AN ACT Relating to industrial investments and projects of state-wide significance; amending RCW 28C.18.080, 43.21A.350, 90.58.100, 47.06.030, 28A.525.166, and 28B.80.330; and adding a new chapter to Title 43 RCW.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature declares that certain industrial investments merit special designation and treatment by governmental bodies when they are proposed. Such investments bolster the economies of their locale and impact the economy of the state as a whole. It is the intention of the legislature to recognize industrial projects of state-wide significance and to encourage local governments and state agencies to expedite their completion.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. (1) For purposes of this chapter and RCW 28A.525.166, 28B.80.330, 28C.18.080, 43.21A.350, 47.06.030, and 90.58.100 and industrial project of state-wide significance is a border crossing project that involves both private and public investments carried out in conjunction with adjacent states or provinces or a private industrial development with private capital investment in manufacturing or research and development. To qualify as an industrial project of state-wide significance, the project must be completed after January 1, 1997, and have:

(a) In counties with a population of less than or equal to twenty thousand, a capital investment of twenty million dollars;

(b) In counties with a population of greater than twenty thousand but no more than fifty thousand, a capital investment of fifty million dollars;

(c) In counties with a population of greater than fifty thousand but no more than one hundred thousand, a capital investment of one hundred million dollars;

(d) In counties with a population of greater than one hundred thousand but no more than two hundred thousand, a capital investment of two hundred million dollars;

(e) In counties with a population of greater than two hundred thousand but no more than four hundred thousand, a capital investment of four hundred million dollars;

(f) In counties with a population of greater than four hundred thousand but no more than one million, a capital investment of six hundred million dollars;

(g) In counties with a population of greater than one million, a capital investment of one billion dollars; or

(h) Been designated by the director of community, trade, and economic development as an industrial project of state-wide significance either: (i) Because the county in which the project is to be located is a distressed county and the economic circumstances of the county merit the additional assistance such designation will bring; or (ii) because the impact on a region due to the size and complexity of the project merits such designation.

(2) The term manufacturing shall have the meaning assigned it in RCW 82.61.010.

(3) The term research and development shall have the meaning assigned it in RCW 82.61.010.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. Counties and cities planning under the planning enabling act, chapter 36.70 RCW, or the requirements of the growth management act, chapter 36.70A RCW, shall include a process, to be followed at their discretion for any specific project, for expediting the completion of industrial projects of state-wide significance.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. The department of community, trade, and economic development shall assign an ombudsman to each industrial project of state-wide significance. The ombudsman shall be responsible for assembling a team of state and local government and private officials to help meet the planning and development needs of each project. The ombudsman shall strive to include in the teams those responsible for planning, permitting and licensing, infrastructure development, work force development services including higher education, transportation services, and the provision of utilities. The ombudsman shall encourage each team member to expedite their actions in furtherance of the project.

Sec. 5. RCW 28C.18.080 and 1995 c 130 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) The state comprehensive plan for work force training and education shall be updated every two years and presented to the governor and the appropriate legislative policy committees. Following public hearings, the legislature shall, by concurrent resolution, approve or recommend changes to the initial plan and the updates. The plan shall then become the state's work force training policy unless legislation is enacted to alter the policies set forth in the plan.

(2) The comprehensive plan shall include work force training role and mission statements for the work force development programs of operating agencies represented on the board and sufficient specificity regarding expected actions by the operating agencies to allow them to carry out actions consistent with the comprehensive plan.

(3) Operating agencies represented on the board shall have operating plans for their work force development efforts that are consistent with the comprehensive plan and that provide detail on implementation steps they will take to carry out their responsibilities under the plan. Each operating agency represented on the board shall provide an annual progress report to the board.

(4) The comprehensive plan shall include recommendations to the legislature and the governor on the modification, consolidation, initiation, or elimination of work force training and education programs in the state.

(5) The comprehensive plan shall address how the state's work force development system will meet the needs of employers hiring for industrial projects of state-wide significance.

(6) The board shall report to the appropriate legislative policy committees by December 1 of each year on its progress in implementing the comprehensive plan and on the progress of the operating agencies in meeting their obligations under the plan.

Sec. 6. RCW 43.21A.350 and 1987 c 109 s 29 are each amended to read as follows:

The department of ecology shall prepare and perfect from time to time a state master plan for flood control, state public reservations, financed in whole or in part from moneys collected by the state, sites for state public buildings and for the orderly development of the natural and agricultural resources of the state. The plan shall address how the department will expedite the completion of industrial projects of state-wide significance. The plan shall be a guide in making recommendations to the officers, boards, commissions, and departments of the state.

Whenever an improvement is proposed to be established by the state, the state agency having charge of the establishment thereof shall request of the director a report thereon, which shall be furnished within a reasonable time thereafter. In case an improvement is not established in conformity with the report, the state agency having charge of the establishment thereof shall file in its office and with the department a statement setting forth its reasons for rejecting or varying from such report which shall be open to public inspection.

The department shall insofar as possible secure the cooperation of adjacent states, and of counties and municipalities within the state in the coordination of their proposed improvements with such master plan.

