6339-S.E

AN ACT Relating to facilitating growth management planning and decisions, integration with related environmental laws, and improving procedures for cleanup of hazardous waste sites; amending RCW 36.70A.270, 36.70A.290, 36.70A.300, 36.70A.030, 58.17.330, 35A.63.170, 35.63.130, 36.70.970, 70.105D.020, 70.105D.030, 70.105D.050, 70.105D.060, 34.12.020, and 34.05.514; adding new sections to chapter 36.70A RCW; adding a new section to chapter 70.105D RCW; adding a new section to chapter 70.94 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 70.95 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 70.105 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 75.20 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 90.48 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 90.58 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 43.21C RCW; creating a new section; and providing an effective date.

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

Sec. 1. RCW 36.70A.270 and 1991 sp.s. c 32 s 7 are each amended to read as follows:

Each growth planning hearings board shall be governed by the following rules on conduct and procedure:

(1) Any board member may be removed for inefficiency, malfeasance, and misfeasance in office, under specific written charges filed by the governor. The governor shall transmit such written charges to the member accused and the chief justice of the supreme court. The chief justice shall thereupon designate a tribunal composed of three judges of the superior court to hear and adjudicate the charges. Removal of any member of a board by the tribunal shall disqualify such member for reappointment.

(2) Each board member shall receive reimbursement for travel expenses incurred in the discharge of his or her duties in accordance with RCW 43.03.050 and 43.03.060. If it is determined that the review boards shall operate on a full-time basis, each member shall receive an annual salary to be determined by the governor pursuant to RCW 43.03.040. If it is determined that a review board shall operate on a part-time basis, each member shall receive compensation pursuant to RCW 43.03.250, provided such amount shall not exceed the amount that would be set if they were a full-time board member. The principal office of each board shall be located by the governor within the jurisdictional boundaries of each board. The boards shall operate on either a part-time or full-time basis, as determined by the governor.

(3) Each board member shall not: (a) Be a candidate for or hold any other public office or trust; (b) engage in any occupation or business interfering with or inconsistent with his or her duty as a board member; and (c) for a period of one year after the termination of his or her board membership, act in a representative capacity before the board on any matter.

(4) A majority of each board shall constitute a quorum for making orders or decisions, adopting rules necessary for the conduct of its powers and duties, or transacting other official business, and may act even though one position of the board is vacant. One or more members may hold hearings and take testimony to be reported for action by the board when authorized by rule or order of the board. The board shall perform all the powers and duties specified in this chapter or as otherwise provided by law.

(5) The board may ((~~also~~)) appoint ((~~as its authorized agents~~)) one or more hearing examiners to assist the board in ((~~the performance of~~)) its hearing function ((~~pursuant to the authority contained in the administrative procedure act, chapter 34.05 RCW~~)), to make conclusions of law and findings of fact and, if requested by the board, to make recommendations to the board for decisions in cases before the board. Such hearing examiners must have demonstrated knowledge of land use planning and law. The boards shall specify in their joint rules of practice and procedure, as required by subsection (7) of this section, the procedure and criteria to be employed for designating hearing examiners as a presiding officer. Hearing examiners selected by a board shall meet the requirements of subsection (3) of this section. The findings and conclusions of the hearing examiner shall not become final until they have been formally approved by the board. ((~~Such hearing examiners must have demonstrated knowledge of land use planning and law. The board shall perform all the powers and duties specified in this chapter or as otherwise provided by law.~~

~~(5)~~)) This authorization to use hearing examiners does not waive the requirement of RCW 36.70A.300 that final orders be issued within one hundred eighty days of board receipt of a petition.

(6) Each board shall make findings of fact and prepare a written decision in each case decided by it, and such findings and decision shall be effective upon being signed by two or more members of the board and upon being filed at the board's principal office, and shall be open for public inspection at all reasonable times.

((~~(6)~~)) (7) All proceedings before the board ((or)), any of its members, or a hearing examiner appointed by the board shall be conducted in accordance with such administrative rules of practice and procedure as the boards jointly prescribe. All three boards shall jointly meet to develop and adopt joint rules of practice and procedure, including rules regarding expeditious and summary disposition of appeals. The boards shall publish such rules and arrange for the reasonable distribution of the rules. The administrative procedure act, chapter 34.05 RCW, shall govern the administrative rules of practice and procedure adopted by the boards.

((~~(7)~~)) (8) A board member or hearing examiner is subject to disqualification for bias, prejudice, interest, or any other cause for which a judge is disqualified. The joint rules of practice of the boards shall establish procedures by which a party to a hearing conducted before the board may file with the board a motion to disqualify, with supporting affidavit, against a board member or hearing examiner assigned to preside at the hearing.

