AN
ACT Relating to sea urchin and sea cucumber dive fishery licenses and revenues;
amending RCW 75.30.210, 75.30.250, 82.27.020, and 82.27.070; and providing an
effective date.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE
LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec.
1. RCW
75.30.210 and 1998 c 190 s 104 are each amended to read as follows:
(1)
A ((person shall not commercially take any species of sea urchin using
shellfish diver gear without first obtaining a)) sea urchin dive fishery
license is required to take sea urchins for commercial purposes. A sea
urchin dive fishery license authorizes the use of only one diver in the water
at any time during sea urchin harvest operations. If the same vessel has been
designated on two sea urchin dive fishery licenses, two divers may be in the
water. A natural person may not hold more than two sea urchin dive fishery
licenses.
(2)
Except as provided in subsection((s (3) and)) (6) of this section, ((after
December 31, 1991,)) the director shall issue no new sea urchin dive
fishery licenses. ((Only a person who meets the following qualifications
may renew an existing license:
(a)
The person shall have held the sea urchin dive fishery license sought to be
renewed during the previous year or acquired the license by transfer from
someone who held it during the previous year; and
(b)
The person shall document, by valid shellfish receiving tickets issued by the
department, that twenty thousand pounds of sea urchins were caught and sold
under the license sought to be renewed during the two-year period ending March
31 of the most recent odd-numbered year.)) For
licenses issued for the year 2000 and thereafter, the director shall renew
existing licenses only to a natural person who held the license at the end of
the previous year. If a sea urchin dive fishery license is not held by a
natural person as of December 31, 1999, it is not renewable. However, if the
license is not held because of revocation or suspension of licensing
privileges, the director shall renew the license in the name of a natural
person at the end of the revocation or suspension if the license holder applies
for renewal of the license before the end of the year in which the revocation
or suspension ends.
(3)
Where ((the person)) a licensee failed to obtain the license
during the previous year because of a license suspension or revocation by the department
or the court, the ((person)) licensee may qualify for a license
by establishing that the person held such a license during the last year in
which the person was eligible.
(4)
((The director may reduce or waive the poundage requirement of subsection
(2)(b) of this section upon the recommendation of a board of review established
under RCW 75.30.050. The board of review may recommend a reduction or waiver
of the poundage requirement in individual cases if, in the board's judgment,
extenuating circumstances prevent achievement of the poundage requirement. The
director shall adopt rules governing the operation of the board of review and
defining "extenuating circumstances.")) Surcharges as provided
for in this section shall be collected and deposited into the sea urchin dive
fishery account hereby created in the custody of the state treasurer. Only the
director or the director's designee may authorize expenditures from the
account. The sea urchin dive fishery account is subject to allotment
procedures under chapter 43.88 RCW, but no appropriation is required for
expenditures. Expenditures from the account shall only be used to retire sea
urchin licenses until the number of licenses is reduced to twenty-five, and
thereafter shall only be used for sea urchin management and enforcement.
(a)
A surcharge of one hundred dollars shall be charged with each sea urchin dive
fishery license renewal for licenses issued in 2000 through 2005.
(b)
For licenses issued for the year 2000 and thereafter, a surcharge shall be
charged on the sea urchin dive fishery license for designating an alternate
operator. The surcharge shall be as follows: Five hundred dollars for the
first year or each of the first two consecutive years after 1999 that any
alternate operator is designated and two thousand five hundred dollars each
year thereafter that any alternate operator is designated.
(5)
Sea urchin dive fishery licenses are ((not)) transferable ((from one
license holder to another, except from parent to child, or from spouse to
spouse during marriage or as a result of marriage dissolution, or upon the
death of the license holder)). After December 31, 1999, there is a
surcharge to transfer a sea urchin dive fishery license. The surcharge is five
hundred dollars for the first transfer of a license valid for calendar year
2000, and two thousand five hundred dollars for any subsequent transfer,
whether occurring in the year 2000 or thereafter. Notwithstanding this
subsection, a one-time transfer exempt from surcharge applies for a transfer
from the natural person licensed on January 1, 2000, to that person's spouse or
child.