Sec. 7. RCW 90.58.100 and 1995 c 347 s 307 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) The master programs provided for in this chapter, when adopted or approved by the department shall constitute use regulations for the various shorelines of the state. In preparing the master programs, and any amendments thereto, the department and local governments shall to the extent feasible:

(a) Utilize a systematic interdisciplinary approach which will insure the integrated use of the natural and social sciences and the environmental design arts;

(b) Consult with and obtain the comments of any federal, state, regional, or local agency having any special expertise with respect to any environmental impact;

(c) Consider all plans, studies, surveys, inventories, and systems of classification made or being made by federal, state, regional, or local agencies, by private individuals, or by organizations dealing with pertinent shorelines of the state;

(d) Conduct or support such further research, studies, surveys, and interviews as are deemed necessary;

(e) Utilize all available information regarding hydrology, geography, topography, ecology, economics, and other pertinent data;

(f) Employ, when feasible, all appropriate, modern scientific data processing and computer techniques to store, index, analyze, and manage the information gathered.

(2) The master programs shall include, when appropriate, the following:

(a) An economic development element for the location and design of industries, industrial projects of state-wide significance, transportation facilities, port facilities, tourist facilities, commerce and other developments that are particularly dependent on their location on or use of the shorelines of the state;

(b) A public access element making provision for public access to publicly owned areas;

(c) A recreational element for the preservation and enlargement of recreational opportunities, including but not limited to parks, tidelands, beaches, and recreational areas;

(d) A circulation element consisting of the general location and extent of existing and proposed major thoroughfares, transportation routes, terminals, and other public utilities and facilities, all correlated with the shoreline use element;

(e) A use element which considers the proposed general distribution and general location and extent of the use on shorelines and adjacent land areas for housing, business, industry, transportation, agriculture, natural resources, recreation, education, public buildings and grounds, and other categories of public and private uses of the land;

(f) A conservation element for the preservation of natural resources, including but not limited to scenic vistas, aesthetics, and vital estuarine areas for fisheries and wildlife protection;

(g) An historic, cultural, scientific, and educational element for the protection and restoration of buildings, sites, and areas having historic, cultural, scientific, or educational values;

(h) An element that gives consideration to the state-wide interest in the prevention and minimization of flood damages; and

(i) Any other element deemed appropriate or necessary to effectuate the policy of this chapter.

(3) The master programs shall include such map or maps, descriptive text, diagrams and charts, or other descriptive material as are necessary to provide for ease of understanding.

(4) Master programs will reflect that state-owned shorelines of the state are particularly adapted to providing wilderness beaches, ecological study areas, and other recreational activities for the public and will give appropriate special consideration to same.

(5) Each master program shall contain provisions to allow for the varying of the application of use regulations of the program, including provisions for permits for conditional uses and variances, to insure that strict implementation of a program will not create unnecessary hardships or thwart the policy enumerated in RCW 90.58.020. Any such varying shall be allowed only if extraordinary circumstances are shown and the public interest suffers no substantial detrimental effect. The concept of this subsection shall be incorporated in the rules adopted by the department relating to the establishment of a permit system as provided in RCW 90.58.140(3).

(6) Each master program shall contain standards governing the protection of single family residences and appurtenant structures against damage or loss due to shoreline erosion. The standards shall govern the issuance of substantial development permits for shoreline protection, including structural methods such as construction of bulkheads, and nonstructural methods of protection. The standards shall provide for methods which achieve effective and timely protection against loss or damage to single family residences and appurtenant structures due to shoreline erosion. The standards shall provide a preference for permit issuance for measures to protect single family residences occupied prior to January 1, 1992, where the proposed measure is designed to minimize harm to the shoreline natural environment.

Sec. 8. RCW 47.06.030 and 1993 c 446 s 3 are each amended to read as follows:

The commission shall develop a state transportation policy plan that (1) establishes a vision and goals for the development of the state-wide transportation system consistent with the state's growth management goals, (2) identifies significant state-wide transportation policy issues, and (3) recommends state-wide transportation policies and strategies to the legislature to fulfill the requirements of RCW 47.01.071(1). The state transportation policy plan shall be the product of an ongoing process that involves representatives of significant transportation interests and the general public from across the state. The plan shall address how the department of transportation will meet the transportation needs and expedite the completion of industrial projects of state-wide significance.

Sec. 9. RCW 28A.525.166 and 1990 c 33 s 457 are each amended to read as follows:

Allocations to school districts of state funds provided by RCW 28A.525.160 through 28A.525.182 shall be made by the state board of education and the amount of state assistance to a school district in financing a school plant project shall be determined in the following manner:

(1) The boards of directors of the districts shall determine the total cost of the proposed project, which cost may include the cost of acquiring and preparing the site, the cost of constructing the building or of acquiring a building and preparing the same for school use, the cost of necessary equipment, taxes chargeable to the project, necessary architects' fees, and a reasonable amount for contingencies and for other necessary incidental expenses: PROVIDED, That the total cost of the project shall be subject to review and approval by the state board of education.