(9) The members of the boards shall meet jointly on at least an annual basis with the objective of sharing information that promotes the goals and purposes of this chapter.

Sec. 2. RCW 36.70A.290 and 1991 sp.s. c 32 s 10 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) All requests for review to a growth planning hearings board shall be initiated by filing a petition that includes a detailed statement of issues presented for resolution by the board.

(2) All petitions relating to whether or not an adopted comprehensive plan, development regulation, or permanent amendment thereto, is in compliance with the goals and requirements of this chapter or chapter 43.21C RCW must be filed within sixty days after publication by the legislative bodies of the county or city. The date of publication for a city shall be the date the city publishes the ordinance, or summary of the ordinance, adopting the comprehensive plan or development regulations, or amendment thereto, as is required to be published. Promptly after adoption, a county shall publish a notice that it has adopted the comprehensive plan or development regulations, or amendment thereto. The date of publication for a county shall be the date the county publishes the notice that it has adopted the comprehensive plan or development regulations, or amendment thereto.

(3) Unless the board dismisses the petition as frivolous or finds that the person filing the petition lacks standing, the board shall, within ten days of receipt of the petition, set a time for hearing the matter.

(4) The board shall base its decision on the record developed by the city, county, or the state and supplemented with additional evidence if the board determines that such additional evidence would be necessary or of substantial assistance to the board in reaching its decision.

(5) The board, shall consolidate, when appropriate, all petitions involving the review of the same comprehensive plan or the same development regulation or regulations.

Sec. 3. RCW 36.70A.300 and 1991 sp.s. c 32 s 11 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) The board shall issue a final order within one hundred eighty days of receipt of the petition for review, or, when multiple petitions are filed, within one hundred eighty days of receipt of the last petition that is consolidated. Such a final order shall be based exclusively on whether or not a state agency, county, or city is in compliance with the requirements of this chapter, or chapter 43.21C RCW as it relates to plans, regulations, and amendments thereto, adopted under RCW 36.70A.040. In the final order, the board shall either: (a) Find that the state agency, county, or city is in compliance with the requirements of this chapter; or (b) find that the state agency, county, or city is not in compliance with the requirements of this chapter, in which case the board shall remand the matter to the affected state agency, county, or city and specify a reasonable time not in excess of one hundred eighty days within which the state agency, county, or city shall comply with the requirements of this chapter.

(2) Any party aggrieved by a final decision of the hearings board may appeal the decision ((~~to Thurston county superior court~~)) within thirty days of the final order of the board.

(3) If the appeal is from board review of city or county action, appeal shall be to the division of the court of appeals to which appeal would be proper under RCW 2.06.020 had the action been initiated in the superior court for the county wherein the city or county whose comprehensive land use plan, development regulation, amendment, or other action is being appealed is located. Where appeal is from board review of state agency action, appeal shall be to any division of the courts of appeal to which appeal would be proper under RCW 2.06.020 had the action been initiated under RCW 34.05.514.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. A new section is added to chapter 36.70A RCW to read as follows:

(1) Development regulations adopted pursuant to RCW 36.70A.120 shall establish time periods for local government actions on specific development permit applications and provide timely and predictable procedures to determine whether a completed development permit application meets the requirements of those development regulations. Such development regulations shall specify the contents of a completed development permit application necessary for the application of such time periods and procedures.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. A new section is added to chapter 36.70A RCW to read as follows:

Each city and county planning under this chapter shall, within twenty working days of receiving a development permit application as defined in RCW 36.70A.030(7), mail or provide in person a written notice to the applicant, stating either: That the application is complete; or that the application is incomplete and what is necessary to make the application complete. To the extent known by the city or county, the notice shall identify other agencies of local, state, or federal governments that may have jurisdiction over some aspect of the application.

Sec. 6. RCW 36.70A.030 and 1990 1st ex.s. c 17 s 3 are each amended to read as follows:

Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter.

(1) "Adopt a comprehensive land use plan" means to enact a new comprehensive land use plan or to update an existing comprehensive land use plan.

(2) "Agricultural land" means land primarily devoted to the commercial production of horticultural, viticultural, floricultural, dairy, apiary, vegetable, or animal products or of berries, grain, hay, straw, turf, seed, Christmas trees not subject to the excise tax imposed by RCW 84.33.100 through 84.33.140, or livestock, and that has long-term commercial significance for agricultural production.

