S-1408.1 _______________________________________________
SENATE BILL 5761
_______________________________________________
State of Washington 55th Legislature 1997 Regular Session
By Senators Swecker, Hale, Loveland, Finkbeiner, Fraser, Deccio, Jacobsen, Anderson and Winsley
Read first time 02/11/97. Referred to Committee on Agriculture & Environment.
AN ACT Relating to certification of environmental technologies; and adding new sections to chapter 43.21A RCW.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. A new section is added to chapter 43.21A RCW to read as follows:
(1) The legislature finds that:
(a) New and innovative environmental technologies can help improve environmental quality at lower costs;
(b) Current regulatory processes often include permits or approvals that require applicants to duplicate costly technical analysis;
(c) The commercialization of innovative environmental technologies can be discouraged due to the costs of repeated environmental analysis;
(d) The regulatory process can be improved by sharing and relying on information generated through demonstration projects and technical certification programs; and
(e) Other states have developed programs to certify environmental technologies in order to streamline the permitting process and to encourage use of environmental technologies.
(2) The legislature therefore declares that the department shall:
(a) Review existing environmental technology certification programs and enter into agreements to use the information from these programs if the department finds that this information will improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the state's environmental regulatory process; and
(b) Participate in technology demonstration activities that support the state's needs for environmental technology.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. A new section is added to chapter 43.21A RCW to read as follows:
(1) At the request of a project proponent, the department shall use information developed through a certification program when making permit or other regulatory decisions. A local government-delegated regulatory authority by the department may use information developed through a certification program when making permit or other regulatory decisions.
(2) The department may develop a certification program for technologies not covered under an existing certification program under the following conditions:
(a) All start-up costs are paid with federal or private dollars. For the purposes of this subsection, "start-up costs" include, but are not limited to, all capital, labor, equipment, training, and administrative costs necessary to begin certifying a technology;
(b) A reasonable fee is charged to recover the operational costs of certifying a technology.
(3) Subsection (1) of this section applies to permit and other regulatory decisions made under the following: Chapters 70.94, 70.95, 70.105, 70.105D, 70.120, 70.138, 90.48, 90.54, and 90.56 RCW.
(4) For the purposes of this section, "certification program" means a program, approved by the department, to certify the quantitative performance of an environmental technology over a range of parameters and conditions.
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