AN
ACT Relating to apiaries; amending RCW 15.60.005, 15.60.010, 15.60.050,
15.60.043, 15.60.040, and 17.24.007; adding new sections to chapter 15.60 RCW;
recodifying RCW 15.60.005, 15.60.010, 15.60.050, 15.60.043, 15.60.040,
15.60.170, 15.60.180, 15.60.190, 15.60.210, 15.60.220, and 15.60.900; repealing
RCW 15.60.007, 15.60.015, 15.60.020, 15.60.025, 15.60.030, 15.60.042,
15.60.100, 15.60.110, 15.60.120, 15.60.140, 15.60.150, and 15.60.230; and
providing an effective date.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE
LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec.
1. RCW
15.60.005 and 1994 c 178 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
Unless
the context clearly requires otherwise, the definitions in this section apply
throughout this chapter:
(1)
"Department" means the department of agriculture of the state of
Washington.
(2)
"Director" means the director of the state department of agriculture
or the director's authorized representative.
(3)
"Apiary" means a site where hives of bees or hives are kept or found.
(4)
(("Abandoned hive" means any hive, with or without bees, that
evidences a lack of being properly managed in that it has not been supered in
the spring, except nucs, or unsupered in the fall, or is otherwise unmanaged
and left without authorization and unattended on the property of another person
or on public land.
(5)))
"Apiarist" means any person who owns bees or is a keeper of bees in
Washington.
(((6)
"Beekeeping equipment" means any implements or devices used in the
manipulation of bees, their brood, or hives in an apiary.
(7))) (5)
"Bees" means adult insects, eggs, larvae, pupae, or other immature
stages of the species Apis mellifera.
(((8)
"Certificate" or "certificate of inspection" means an
official document certifying compliance with the requirements of this chapter
and accompanying the movement of inspected bees, bee hives, or beekeeping
equipment.
(9))) (6)
"Colony" refers to a natural group of bees having a queen or queens.
(((10)
"Compliance agreement" means a written agreement between the
department and a person engaged in apiculture, or handling, selling, or moving
of hives or beekeeping equipment in which the person agrees to comply with
stipulated requirements.
(11)
"Feral colony" means a colony of bees in a natural cavity or a
manufactured structure not intended for the keeping of bees on movable frames
and comb.
(12)
"Swarm" means a natural group of bees having a queen or queens, which
is the progeny of a parent colony, without a hive, and not a feral colony.
(13)
"Disease" means American foulbrood, European foulbrood, chalkbrood,
nosema, sacbrood, or any other viral, fungal, bacterial or insect-related
disease affecting bees or their brood.
(14)
"Regulated bee pests" means a disease of bees for which maximum
allowable limits of infection, or mites, or other parasites are set in rule.
(15))) (7)
"Hive" means a manufactured receptacle or container prepared for the
use of bees, that includes movable frames, combs, and substances deposited into
the hive by bees.
(((16)))
(8) "Person" means a natural person, individual, firm,
partnership, company, society, association, corporation or every officer,
agent, or employee of one of these entities.
(((17)
"Bee pests" means a disease, mite, or other parasite that causes
injury to bees.
(18)
"Nets" means a device that is made of fabricated material and that is
designed and utilized to prevent the escape of bees from bee hives during
transit.
(19)
"Apparently free" means no specified bee pest was found during
inspection of survey activities.
(20)
"Substantially free" means levels of specified bee pests found during
inspection or survey activities were within established tolerances.
(21)
"Africanized honey bee" means any bee of the subspecies Apis
mellifera scutellata.
(22)
"Super" means the portion of a hive in which honey is stored by bees.
(23))) (9)
"Broker" means a person((,)) who is engaged in
pollinating agricultural crops((,)) for a fee using hives that
are owned by another person.
(((24)
"Grower" means a person engaged in producing agricultural crops, and
a user of honey bees for pollination of the crops.))
Sec.