(3) "City" means any city or town, including a code city.

(4) "Comprehensive land use plan," "comprehensive plan," or "plan" means a generalized coordinated land use policy statement of the governing body of a county or city that is adopted pursuant to this chapter.

(5) "Critical areas" include the following areas and ecosystems: (a) Wetlands; (b) areas with a critical recharging effect on aquifers used for potable water; (c) fish and wildlife habitat conservation areas; (d) frequently flooded areas; and (e) geologically hazardous areas.

(6) "Department" means the department of community, trade, and economic development.

(7) For purposes of sections 4 and 5 of this act, "development permit application" means any application for a development proposal for a use that could be permitted under a plan adopted pursuant to this chapter and is consistent with the underlying land use and zoning, including but not limited to building permits, subdivisions, binding site plans, planned unit developments, conditional uses or other applications pertaining to land uses, but shall not include rezones, proposed amendments to comprehensive plans or the adoption or amendment of development regulations.

(8) "Development regulations" means any controls placed on development or land use activities by a county or city, including, but not limited to, zoning ordinances, official controls, planned unit development ordinances, subdivision ordinances, and binding site plan ordinances.

((~~(8)~~)) (9) "Forest land" means land primarily useful for growing trees, including Christmas trees subject to the excise tax imposed under RCW 84.33.100 through 84.33.140, for commercial purposes, and that has long-term commercial significance for growing trees commercially.

((~~(9)~~)) (10) "Geologically hazardous areas" means areas that because of their susceptibility to erosion, sliding, earthquake, or other geological events, are not suited to the siting of commercial, residential, or industrial development consistent with public health or safety concerns.

((~~(10)~~)) (11) "Long-term commercial significance" includes the growing capacity, productivity, and soil composition of the land for long-term commercial production, in consideration with the land's proximity to population areas, and the possibility of more intense uses of the land.

((~~(11)~~)) (12) "Minerals" include gravel, sand, and valuable metallic substances.

((~~(12)~~)) (13) "Public facilities" include streets, roads, highways, sidewalks, street and road lighting systems, traffic signals, domestic water systems, storm and sanitary sewer systems, parks and recreational facilities, and schools.

((~~(13)~~)) (14) "Public services" include fire protection and suppression, law enforcement, public health, education, recreation, environmental protection, and other governmental services.

((~~(14)~~)) (15) "Urban growth" refers to growth that makes intensive use of land for the location of buildings, structures, and impermeable surfaces to such a degree as to be incompatible with the primary use of such land for the production of food, other agricultural products, or fiber, or the extraction of mineral resources. When allowed to spread over wide areas, urban growth typically requires urban governmental services. "Characterized by urban growth" refers to land having urban growth located on it, or to land located in relationship to an area with urban growth on it as to be appropriate for urban growth.

((~~(15)~~)) (16) "Urban growth areas" means those areas designated by a county pursuant to RCW 36.70A.110.

((~~(16)~~)) (17) "Urban governmental services" include those governmental services historically and typically delivered by cities, and include storm and sanitary sewer systems, domestic water systems, street cleaning services, fire and police protection services, public transit services, and other public utilities associated with urban areas and normally not associated with nonurban areas.

((~~(17)~~)) (18) "Wetland" or "wetlands" means areas that are inundated or saturated by surface water or ground water at a frequency and duration sufficient to support, and that under normal circumstances do support, a prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions. Wetlands generally include swamps, marshes, bogs, and similar areas. Wetlands do not include those artificial wetlands intentionally created from nonwetland sites, including, but not limited to, irrigation and drainage ditches, grass-lined swales, canals, detention facilities, wastewater treatment facilities, farm ponds, and landscape amenities. However, wetlands may include those artificial wetlands intentionally created from nonwetland areas created to mitigate conversion of wetlands, if permitted by the county or city.

Sec. 7. RCW 58.17.330 and 1977 ex.s. c 213 s 4 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) As an alternative to those provisions of this chapter requiring a planning commission to hear and issue recommendations for plat approval, the county or city legislative body may adopt a hearing examiner system and shall specify by ordinance the legal effect of the decisions made by the examiner. Except as provided in subsection (2) of this section, the legal effect of such decisions shall include one of the following:

((~~(1)~~)) (a) The decision may be given the effect of a recommendation to the legislative body;

((~~(2)~~)) (b) The decision may be given the effect of an administrative decision appealable within a specified time limit to the legislative body.

The legislative authority shall prescribe procedures to be followed by a hearing examiner.

