BP BHEAD INT S [atlas:bill]

AN ACT Relating to motor vehicle fuel tax revenue allocations, distributions, and uses for nonhighway roads and off-road vehicles; amending RCW 46.09.020, 46.09.170, 46.09.240, and 46.09.280; and adding a new section to chapter 46.09 RCW.

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

Sec. 1. RCW 46.09.020 and 1986 c 206 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:

As used in this chapter the following words and phrases have the designated meanings unless a different meaning is expressly provided or the context otherwise clearly indicates:

"Person" means any individual, firm, partnership, association, or corporation.

"Nonhighway vehicle" means any motorized vehicle when used for recreation travel on trails and nonhighway roads or for recreation cross-country travel on any one of the following or a combination thereof: Land, water, snow, ice, marsh, swampland, and other natural terrain. Such vehicles include but are not limited to, off-road vehicles, two, three, or four-wheel vehicles, motorcycles, four-wheel drive vehicles, dune buggies, amphibious vehicles, ground effects or air cushion vehicles, and any other means of land transportation deriving motive power from any source other than muscle or wind.

Nonhighway vehicle does not include:

(1) Any vehicle designed primarily for travel on, over, or in the water;

(2) Snowmobiles or any military vehicles; or

(3) Any vehicle eligible for a motor vehicle fuel tax exemption or rebate under chapter 82.36 RCW while an exemption or rebate is claimed. This exemption includes but is not limited to farm, construction, and logging vehicles.

"Off-road vehicle" or "ORV" means any nonhighway vehicle when used for cross-country travel on trails or on any one of the following or a combination thereof: Land, water, snow, ice, marsh, swampland and other natural terrain.

"ORV use permit" means a permit issued for operation of an off-road vehicle under this chapter.

"ORV trail" means a multiple-use corridor designated and maintained for recreational travel by off-road vehicles that is not normally suitable for travel by conventional two-wheel drive vehicles and is posted or designated by the managing authority of the property that the trail traverses as permitting ORV travel.

"ORV use area" means the entire area of a parcel of land, except for ORV trails and camping and approved buffer areas, that is posted or designated for ORV use in accordance with rules adopted by the managing authority.

"ORV recreation facility" includes ORV trails and ORV use areas.

"Owner" means the person other than the lienholder, having an interest in or title to a nonhighway vehicle, and entitled to the use or possession thereof.

"Operator" means each person who operates, or is in physical control of, any nonhighway vehicle.

"Dealer" means a person, partnership, association, or corporation engaged in the business of selling off-road vehicles at wholesale or retail in this state.

"Department" means the department of licensing.

"Hunt" means any effort to kill, injure, capture, or purposely disturb a wild animal or wild bird.

"Nonhighway road" means any road owned or managed by a public agency, or any private road for which the owner has granted a permanent easement for public use of the road, other than a highway generally capable of travel by a conventional two-wheel drive passenger automobile during most of the year and in use by such vehicles and that is not built or maintained with appropriations from the motor vehicle fund.

"Nonmotorized trail" means a recreational trail corridor designated and maintained for nonmotorized use, and posted or designated by the managing authority of the property to exclude ORV travel.

"Nonhighway road use area" means the entire area of a parcel of land, except for the nonhighway road and approved buffer areas, that is posted or designated in accordance with rules adopted by the managing authority to exclude ORV use.

"Nonhighway road recreation facility" includes nonhighway roads, nonhighway road use areas, and nonmotorized trails.

"Highway," for the purpose of this chapter only, means the entire width between the boundary lines of every way publicly maintained by the state department of transportation or any county or city when any part thereof is generally open to the use of the public for purposes of vehicular travel as a matter of right.

"Organized competitive event" means any competition, advertised in advance through written notice to organized clubs or published in local newspapers, sponsored by recognized clubs, and conducted at a predetermined time and place.