2. RCW
15.60.010 and 1994 c 178 s 3 are each amended to read as follows:
((An
apiary advisory committee is established to advise the director on the
administration of this chapter. The apiary advisory committee may consist of
up to eleven members.
(1)
The committee shall include six apiarists, appointed by the director, and
representing the major geographical divisions of the beekeeping industry in the
state as established in rule. In making an appointment, the director shall seek
nominations from the beekeepers' organizations within the geographic area and
from nonaffiliated apiarists. Apiarists may nominate themselves.
(2)
The committee shall include the director and a representative from the
Washington State University apiary program or cooperative extension.
(3)
The committee may include up to three representatives of receivers of
pollination services.
(4)
The terms of the apiarist members of the committee shall be staggered and the
members shall serve a term of three years and until their successors have been
appointed and qualified.
In
the event a committee member resigns, is disqualified, or vacates a position on
the committee for any reason, the vacancy shall be filled by the director under
the provisions of this section.
(5))) The
director may establish an apiary advisory committee including members
representing the major segments of the apiary industry including commercial and
noncommercial beekeepers, representatives from the Washington State University
apiary program or cooperative extension, and receivers of pollination services
as deemed appropriate.
The
committee shall advise the director on administration of this chapter and
issues affecting the apiary industry. The committee may also advise the
director on the funding of research projects of benefit to the apiary industry.
The
committee shall meet ((at least once yearly. It may also meet)) at the
call of the director ((or the request of any three members of the committee)).
Members of the committee shall serve without compensation but ((shall)) may
be reimbursed for travel expenses incurred in attending meetings of the
committee and any other official duty authorized ((by the committee and
approved)) by the director, pursuant to RCW 43.03.050 and 43.03.060((,
if apiarists are charged a registration fee, under RCW 15.60.050, to cover the
expenses of the committee)).
Sec.
3. RCW
15.60.050 and 1994 c 178 s 6 are each amended to read as follows:
(1)
Each person owning one or more hives with bees, brokers ((of)) renting
hives, and ((beekeepers)) apiarists resident in other states who
operate hives in Washington((,)) shall register with the director ((on
or before)) by April 1st each year.
(((1)))
(2) The registration application shall include:
(a)
The name, address, and phone number of the ((owner)) apiarist
or broker((,));
(b)
The number of colonies of bees to be owned, brokered, or operated in
Washington((, and such)) that year;
(c)
A registration fee as ((may be)) prescribed in rule ((under
subsection (2) of this section.)) by the director, with the advice of
the apiary advisory committee; and
(d)
Any other information required by the department by rule.
(3)
The director shall issue to each ((resident)) apiarist or broker
registered with the department an apiarist identification number. ((The
apiarist identification number shall be displayed on hives of an apiary in a
manner prescribed by the director in rule.
(2)
A registration fee may be set in rule by the director, with the advice of the
apiary advisory committee. The fee shall be used for covering the expenses of
the apiary advisory committee and may be used for supporting the industry
apiary program of the department or funding research projects of benefit to the
apiary industry that the director may select upon the advice of the apiary advisory
committee.))
Sec.
4. RCW
15.60.043 and 1994 c 178 s 5 are each amended to read as follows:
((The inspection fees, registration fees, pollination service
fees, and other charges provided in this chapter shall become due and payable
upon billing by the department.)) A late ((charge)) fee of
one and one-half percent per month shall be assessed on ((the unpaid balance
against persons more than thirty days in arrears. In addition to any other
penalties, the director may refuse to perform an inspection or certification
service for a person in arrears unless the person makes payment in full prior
to such inspection or certification service)) registration fees received
after April 1st.
Sec.
5. RCW
15.60.040 and 1994 c 178 s 4 are each amended to read as follows:
(((1)
There is hereby established a fee on the use, by growers of agricultural crops,
of bee pollination services provided by others. This pollination service fee
is in the amount of fifty cents for each setting of each hive containing a
colony that is used by the grower. The fee shall be paid by the grower using
the service, shall be collected by the beekeeper providing the service, and
shall be remitted by the beekeeper to the department as provided by rules
adopted by the director. All such fees shall be deposited in the industry
apiary program account. Revenues from these fees shall be directed to use in
providing services to the apiary industry that assist in ensuring the vitality
and availability of bees for commercial pollination services for the
agricultural industry.