(2) The legislative body shall specify the legal effect of a hearing examiner's procedural determination under the state environmental policy act, as defined in RCW 43.21C.075(3)(a). It may have the effect under subsection (1) (a) or (b) of this section, or may be given the effect of a final decision of the legislative body.

(3) Each final decision of a hearing examiner shall be in writing and shall include findings and conclusions, based on the record, to support the decision. Each final decision of a hearing examiner, unless a longer period is mutually agreed to by the applicant and the hearing examiner, shall be rendered within ten working days following conclusion of all testimony and hearings.

Sec. 8. RCW 35A.63.170 and 1977 ex.s. c 213 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) As an alternative to those provisions of this chapter relating to powers or duties of the planning commission to hear and report on any proposal to amend a zoning ordinance, the legislative body of a city may adopt a hearing examiner system under which a hearing examiner or hearing examiners may hear and decide applications for amending the zoning ordinance when the amendment which is applied for is not of general applicability. In addition, the legislative body may vest in a hearing examiner the power to hear and decide applications for conditional uses, variances or any other class of applications for or pertaining to land uses which the legislative body believes should be reviewed and decided by a hearing examiner. The legislative body shall prescribe procedures to be followed by a hearing examiner. If the legislative authority vests in a hearing examiner the authority to hear and decide variances, then the provisions of RCW 35A.63.110 shall not apply to the city.

Each city legislative body electing to use a hearing examiner pursuant to this section shall by ordinance specify the legal effect of the decisions made by the examiner. Except as provided in subsection (2) of this section, the legal effect of such decisions may vary for the different classes of applications decided by the examiner but shall include one of the following:

((~~(1)~~)) (a) The decision may be given the effect of a recommendation to the legislative body;

((~~(2)~~)) (b) The decision may be given the effect of an administrative decision appealable within a specified time limit to the legislative body.

(3) Each final decision of a hearing examiner shall be in writing and shall include findings and conclusions, based on the record, to support the decision. Such findings and conclusions shall also set forth the manner in which the decision would carry out and conform to the city's comprehensive plan and the city's development regulations. Each final decision of a hearing examiner, unless a longer period is mutually agreed to in writing by the applicant and the hearing examiner, shall be rendered within ten working days following conclusion of all testimony and hearings.

Sec. 9. RCW 35.63.130 and 1977 ex.s. c 213 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) As an alternative to those provisions of this chapter relating to powers or duties of the planning commission to hear and report on any proposal to amend a zoning ordinance, the legislative body of a city or county may adopt a hearing examiner system under which a hearing examiner or hearing examiners may hear and decide applications for amending the zoning ordinance when the amendment which is applied for is not of general applicability. In addition, the legislative body may vest in a hearing examiner the power to hear and decide applications for conditional uses, variances, or any other class of applications for or pertaining to land uses which the legislative body believes should be reviewed and decided by a hearing examiner. The legislative body shall prescribe procedures to be followed by the hearing examiner.

Each city or county legislative body electing to use a hearing examiner pursuant to this section shall by ordinance specify the legal effect of the decisions made by the examiner. Except as provided in subsection (2) of this section, the legal effect of such decisions may vary for the different classes of applications decided by the examiner but shall include one of the following:

((~~(1)~~)) (a) The decision may be given the effect of a recommendation to the legislative body;

((~~(2)~~)) (b) The decision may be given the effect of an administrative decision appealable within a specified time limit to the legislative body.

(2) The legislative body may specify the legal effect of a hearing examiner's procedural determination under the state environmental policy act, as defined in RCW 43.21C.075(3)(a). It may have the effect under subsection (1) (a) or (b) of this section, or may be given the effect of a final decision of the legislative body.

(3) Each final decision of a hearing examiner shall be in writing and shall include findings and conclusions, based on the record, to support the decision. Such findings and conclusions shall also set forth the manner in which the decision would carry out and conform to the city's or county's comprehensive plan and the city's or county's development regulations. Each final decision of a hearing examiner, unless a longer period is mutually agreed to in writing by the applicant and the hearing examiner, shall be rendered within ten working days following conclusion of all testimony and hearings.

Sec. 10. RCW 36.70.970 and 1977 ex.s. c 213 s 3 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) As an alternative to those provisions of this chapter relating to powers or duties of the planning commission to hear and issue recommendations on applications for plat approval and applications for amendments to the zoning ordinance, the county legislative authority may adopt a hearing examiner system under which a hearing examiner or hearing examiners may hear and issue decisions on proposals for plat approval and for amendments to the zoning ordinance when the amendment which is applied for is not of general applicability. In addition, the legislative authority may vest in a hearing examiner the power to hear and decide conditional use applications, variance applications, applications for shoreline permits or any other class of applications for or pertaining to land uses. The legislative authority shall prescribe procedures to be followed by a hearing examiner.