(6)
If fewer than ((forty-five)) twenty-five natural persons are
eligible for sea urchin dive fishery licenses, the director may accept
applications for new licenses. ((The director shall determine by random
selection the successful applicants for the additional licenses. The number of
additional licenses issued shall be sufficient to maintain up to forty-five licenses
in the sea urchin dive fishery. The director shall adopt rules governing the
application, selection, and issuance procedure for new sea urchin dive fishery
licenses, based upon recommendations of a board of review established under RCW
75.30.050.)) The additional licenses may not cause more than
twenty-five natural persons to be eligible for a sea urchin dive fishery
license. New licenses issued under this section shall be distributed according
to rules of the department that recover the value of such licensed privilege.
Sec.
2. RCW
75.30.250 and 1998 c 190 s 105 are each amended to read as follows:
(1)
A ((person shall not commercially take while using shellfish diver gear any
species of sea cucumber without first obtaining a)) sea cucumber dive
fishery license is required to take sea cucumbers for commercial purposes.
A sea cucumber dive fishery license authorizes the use of only one diver in the
water at any time during sea cucumber harvest operations. If the same vessel
has been designated on two sea cucumber dive fishery licenses, two divers may
be in the water. A natural person may not hold more than two sea cucumber dive
fishery licenses.
(2)
Except as provided in subsection (6) of this section, ((after December 31,
1991,)) the director shall issue no new sea cucumber dive fishery
licenses. ((Only a person who meets the following qualifications may renew
an existing license:
(a)
The person shall have held the sea cucumber dive fishery license sought to be renewed
during the previous two years or acquired the license by transfer from someone
who held it during the previous year; and
(b)
The person shall establish, by means of dated shellfish receiving documents
issued by the department, that thirty landings of sea cucumbers totaling at
least ten thousand pounds were made under the license during the previous
two-year period ending December 31 of the odd-numbered year.)) For
licenses issued for the year 2000 and thereafter, the director shall renew
existing licenses only to a natural person who held the license at the end of
the previous year. If a sea cucumber dive fishery license is not held by a
natural person as of December 31, 1999, it is not renewable. However, if the
license is not held because of revocation or suspension of licensing
privileges, the director shall renew the license in the name of a natural
person at the end of the revocation or suspension if the license holder applies
for renewal of the license before the end of the year in which the revocation
or suspension ends.
(3)
Where ((the person)) a licensee failed to obtain the license
during either of the previous two years because of a license suspension by the
department or the court, the ((person)) licensee may qualify for
a license by establishing that the person held such a license during the last
year in which the person was eligible.
(4)
((The director may reduce or waive any landing or poundage requirement
established under this section upon the recommendation of a board of review established
under RCW 75.30.050. The board of review may recommend a reduction or waiver
of any landing or poundage requirement in individual cases if, in the board's
judgment, extenuating circumstances prevent achievement of the landing or
poundage requirement. The director shall adopt rules governing the operation
of the board of review and defining "extenuating circumstances."))
Surcharges as provided for in this section shall be collected and deposited
into the sea cucumber dive fishery account hereby created in the custody of the
state treasurer. Only the director or the director's designee may authorize
expenditures from the account. The sea cucumber dive fishery account is
subject to allotment procedures under chapter 43.88 RCW, but no appropriation
is required for expenditures. Expenditures from the account shall only be used
to retire sea cucumber licenses until the number of licenses is reduced to
twenty-five, and thereafter shall only be used for sea cucumber management and
enforcement.
(a)
A surcharge of one hundred dollars shall be charged with each sea cucumber dive
fishery license renewal for licenses issued in 2000 through 2005.
(b)
For licenses issued for the year 2000 and thereafter, a surcharge shall be
charged on the sea cucumber dive fishery for designating an alternate
operator. The surcharge shall be as follows: Five hundred dollars for the
first year or each of the first two consecutive years after 1999 that any
alternate operator is designated and two thousand five hundred dollars each
year thereafter that any alternate operator is designated.