Sec. 2. RCW 46.09.170 and 1995 c 166 s 9 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) From time to time, but at least once each year, the state treasurer shall refund from the motor vehicle fund one percent of the motor vehicle fuel tax revenues collected under chapter 82.36 RCW, based on the tax rate in effect January 1, 1990, less proper deductions for refunds and costs of collection as provided in RCW 46.68.090. The treasurer shall place these funds in the general fund as follows:

(a) Forty percent shall be credited to the ORV and nonhighway vehicle account and administered by the department of natural resources solely for planning, acquisition, development, maintenance, and management of ORV and nonhighway road recreation facilities((,)) and nonhighway roads((~~, and nonhighway road recreation facilities~~)). The funds under this subsection shall be expended in accordance with the following limitations:

(i) Not more than five percent may be expended for information programs under this chapter;

(ii) Not less than ((~~ten~~)) twenty percent and not more than fifty percent may be expended for ORV recreation facilities;

(iii) Not more than ((~~twenty-five~~)) twenty percent may be expended for maintenance of nonhighway roads;

(iv) Not less than twenty and not more than fifty percent may be expended for nonhighway road recreation facilities;

(v) Ten percent shall be transferred to the interagency committee for outdoor recreation for grants to law enforcement agencies in those counties where the department of natural resources maintains ORV facilities. This amount is in addition to those distributions made by the interagency committee for outdoor recreation under (d)(i) of this subsection;

(b) Three and one-half percent shall be credited to the ORV and nonhighway vehicle account and administered by the department of fish and wildlife solely for the acquisition, planning, development, maintenance, and management of nonhighway roads and recreation facilities;

(c) Two percent shall be credited to the ORV and nonhighway vehicle account and administered by the parks and recreation commission solely for the maintenance and management of ORV use areas and facilities; and

(d) Fifty-four and one-half percent, together with the funds received by the interagency committee for outdoor recreation under RCW 46.09.110, shall be credited to the nonhighway and off-road vehicle activities program account to be administered by the committee for planning, acquisition, development, maintenance, and management of ORV ((~~recreation facilities~~)) and nonhighway road recreation facilities; ORV user education and information; and ORV law enforcement programs. The funds under this subsection shall be expended in accordance with the following limitations:

(i) ((~~Not more than twenty percent may be expended for ORV education, information, and law enforcement programs under this chapter;~~

(ii) Not less than an amount equal to the funds received by the interagency committee for outdoor recreation under RCW 46.09.110 and not more than sixty percent may be expended for ORV recreation facilities;

~~(iii) Not more than twenty percent may be expended for nonhighway road recreation facilities~~)) Not less than forty percent plus an amount equal to the funds received by the interagency committee for outdoor recreation under RCW 46.09.110, and not more than sixty percent must be expended for ORV recreation facilities and programs under this chapter.

(ii) Not less than one-half of the minimum forty percent established in (i) of this subsection must be expended for ORV education and law enforcement programs under this chapter.

(iii) Not less than forty percent and not more than sixty percent must be expended for uses relating to nonmotorized trail recreation facilities and programs under this chapter.

(2) On a yearly basis an agency may not, except as provided in RCW 46.09.110, expend more than ten percent of the funds it receives under this chapter for general administration expenses incurred in carrying out this chapter.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. A new section is added to chapter 46.09 RCW to read as follows:

(1) The interagency committee for outdoor recreation and the department of licensing shall jointly contract with an independent entity to study the sources and determine the distributions and uses of funds provided to off-road vehicle and nonhighway road recreational activities under RCW 46.09.170. The study must analyze and determine the relative portion of the motor vehicle fuel tax revenues deposited to the general fund under RCW 46.09.170 that are attributable to vehicles operating off-road or on nonhighway roads for recreational activities, and the types of facilities used.

(2) The interagency committee for outdoor recreation and the department of licensing shall jointly review the analysis and submit a report to the appropriate standing committees of the legislature, including recommendations regarding amendments to RCW 46.09.170 to allocate revenues consistent with the relative proportion for the uses generating the revenues. In making the recommendations, the committee and department shall specifically consider joint use by nonmotorized recreational users of trails funded as ORV recreational facilities. The report must be submitted no later than January 1, 2002.

