FINAL BILL REPORT

                 SHB 1204

                         C 225 L 99

                     Synopsis as Enacted

Brief Description:  Coordinating land acquisition and environmental mitigation activities.

Sponsors:  By House Committee on Capital Budget (Originally sponsored by Representatives K. Schmidt, Fisher, Romero, Mitchell, G. Chandler, Murray, Linville and Wood).

House Committee on Capital Budget

Senate Committee on Transportation

Background:

The 1997-99 capital budget directed all state agencies receiving money in the capital budget or the transportation budget for land acquisition and environmental mitigation and restoration to coordinate those activities. The directive was intended to provide greater emphasis on shared resource management, improve ecological benefits gained from state expenditures, and increase mitigation credit opportunities for the Department of Transportation. The mitigation credits were intended to reduce the cost of the Department of Transportation's mitigation obligation, but not reduce the mitigation obligations. 

The Office of Financial Management was directed to report to the fiscal committees of the Legislature on the results of the coordination of these environmental activities and make recommendations to further improve the coordination among state agencies to achieve better cost-efficiencies and ecological benefits.  The report was due December 1, 1998.    

Summary:

An advisory committee to the Department of Transportation is created. The committee includes representatives from the Interagency Commission for Outdoor Recreation; the Conservation Commission; the Department of Transportation; the Department of Community, Trade, and Economic Development; the Department of Fish and Wildlife; the Department of Natural Resources; the Parks and Recreation Commission; the Department of Ecology; and the Office of Financial Management.  The Governor or his designee serve as chair of the committee.

The duties of the advisory committee are to:

$coordinate state land acquisitions and environmental projects;

$examine financial assistance programs to identify opportunities for improved coordination;

$create a database to enable coordination of environmental projects; and

$recommend ways to better coordinate with other governmental and non-governmental entities.

The environmental affairs office of the Department of Transportation is the depository for the information collected by the committee. The coordination of state environmental projects is not to be interpreted to require additional permitting or compliance procedures for non-governmental entities.

State agencies that receive state appropriations for environmental projects must provide information to the environmental affairs office at the Department of Transportation. After July 2005, state agencies must also identify and provide information on surplus real property to the office.

The Governor's Office must report to the Legislature on the progress of the coordination program  by December 31, 1999, and make findings and recommendations for the program by December 31, 2000.

Votes on Final Passage:

House970

Senate460

Effective:July 25, 1999