(5)
Sea cucumber dive fishery licenses are ((not)) transferable ((from
one license holder to another except from parent to child, from spouse to
spouse during marriage or as a result of marriage dissolution, or upon death of
the license holder)). After December 31, 1999, there is a surcharge to
transfer a sea cucumber dive fishery license. The surcharge is five hundred
dollars for the first transfer of a license valid for calendar year 2000 and
two thousand five hundred dollars for any subsequent transfer whether occurring
in the year 2000 or thereafter. Notwithstanding this subsection, a one-time
transfer exempt from surcharge applies for a transfer from the natural person
licensed on January 1, 2000, to that person's spouse or child.
(6)
If fewer than ((fifty)) twenty-five persons are eligible for sea
cucumber dive fishery licenses, the director may accept applications for new
licenses ((from those persons who can demonstrate two years' experience in
the Washington state sea cucumber dive fishery. The director shall determine
by random selection the successful applicants for the additional licenses. The
number of additional licenses issued shall be sufficient to maintain up to
fifty licenses in the sea cucumber dive fishery. The director shall adopt
rules governing the application, selection, and issuance procedure for new sea
cucumber dive fishery licenses, based upon recommendations of a board of review
established under RCW 75.30.050)). The additional licenses may not
cause more than twenty-five natural persons to be eligible for a sea cucumber
dive fishery license. New licenses issued under this section shall be
distributed according to rules of the department that recover the value of such
licensed privilege.
Sec.
3. RCW
82.27.020 and 1993 sp.s. c 17 s 12 are each amended to read as follows:
(1)
In addition to all other taxes, licenses, or fees provided by law there is
established an excise tax on the commercial possession of enhanced food fish as
provided in this chapter. The tax is levied upon and shall be collected from
the owner of the enhanced food fish whose possession constitutes the taxable
event. The taxable event is the first possession in Washington by an owner.
Processing and handling of enhanced food fish by a person who is not the owner
is not a taxable event to the processor or handler.
(2)
A person in possession of enhanced food fish and liable to this tax may deduct
from the price paid to the person from which the enhanced food fish (except
oysters) are purchased an amount equal to a tax at one-half the rate levied in
this section upon these products.
(3)
The measure of the tax is the value of the enhanced food fish at the point of
landing.
(4)
The tax shall be equal to the measure of the tax multiplied by the rates for
enhanced food fish as follows:
(a)
Chinook, coho, and chum salmon and anadromous game fish: Five and twenty-five
one-hundredths percent((.));
(b)
Pink and sockeye salmon: Three and fifteen one-hundredths percent((.));
(c)
Other food fish and shellfish, except oysters, sea urchins, and sea
cucumbers: Two and one-tenth percent((.));
(d)
Oysters: Eight one-hundredths of one percent;
(e)
Sea urchins: Four and six-tenths percent through December 31, 2005, and two
and one-tenth percent thereafter; and
(f)
Sea cucumbers: Four and six-tenths percent through December 31, 2005, and two
and one-tenth percent thereafter.
(5)
An additional tax is imposed equal to the rate specified in RCW 82.02.030
multiplied by the tax payable under subsection (4) of this section.
Sec.
4. RCW
82.27.070 and 1988 c 36 s 61 are each amended to read as follows:
All
taxes collected by the department of revenue under this chapter shall be
deposited in the state general fund except for the excise tax on anadromous
game fish, which shall be deposited in the wildlife fund, and, during the
period January 1, 2000, to December 31, 2005, twenty- five forty-sixths of the
revenues derived from the excise tax on sea urchins collected under RCW
82.27.020 shall be deposited into the sea urchin dive fishery account created
in RCW 75.30.210, and twenty-five forty-sixths of the revenues derived from the
excise tax on sea cucumbers collected under RCW 82.27.020 shall be deposited
into the sea cucumber dive fishery account created in RCW 75.30.250.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 5.
Section 3 of this act takes effect January 1, 2000.
