/93.  Referred to Committee on Transportation.

Assessing environmental costs of transportation projects.

          AN ACT Relating to the identification of environmental costs for transportation projects; and creating a new section.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1.  Recognizing the importance of maintaining the quality of life in Washington state, the citizens of this state demand protection and preservation of our scarce natural resources.  Citizens also demand an efficient and effective transportation system.  The departments of transportation, ecology, fisheries, and wildlife and the Puget Sound water quality authority have worked jointly to develop cooperative approaches for mitigating environmental  impacts resulting from transportation projects.  Nevertheless, many transportation projects are costing more than was budgeted due to unanticipated and extensive environmental considerations.  It is the intent of the legislature to find a process for accessing, budgeting, and accounting for environmental costs related to significant transportation projects in order to determine whether the environmental costs exceed the transportation benefits of a project.

          Therefore, the department of transportation shall undertake a pilot program in at least one transportation district that will serve as a case study for the entire department.  The department shall identify and cost out the discrete environmental elements of a representative sampling of transportation projects.  The environmental elements should include, but not necessarily be limited to, wetlands, storm water, hazardous waste, noise, fish, and wildlife.  The department shall also consider an assessment of the cost impacts resulting from delays associated with permitting requirements.

          It is the intent of the legislature that the environmental cost estimates be developed during a detailed scoping process that will include preliminary engineering and design.  After the detailed scoping process and design report is complete, the department shall submit project-specific recommendations and cost estimates to the transportation commission before approval is granted for the construction phase of the projects.

          Based upon the findings of the pilot program the transportation commission shall recommend policies to the legislative transportation committee regarding:  (1) The current practice of appropriating design and construction dollars simultaneously; (2) identification of reasonable thresholds for environmental costs; (3) budget and accounting modifications that may be warranted in order to accurately capture environmental costs associated with transportation projects; and (4) modification to the priority array statutes, chapter 47.05 RCW.

                                                           --- END ---