Any county which vests in a hearing examiner the authority to hear and decide conditional uses and variances shall not be required to have a zoning adjuster or board of adjustment.

Each county legislative authority electing to use a hearing examiner pursuant to this section shall by ordinance specify the legal effect of the decisions made by the examiner. Except as provided in subsection (2) of this section , such legal effect may vary for the different classes of applications decided by the examiner but shall include one of the following:

((~~(1)~~)) (a) The decision may be given the effect of a recommendation to the legislative authority;

((~~(2)~~)) (b) The decision may be given the effect of an administrative decision appealable within a specified time limit to the legislative authority.

(2) The legislative authority may specify the legal effect of a hearing examiner's procedural determination under the state environmental policy act, as defined in RCW 43.21C.075(3)(a). It may have the effect under subsection (1) (a) or (b) of this section, or may be given the effect of a final decision of the legislative authority.

(3) Each final decision of a hearing examiner shall be in writing and shall include findings and conclusions, based on the record, to support the decision. Such findings and conclusions shall also set forth the manner in which the decision would carry out and conform to the county's comprehensive plan and the county's development regulations. Each final decision of a hearing examiner, unless a longer period is mutually agreed to in writing by the applicant and the hearing examiner, shall be rendered within ten working days following conclusion of all testimony and hearings.

Sec. 11. RCW 70.105D.020 and 1989 c 2 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) "Agreed order" means an order issued by the department under this chapter with which the potentially liable person receiving the order agrees to comply. An agreed order may be used to require or approve any cleanup or other remedial actions but it is not a settlement under RCW 70.105D.040(4) and shall not contain a covenant not to sue, or provide protection from claims for contribution, or provide eligibility for public funding of remedial actions under RCW 70.105D.070(2)(d)(xi).

(2) "Department" means the department of ecology.

((~~(2)~~)) (3) "Director" means the director of ecology or the director's designee.

((~~(3)~~)) (4) "Facility" means (a) any building, structure, installation, equipment, pipe or pipeline (including any pipe into a sewer or publicly owned treatment works), well, pit, pond, lagoon, impoundment, ditch, landfill, storage container, motor vehicle, rolling stock, vessel, or aircraft, or (b) any site or area where a hazardous substance, other than a consumer product in consumer use, has been deposited, stored, disposed of, or placed, or otherwise come to be located.

((~~(4)~~)) (5) "Federal cleanup law" means the federal comprehensive environmental response, compensation, and liability act of 1980, 42 U.S.C. Sec. 9601 et seq., as amended by Public Law 99-499.

((~~(5)~~)) (6) "Hazardous substance" means:

(a) Any dangerous or extremely hazardous waste as defined in RCW 70.105.010 (5) and (6), or any dangerous or extremely dangerous waste designated by rule pursuant to chapter 70.105 RCW;

(b) Any hazardous substance as defined in RCW 70.105.010(14) or any hazardous substance as defined by rule pursuant to chapter 70.105 RCW;

(c) Any substance that, on March 1, 1989, is a hazardous substance under section 101(14) of the federal cleanup law, 42 U.S.C. Sec. 9601(14);

(d) Petroleum or petroleum products; and

(e) Any substance or category of substances, including solid waste decomposition products, determined by the director by rule to present a threat to human health or the environment if released into the environment.

The term hazardous substance does not include any of the following when contained in an underground storage tank from which there is not a release: Crude oil or any fraction thereof or petroleum, if the tank is in compliance with all applicable federal, state, and local law.

((~~(6)~~)) (7) "Owner or operator" means:

(a) Any person with any ownership interest in the facility or who exercises any control over the facility; or

(b) In the case of an abandoned facility, any person who had owned, or operated, or exercised control over the facility any time before its abandonment;

The term does not include:

(i) An agency of the state or unit of local government which acquired ownership or control involuntarily through bankruptcy, tax delinquency, abandonment, or circumstances in which the government involuntarily acquires title. This exclusion does not apply to an agency of the state or unit of local government which has caused or contributed to the release or threatened release of a hazardous substance from the facility; or

(ii) A person who, without participating in the management of a facility, holds indicia of ownership primarily to protect the person's security interest in the facility.

