AN
ACT Relating to limiting the liability of utilities for efforts undertaken to
protect their facilities from adjacent vegetation; adding a new section to
chapter 64.12 RCW; and creating a new section.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE
LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW
SECTION. Sec. 1. (1)
The legislature finds:
(a)
Utilities that provide service for the public necessity and convenience, particularly
electric, water, and sewer utilities, maintain facilities in rights of way and
where easements, both acquired and implied, exist;
(b)
Vegetation growth on state lands and private properties adjacent to utility
facilities can cause damage to utility facilities and pose public safety
concerns where such vegetation grows or falls into these facilities; and
(c)
When vegetation from adjacent land or property causes damage to utility
facilities, utility service to customers might be disrupted, collateral damage
might occur to other properties, and the general public might be placed in
imminent danger.
(2)
The legislature declares:
(a)
Utilities have a dual interest in protecting their facilities from potential
damages caused by vegetation on adjacent lands or properties and preserving
service continuity and reliability for the customer;
(b)
The cutting or removal of trees, timber, and shrubs by a utility from adjacent
lands or properties is often done to protect the utility's facilities, to
maintain service continuity and reliability, and to protect the general public,
not for commercial or profit-motivated purposes; and
(c)
Utilities should be immune from liability, including special damages for
emotional distress, when a utility cuts or removes from adjacent lands or
properties vegetation that has damaged, poses an imminent threat to, or
encroached upon utility facilities and the utility has given appropriate notice
and opportunity to the land or property owner or resident.
NEW
SECTION. Sec. 2. A
new section is added to chapter 64.12 RCW to read as follows:
(1)
A utility is immune from liability under RCW 64.12.030 and 64.12.040, when it
cuts or removes any trees, timber, or shrubs that:
(a)
Have damaged utility facilities or pose a hazard to the general public health,
safety, or welfare and the utility makes a reasonable effort as soon as
practical to notify and secure agreement from an adjacent land or property
owner of record, or the resident of the property, regarding the disposal of any
trees, timber, or shrubs that have been cut or removed by the utility;
(b)
Pose an imminent threat to damage utility facilities and the utility makes a
reasonable effort to notify and secure agreement from an adjacent land or property
owner of record, or the resident of the property, regarding the cutting or
removal and disposal of any trees, timber, or shrubs located on land or
property adjacent to utility facilities; or
(c)
Encroached upon utility facilities and the utility secures an agreement from an
adjacent land or property owner of record, or the resident of the property,
regarding the cutting or removal and disposal of any trees, timber, or shrubs
located on land or property adjacent to utility facilities.
(2)
Damages under RCW 64.12.030 or 64.12.040 for cutting or removal of natural
vegetation by a utility shall be limited to stumpage value.
(3)
In no event shall a utility be liable for damages for emotional distress for
cutting or removing any trees, timber, or shrubs located on land or property
adjacent to utility facilities.
(4)
For the purposes of this section:
(a)
"Utility facility" means lines, conduits, ducts, poles, wires, pipes,
conductors, cables, cross-arms, receivers, transmitters, transformers,
instruments, machines, appliances, instrumentalities, and all devices, real
estate, easements, apparatus, property, and routes used, operated, owned, or
controlled by an electric, water, or sewer utility, natural gas, or
telecommunications company, for the purposes of manufacturing, transmitting,
distributing, selling, or furnishing electricity, water, sewer, natural gas, or
telecommunications services; and
(b) "Natural vegetation" means a tree indigenous to the
area in which it has grown and is of such age and condition that it can be
reasonably determined to have grown naturally in its present location and it
was not planted for the purposes of residential aesthetics, or commercial,
production, or retail sale.