(2) The state matching percentage for a school district shall be computed by the following formula:

The ratio of the school district's adjusted valuation per pupil divided by the ratio of the total state adjusted valuation per pupil shall be subtracted from three, and then the result of the foregoing shall be divided by three plus (the ratio of the school district's adjusted valuation per pupil divided by the ratio of the total state adjusted valuation per pupil).

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PROVIDED, That in the event the percentage of state assistance to any school district based on the above formula is less than twenty percent and such school district is otherwise eligible for state assistance under RCW 28A.525.160 through 28A.525.182, the state board of education may establish for such district a percentage of state assistance not in excess of twenty percent of the approved cost of the project, if the state board finds that such additional assistance is necessary to provide minimum facilities for housing the pupils of the district.

(3) In addition to the computed percent of state assistance developed in (2) above, a school district shall be entitled to additional percentage points determined by the average percentage of growth for the past three years. One percent shall be added to the computed percent of state assistance for each percent of growth, with a maximum of twenty percent.

(4) The approved cost of the project determined in the manner herein prescribed times the percentage of state assistance derived as provided for herein shall be the amount of state assistance to the district for the financing of the project: PROVIDED, That need therefor has been established to the satisfaction of the state board of education: PROVIDED, FURTHER, That additional state assistance may be allowed if it is found by the state board of education that such assistance is necessary in order to meet (a) a school housing emergency resulting from the destruction of a school building by fire, the condemnation of a school building by properly constituted authorities, a sudden excessive and clearly foreseeable future increase in school population, or other conditions similarly emergent in nature; or (b) a special school housing burden resulting from industrial projects of state-wide significance or imposed by virtue of the admission of nonresident students into educational programs established, maintained and operated in conformity with the requirements of law; or (c) a deficiency in the capital funds of the district resulting from financing, subsequent to April 1, 1969, and without benefit of the state assistance provided by prior state assistance programs, the construction of a needed school building project or projects approved in conformity with the requirements of such programs, after having first applied for and been denied state assistance because of the inadequacy of state funds available for the purpose, or (d) a condition created by the fact that an excessive number of students live in state owned housing, or (e) a need for the construction of a school building to provide for improved school district organization or racial balance, or (f) conditions similar to those defined under (a), (b), (c), (d) and (e) hereinabove, creating a like emergency.

Sec. 10. RCW 28B.80.330 and 1996 c 174 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:

The board shall perform the following planning duties in consultation with the four-year institutions, the community and technical college system, and when appropriate the work force training and education coordinating board, the superintendent of public instruction, and the independent higher educational institutions:

(1) Develop and establish role and mission statements for each of the four-year institutions and for the community and technical college system;

(2) Identify the state's higher education goals, objectives, and priorities;

(3) Prepare a comprehensive master plan which includes but is not limited to:

(a) Assessments of the state's higher education needs. These assessments may include, but are not limited to: The basic and continuing needs of various age groups; business and industrial needs for a skilled work force; analyses of demographic, social, and economic trends; consideration of the changing ethnic composition of the population and the special needs arising from such trends; college attendance, retention, and dropout rates, and the needs of recent high school graduates and placebound adults. The board should consider the needs of residents of all geographic regions, but its initial priorities should be applied to heavily populated areas underserved by public institutions;

(b) Recommendations on enrollment and other policies and actions to meet those needs;

(d) Mechanisms through which the state's higher education system can meet the needs of employers hiring for industrial projects of state-wide significance.

The initial plan shall be submitted to the governor and the legislature by December 1, 1987. Comments on the plan from the board's advisory committees and the institutions shall be submitted with the plan.

The plan shall be updated every four years, and presented to the governor and the appropriate legislative policy committees. Following public hearings, the legislature shall, by concurrent resolution, approve or recommend changes to the initial plan, and the updates. The plan shall then become state higher education policy unless legislation is enacted to alter the policies set forth in the plan;

(4) Review, evaluate, and make recommendations on operating and capital budget requests from four-year institutions and the community and technical college system, based on the elements outlined in subsections (1), (2), and (3) of this section, and on guidelines which outline the board's fiscal priorities. These guidelines shall be distributed to the institutions and the community college board by December of each odd-numbered year. The institutions and the community college board shall submit an outline of their proposed budgets, identifying major components, to the board no later than August 1 of each even-numbered year. The board shall submit recommendations on the proposed budgets and on the board's budget priorities to the office of financial management before November 1st of each even-numbered year, and to the legislature by January 1 of each odd-numbered year;

(5) Institutions and the state board for community and technical colleges shall submit any supplemental budget requests and revisions to the board at the same time they are submitted to the office of financial management. The board shall submit recommendations on the proposed supplemental budget requests to the office of financial management by November 1st and to the legislature by January 1st;

(6) Recommend legislation affecting higher education;

(7) Recommend tuition and fees policies and levels based on comparisons with peer institutions;

(8) Establish priorities and develop recommendations on financial aid based on comparisons with peer institutions;

(9) Prepare recommendations on merging or closing institutions; and

(10) Develop criteria for identifying the need for new baccalaureate institutions.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 11. Sections 1 through 4 of this act constitute a new chapter in Title 43 RCW.