((~~(7)~~)) (8) "Person" means an individual, firm, corporation, association, partnership, consortium, joint venture, commercial entity, state government agency, unit of local government, federal government agency, or Indian tribe.

((~~(8)~~)) (9) "Potentially liable person" means any person whom the department finds, based on credible evidence, to be liable under RCW 70.105D.040. The department shall give notice to any such person and allow an opportunity for comment before making the finding, unless an emergency requires otherwise.

((~~(9)~~)) (10) "Public notice" means, at a minimum, adequate notice mailed to all persons who have made timely request of the department and to persons residing in the potentially affected vicinity of the proposed action; mailed to appropriate news media; published in the newspaper of largest circulation in the city or county of the proposed action; and opportunity for interested persons to comment.

((~~(10)~~)) (11) "Release" means any intentional or unintentional entry of any hazardous substance into the environment, including but not limited to the abandonment or disposal of containers of hazardous substances.

((~~(11)~~)) (12) "Remedy" or "remedial action" means any action or expenditure consistent with the purposes of this chapter to identify, eliminate, or minimize any threat or potential threat posed by hazardous substances to human health or the environment including any investigative and monitoring activities with respect to any release or threatened release of a hazardous substance and any health assessments or health effects studies conducted in order to determine the risk or potential risk to human health.

Sec. 12. RCW 70.105D.030 and 1989 c 2 s 3 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) The department may exercise the following powers in addition to any other powers granted by law:

(a) Investigate, provide for investigating, or require potentially liable persons to investigate any releases or threatened releases of hazardous substances, including but not limited to inspecting, sampling, or testing to determine the nature or extent of any release or threatened release. If there is a reasonable basis to believe that a release or threatened release of a hazardous substance may exist, the department's authorized employees, agents, or contractors may enter upon any property and conduct investigations. The department shall give reasonable notice before entering property unless an emergency prevents such notice. The department may by subpoena require the attendance or testimony of witnesses and the production of documents or other information that the department deems necessary;

(b) Conduct, provide for conducting, or require potentially liable persons to conduct remedial actions (including investigations under (a) of this subsection) to remedy releases or threatened releases of hazardous substances. In carrying out such powers, the department's authorized employees, agents, or contractors may enter upon property. The department shall give reasonable notice before entering property unless an emergency prevents such notice. In conducting, providing for, or requiring remedial action, the department shall give preference to permanent solutions to the maximum extent practicable and shall provide for or require adequate monitoring to ensure the effectiveness of the remedial action;

(c) Indemnify contractors retained by the department for carrying out investigations and remedial actions, but not for any contractor's reckless or wilful misconduct;

(d) Carry out all state programs authorized under the federal cleanup law and the federal resource, conservation, and recovery act, 42 U.S.C. Sec. 6901 et seq., as amended;

(e) Classify substances as hazardous substances for purposes of RCW 70.105D.020(5) and classify substances and products as hazardous substances for purposes of RCW 82.21.020(1); and

(f) Take any other actions necessary to carry out the provisions of this chapter, including the power to adopt rules under chapter 34.05 RCW.

(2) The department shall immediately implement all provisions of this chapter to the maximum extent practicable, including investigative and remedial actions where appropriate. The department, within nine months after March 1, 1989, shall adopt, and thereafter enforce, rules under chapter 34.05 RCW to:

(a) Provide for public participation, including at least (i) the establishment of regional citizen's advisory committees, (ii) public notice of the development of investigative plans or remedial plans for releases or threatened releases, and (iii) concurrent public notice of all compliance orders, agreed orders, enforcement orders, or notices of violation;

(b) Establish a hazard ranking system for hazardous waste sites;

(c) Establish reasonable deadlines not to exceed ninety days for initiating an investigation of a hazardous waste site after the department receives information that the site may pose a threat to human health or the environment and other reasonable deadlines for remedying releases or threatened releases at the site; and

(d) Publish and periodically update minimum cleanup standards for remedial actions at least as stringent as the cleanup standards under section 121 of the federal cleanup law, 42 U.S.C. Sec. 9621, and at least as stringent as all applicable state and federal laws, including health-based standards under state and federal law.

(3) Before November 1st of each even-numbered year, the department shall develop, with public notice and hearing, and submit to the ways and means and appropriate standing environmental committees of the senate and house of representatives a ranked list of projects and expenditures recommended for appropriation from both the state and local toxics control accounts. The department shall also provide the legislature and the public each year with an accounting of the department's activities supported by appropriations from the state toxics control account, including a list of known hazardous waste sites and their hazard rankings, actions taken and planned at each site, how the department is meeting its top two management priorities under RCW 70.105.150, and all funds expended under this chapter.