(3) All disbursements made after June 30, 2002, from the accounts in RCW 46.09.170 must be spent on ORV and nonhighway road recreation facilities and trails in proportion to their actual proportionate contributions as determined by the study and recommendations provided in subsections (1) and (2) of this section.

(4) Funds appropriated to the nonhighway and off-road vehicle activities program under RCW 46.09.170(1)(d) must be used to implement subsections (1) and (2) of this section. Funds spent on the implementation of this section are in addition to agency general administration expenditure limitations of RCW 46.09.170(2).

Sec. 4. RCW 46.09.240 and 1998 c 144 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) After deducting administrative expenses and the expense of any programs conducted under this chapter, the interagency committee for outdoor recreation shall, at least once each year, distribute the funds it receives under RCW 46.09.110 and 46.09.170 to state agencies, counties, municipalities, federal agencies, nonprofit ORV organizations, and Indian tribes((.)) with the following limitations:

(a) Funds distributed under this section to nonprofit ORV organizations may be spent only on projects or activities that benefit ORV recreation on lands once publicly owned that come into private ownership in a federally approved land exchange completed between January 1, 1998, and January 1, 2005;

(b) The interagency committee for outdoor recreation shall not distribute ORV funds to federal agencies under this chapter that are to be spent for ORV capital or reconstruction projects that would facilitate increased ORV activity in federally inventoried roadless areas that are defined in approved national forest management plans;

(c) Funds distributed to state agencies, counties, Indian tribes, or municipalities under RCW 46.09.170(1)(d)(iii) are not required to be spent on projects that are accessed by nonhighway roads.

The committee shall adopt rules governing applications for funds administered by the agency under this chapter and shall determine the amount of money distributed to each applicant. Except for funds granted under RCW 46.09.170(1)(d)(ii), the committee shall also establish grant evaluation criteria that place the highest priority on volunteer contributions. Agencies receiving funds under this chapter for capital purposes shall consider the possibility of contracting with the state parks and recreation commission, the department of natural resources, or other federal, state, and local agencies to employ the youth development and conservation corps or other youth crews in completing the project.

(2) The interagency committee shall require each applicant for land acquisition or development funds under this section to conduct, before submitting the application, a public hearing in the nearest town of five hundred population or more, and publish notice of such hearing on the same day of each week for two consecutive weeks as follows:

(a) In the newspaper of general circulation published nearest the proposed project;

(b) In the newspaper having the largest circulation in the county or counties where the proposed project is located; and

(c) If the proposed project is located in a county with a population of less than forty thousand, the notice shall also be published in the newspaper having the largest circulation published in the nearest county that has a population of forty thousand or more.

(3) The notice shall state that the purpose of the hearing is to solicit comments regarding an application being prepared for submission to the interagency committee for outdoor recreation for acquisition or development funds under the off-road and nonhighway vehicle program. The applicant shall file notice of the hearing with the department of ecology at the main office in Olympia and shall comply with the State Environmental Policy Act, chapter 43.21C RCW. A written record and a magnetic tape recording of the hearing shall be included in the application.

Sec. 5. RCW 46.09.280 and 1986 c 206 s 13 are each amended to read as follows:

The interagency committee for outdoor recreation shall establish a committee of nonhighway road recreationists, including representatives of organized ORV and nonmotorized recreation groups, and governmental entities maintaining areas or providing services eligible for funding under RCW 46.09.170, to provide advice regarding the administration of this chapter. The interagency committee for outdoor recreation shall use available, credible, recreation participation data to establish an advisory committee that is proportionate to the number of people participating in the various recreation activities related to this chapter. The recreation participation data must be reviewed every five years, beginning January 1, 2005, to consider recomposition of the advisory committee. Only representatives of organized ORV groups may be voting members of the committee with respect to expenditure of funds received under RCW 46.09.110.