S-4480.1  _______________________________________________

           SUBSTITUTE SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 8424

          _______________________________________________

State of Washington      56th Legislature     2000 Regular Session

By Senate Committee on Environmental Quality & Water Resources (originally sponsored by Senators Swecker, Eide, Honeyford, Morton, McAuliffe, Hale, Winsley, Rasmussen and Oke)

Read first time 02/04/2000.

Creating the joint select committee on unfunded federal mandates relating to environmental protection.

    WHEREAS, Federal statutes and regulations compel action by state and local governments and these federal mandates are rarely supported with funding adequate to implement the required actions; and

    WHEREAS, A preliminary analysis of state water quality programs reveals that the six million six hundred thousand dollars in federal funding per biennium represents less than nine percent of total program expenditures; and

    WHEREAS, Total unmet water quality program needs are estimated to exceed one billion dollars each biennium; and

    WHEREAS, Federal mandates under authority of the Endangered Species Act, the Clean Air Act, the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, the Toxic Substances Control Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act, and other environmental statutes may impose unfunded burdens on state and local governments of a similar magnitude to water quality programs;

    NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, By the Senate of the state of Washington, the House of Representatives concurring, That the joint select committee on unfunded federal mandates relating to environmental protection be established and that the committee review existing federal legal and regulatory authorities, estimate current unfunded mandates, project future trends in federal funding to meet programs required by the federal mandates, and identify options available to the state to comply with legal requirements and stimulate full federal partnership in funding required programs; and

    BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the joint select committee on unfunded federal mandates relating to environmental protection consist of eight members, four members each selected by the President of the Senate and the Co-Speakers of the House of Representatives, and that staff support be provided by Senate Committee Services and the Office of Program Research; and

    BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the joint select committee on unfunded federal mandates relating to environmental protection invite a person from the staff of each member of the delegation representing Washington State in the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate to participate in the work of the committee; and

    BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the joint select committee on unfunded federal mandates relating to environmental protection report its findings to the legislature by January 15, 2001.

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