(4) The department shall establish a scientific advisory board to render advice to the department with respect to the hazard ranking system, cleanup standards, remedial actions, deadlines for remedial actions, monitoring, the classification of substances as hazardous substances for purposes of RCW 70.105D.020(5) and the classification of substances or products as hazardous substances for purposes of RCW 82.21.020(1). The board shall consist of five independent members to serve staggered three-year terms. No members may be employees of the department. Members shall be reimbursed for travel expenses as provided in RCW 43.03.050 and 43.03.060.

(5) The department shall establish a program to identify potential hazardous waste sites and to encourage persons to provide information about hazardous waste sites.

Sec. 13. RCW 70.105D.050 and 1989 c 2 s 5 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) With respect to any release, or threatened release, for which the department does not conduct or contract for conducting remedial action and for which the department believes remedial action is in the public interest, the director shall issue orders or agreed orders requiring potentially liable persons to provide the remedial action. Any liable person who refuses, without sufficient cause, to comply with an order or agreed order of the director is liable in an action brought by the attorney general for:

(a) Up to three times the amount of any costs incurred by the state as a result of the party's refusal to comply; and

(b) A civil penalty of up to twenty-five thousand dollars for each day the party refuses to comply.

The treble damages and civil penalty under this subsection apply to all recovery actions filed on or after March 1, 1989.

(2) Any person who incurs costs complying with an order issued under subsection (1) of this section may petition the department for reimbursement of those costs. If the department refuses to grant reimbursement, the person may within thirty days thereafter file suit and recover costs by proving that he or she was not a liable person under RCW 70.105D.040 and that the costs incurred were reasonable.

(3) The attorney general shall seek, by filing an action if necessary, to recover the amounts spent by the department for investigative and remedial actions and orders, and agreed orders, including amounts spent prior to March 1, 1989.

(4) The attorney general may bring an action to secure such relief as is necessary to protect human health and the environment under this chapter.

(5)(a) Any person may commence a civil action to compel the department to perform any nondiscretionary duty under this chapter. At least thirty days before commencing the action, the person must give notice of intent to sue, unless a substantial endangerment exists. The court may award attorneys' fees and other costs to the prevailing party in the action.

(b) Civil actions under this section and RCW 70.105D.060 may be brought in the superior court of Thurston county or of the county in which the release or threatened release exists.

Sec. 14. RCW 70.105D.060 and 1989 c 2 s 6 are each amended to read as follows:

The department's investigative and remedial decisions under RCW 70.105D.030 and 70.105D.050 and its decisions regarding liable persons under RCW 70.105D.020(8) and 70.105D.040 shall be reviewable exclusively in superior court and only at the following times: (1) In a cost recovery suit under RCW 70.105D.050(3); (2) in a suit by the department to enforce an order or an agreed order, or seek a civil penalty under this chapter; (3) in a suit for reimbursement under RCW 70.105D.050(2); (4) in a suit by the department to compel investigative or remedial action; and (5) in a citizen's suit under RCW 70.105D.050(5). The court shall uphold the department's actions unless they were arbitrary and capricious.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 15. A new section is added to chapter 70.105D RCW to read as follows:

(1) A person conducting a remedial action at a facility under a consent decree, order, or agreed order, and the department when it conducts a remedial action, are exempt from the procedural requirements of chapters 70.94, 70.95, 70.105, 75.20, 90.48, and 90.58 RCW, and the procedural requirements of any laws requiring or authorizing local government permits or approvals for the remedial action. The department shall ensure compliance with the substantive provisions of chapters 70.94, 70.95, 70.105, 75.20, 90.48, and 90.58 RCW, and the substantive provisions of any laws requiring or authorizing local government permits of approvals. The department shall establish procedures for ensuring that such remedial actions comply with the substantive requirements adopted pursuant to such laws, and shall consult with the state agencies and local governments charged with implementing these laws. The procedures shall provide an opportunity for comment by the public and by the state agencies and local governments that would otherwise implement the laws referenced in this section. Nothing in this section is intended to prohibit implementing agencies from charging a fee to the person conducting the remedial action to defray the costs of services rendered relating to the substantive requirements for the remedial action.