(2) There is established an industry apiary program account within
the agricultural local fund.)) All money collected under
this chapter ((including fees for requested services, required inspections,
or treatments, registration fees, and apiary assessments)) shall be placed
in ((the industry apiary program)) an account in the
agricultural local fund. Money in the account ((may only)) shall
be used to carry out the purposes of this chapter and may be used for
apiary-related activities of the department or funding research projects of
benefit to the apiary industry that the director may select upon the advice of
the apiary advisory committee. No appropriation is required for
disbursement from the ((industry apiary program)) account.
Sec.
6. RCW
17.24.007 and 1991 c 257 s 4 are each amended to read as follows:
Unless
the context clearly requires otherwise, the definitions in this section apply
throughout this chapter.
(1)
"Department" means the state department of agriculture.
(2)
"Director" means the director of the state department of agriculture
or the director's designee.
(3)
"Quarantine" means a rule issued by the department that prohibits or
regulates the movement of articles, bees, plants, or plant products from
designated quarantine areas within or outside the state to prevent the spread
of disease, plant pathogens, or pests to nonquarantine areas.
(4)
"Plant pest" means a living stage of an insect, mite, nematode, slug,
snail, or protozoa, or other invertebrate animal, bacteria, fungus, or
parasitic plant, or their reproductive parts, or viruses, or an organism
similar to or allied with any of the foregoing plant pests, including a
genetically engineered organism, or an infectious substance that can directly
or indirectly injure or cause disease or damage in plants or parts of plants or
in processed, manufactured, or other products of plants.
(5)
"Plants and plant products" means trees, shrubs, vines, forage, and
cereal plants, and all other plants and plant parts, including cuttings,
grafts, scions, buds, fruit, vegetables, roots, bulbs, seeds, wood, lumber, and
all products made from the plants and plant products.
(6)
"Certificate" or "certificate of inspection" means an
official document certifying compliance with the requirements of this chapter.
The term "certificate" includes labels, rubber stamp imprints, tags,
permits, written statements, or a form of inspection and certification document
that accompanies the movement of inspected and certified plant material and
plant products, or bees, bee hives, or beekeeping equipment.
(7)
"Compliance agreement" means a written agreement between the
department and a person engaged in growing, handling, or moving articles,
plants, plant products, or bees, bee hives, or beekeeping equipment regulated
under this chapter, in which the person agrees to comply with stipulated
requirements.
(8)
"Distribution" means the movement of a regulated article from the
property where it is grown or kept, to property that is not contiguous to the
property, regardless of the ownership of the properties.
(9)
"Genetically engineered organism" means an organism altered or
produced through genetic modification from a donor, vector, or recipient
organism using recombinant DNA techniques, excluding those organisms covered by
the food, drug and cosmetic act (21 U.S.C. Secs. 301‑392).
(10)
"Person" means a natural person, individual, firm, partnership,
corporation, company, society, or association, and every officer, agent, or
employee of any of these entities.
(11)
"Sell" means to sell, to hold for sale, offer for sale, handle, or to
use as inducement for the sale of another article or product.
(12)
"Noxious weed" means a living stage, including, but not limited to,
seeds and reproductive parts, of a parasitic or other plant of a kind that
presents a threat to Washington agriculture or environment.
(13)
"Regulated article" means a plant or plant product, bees or
beekeeping equipment, noxious weed or other articles or equipment capable of
harboring or transporting plant or bee pests or noxious weeds that is
specifically addressed in rules or quarantines adopted under this chapter.
(14)
"Owner" means the person having legal ownership, possession, or
control over a regulated article covered by this chapter including, but not
limited to, the owner, shipper, consignee, or their agent.