(2) An exemption in this section or in sections 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, and 21 of this act shall not apply if the department determines that the exemption would result in loss of approval from a federal agency necessary for the state to administer any federal law, including the federal resource conservation and recovery act, the federal clean water act, the federal clean air act, and the federal coastal zone management act. Such a determination by the department shall not affect the applicability of the exemptions to other statutes specified in this section.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 16. A new section is added to chapter 70.94 RCW to read as follows:

The procedural requirements of this chapter shall not apply to any person conducting a remedial action at a facility pursuant to a consent decree, order, or agreed order issued pursuant to chapter 70.105D RCW, or to the department of ecology when it conducts a remedial action under chapter 70.105D RCW. The department of ecology shall ensure compliance with the substantive requirements of this chapter through the consent decree, order, or agreed order issued pursuant to chapter 70.105D RCW, or during the department-conducted remedial action, through the procedures developed by the department pursuant to section 15 of this act.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 17. A new section is added to chapter 70.95 RCW to read as follows:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 18. A new section is added to chapter 70.105 RCW to read as follows:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 19. A new section is added to chapter 75.20 RCW to read as follows:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 20. A new section is added to chapter 90.48 RCW to read as follows:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 21. A new section is added to chapter 90.58 RCW to read as follows:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 22. A new section is added to chapter 43.21C RCW to read as follows:

In conducting a remedial action at a facility pursuant to a consent decree, order, or agreed order issued pursuant to chapter 70.105D RCW, or if conducted by the department of ecology, the department of ecology to the maximum extent practicable shall integrate the procedural requirements and documents of this chapter with the procedures and documents under chapter 70.105D RCW. Such integration shall at a minimum include the public participation procedures of chapter 70.105D RCW and the public notice and review requirements of this chapter.

Sec. 23. RCW 34.12.020 and 1993 c 281 s 16 are each amended to read as follows:

Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter.

(1) "Office" means the office of administrative hearings.

(2) "Administrative law judge" means any person appointed by the chief administrative law judge to conduct or preside over hearings as provided in this chapter.

(3) "Hearing" means an adjudicative proceeding within the meaning of RCW 34.05.010(1) conducted by a state agency under RCW 34.05.413 through 34.05.476.

(4) "State agency" means any state board, commission, department, or officer authorized by law to make rules or to conduct adjudicative proceedings, except those in the legislative or judicial branches, the growth planning hearings boards, the pollution control hearings board, the shorelines hearings board, the forest practices appeals board, the environmental hearings office, the board of industrial insurance appeals, the Washington personnel resources board, the public employment relations commission, the personnel appeals board, and the board of tax appeals.

Sec. 24. RCW 34.05.514 and 1988 c 288 s 502 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) Except as provided in subsection (2) of this section and RCW ((~~34.05.538~~)) 36.70A.300(3), proceedings for review under this chapter shall be instituted by filing a petition in the superior court, at the petitioner's option, for (a) Thurston county, (b) the county of the petitioner's residence or principal place of business, or (c) in any county where the property owned by the petitioner and affected by the contested decision is located.

(2) For proceedings involving institutions of higher education, the petition shall be filed either in the county in which the principal office of the institution involved is located or in the county of a branch campus if the action involves such branch.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 25. The governor's task force on regulatory reform, created by executive order 93-06, shall investigate and develop proposals for legislative action to:

(1) Ensure that clear, consistent, and expeditious time periods are provided for environmental and land use permit application review and decisions by local governments and state agencies;

(2) Provide simplified and uniform time periods for consolidated appeals of governmental actions and compliance with the state environmental policy act, chapter 43.21C RCW, with a goal of requiring a single deadline for all appeals that are required to be taken to superior court; and

(3) Establish a development permit coordination process governing all permits required to be issued by local governments and state agencies for the establishment of a land use. The elements of such a process should include:

(a) A single point of contact at the local government level and at the state government level for information regarding permits required to be issued at that level;

(b) Identification of all permits that potentially could be required, and the provision of necessary application forms and information on the requirements for completing the applications;

(c) Development of applicable timelines for decisions on all permit applications at that level and the interrelationship between permits;

(d) The creation of a coordination process at the state level that ensures effective coordination among state agencies and with units of local government with jurisdiction over some aspect of a project, that will expedite governmental review, and that may be created by more effective use of existing resources for permit review.

(4) The task force shall review the reports prepared by the Local Governance Study Commission, created by chapter 388, Laws of 1985, in conducting its investigation of the permit processing subjects required by this section.

(5) The recommendations of the task force shall be provided to the governor and the appropriate standing committees of the legislature no later than December 1, 1994, and may be incorporated with any other reports provided under executive order 93-06.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 26. Section 6 of this act shall take effect July 1, 1994.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 27. If any provision of this act or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the act or the application of the provision to other persons or circumstances is not affected.