(15)
"Nuisance" means a plant, or plant part, apiary, or property found in
a commercial area on which is found a pest, pathogen, or disease that is a
source of infestation to other properties.
(16)
"Bees" means ((honey producing insects of the species apis
mellifera and includes the adults, eggs, larvae, pupae, and other immature
stages of)) adult insects, eggs, larvae, pupae, or other immature stages
of the species Apis mellifera.
(17)
"Bee pests" means a mite, other parasite, or disease that causes injury
to bees and those honey bees generally recognized to have undesirable
behavioral characteristics such as or as found in Africanized honey bees.
(18)
"Biological control" means the use by humans of living organisms to
control or suppress undesirable animals and plants; the action of parasites,
predators, or pathogens on a host or prey population to produce a lower general
equilibrium than would prevail in the absence of these agents.
(19)
"Biological control agent" means a parasite, predator, or pathogen
intentionally released, by humans, into a target host or prey population with
the intent of causing population reduction of that host or prey.
(20)
"Emergency" means a situation where there is an imminent danger of an
infestation of plant pests or disease that seriously threatens the state's
agricultural or horticultural industries or environment and that cannot be
adequately addressed with normal procedures or existing resources.
NEW
SECTION. Sec. 7. The
following sections are recodified within chapter 15.60 RCW in the following
order:
RCW
15.60.005
RCW
15.60.010
RCW
15.60.050
RCW
15.60.043
RCW
15.60.040
RCW
15.60.170
RCW
15.60.180
RCW
15.60.190
RCW
15.60.210
RCW
15.60.220
RCW
15.60.900
NEW
SECTION. Sec. 8. The
following acts or parts of acts are each repealed:
(1) RCW
15.60.007 (Industry apiary program) and 1994 c 178 s 2, 1993 c 89
s 2, & 1988 c 4 s 14;
(2) RCW
15.60.015 (Bee pests--Control--Quarantine) and 1993 c 89 s 4,
1988 c 4 s 2, 1977 ex.s. c 362 s 2, & 1961 c 11 s 15.60.015;
(3) RCW
15.60.020 (Abandoned hives--Impoundment) and 1993 c 89 s 5, 1988
c 4 s 3, 1975-'76 2nd ex.s. c 34 s 17, & 1961 c 11 s 15.60.020;
(4) RCW
15.60.025 (Specific rule-making authority) and 1993 c 89 s 6,
1988 c 4 s 4, & 1977 ex.s. c 362 s 8;
(5) RCW
15.60.030 (Bringing bees or equipment into state--Requirements)
and 1993 c 89 s 7, 1988 c 4 s 5, 1981 c 296 s 7, 1977 ex.s. c 362 s 3, 1965 c
44 s 1, & 1961 c 11 s 15.60.030;
(6) RCW
15.60.042 (Request of department services) and 1993 c 89 s 9
& 1988 c 4 s 7;
(7) RCW
15.60.100 (Director's powers) and 1993 c 89 s 12, 1988 c 4 s 10,
1981 c 296 s 10, 1977 ex.s. c 362 s 7, & 1961 c 11 s 15.60.100;
(8) RCW
15.60.110 (Access and entry by director) and 1993 c 89 s 13, 1988
c 4 s 11, 1977 ex.s. c 362 s 6, & 1961 c 11 s 15.60.110;
(9) RCW
15.60.120 (Queen bee rearing apiaries) and 1993 c 89 s 14, 1988 c
4 s 12, 1981 c 296 s 11, & 1961 c 11 s 15.60.120;
(10) RCW
15.60.140 (Africanized honey bees) and 1993 c 89 s 15, 1988 c 4 s
13, 1981 c 296 s 12, & 1961 c 11 s 15.60.140;
(11) RCW
15.60.150 (Unlawful acts enumerated) and 1993 c 89 s 16, 1981 c
296 s 13, & 1961 c 11 s 15.60.150; and
(12) RCW
15.60.230 (Injunction) and 1993 c 89 s 19.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 9. This
act takes effect June 30, 2001.
