BILL REQ. #:  H-2718.1 

Read first time 04/08/2003.   Referred to Committee on Fisheries, Ecology & Parks.

     AN ACT Relating to marine protection in Puget Sound; amending RCW 90.56.500 and 43.21B.300; reenacting and amending RCW 43.84.092 and 43.79A.040; adding a new section to chapter 90.56 RCW; creating new sections; and providing an expiration date.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   The legislature finds that the marine waters located in and adjacent to the Strait of Juan de Fuca between the state of Washington and Canada are some of the most pristine and diverse marine waters in the United States and include irreplaceable natural resources. The area includes such national treasures as the Olympic coast national marine sanctuary and the Olympic national park, is home to five federally recognized Indian reservations, holds one of the largest sea bird colonies on the west coast, and contains habitat for several threatened and endangered species.
     The legislature also finds that the marine waters are of great environmental and economic importance not only to the state of Washington, but also to the people of Canada and the United States. The legislature also recognizes that the marine vessel traffic on these waters presents risks of accidents and oil spills that would be devastating to the environment and to the economy. The safety of these waters is currently substantially improved on a temporary basis by an oil spill prevention tugboat stationed at the westward end of the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Permanent funding for marine protection would ensure that the marine waters of Washington could be protected for generations to come. Therefore, it is the policy of the state to create a dedicated account for funds to protect the marine waters on the coast and in the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   (1) The department of ecology shall complete an evaluation of tug escort requirements for laden tankers to determine if the current escort system requirements under RCW 88.16.190 should be modified to recognize safety enhancements of new double hull tankers deployed with redundant systems and recent enhancements to the international tug of opportunity system. The department shall provide a report with recommendations to the governor and the appropriate committees of the legislature by January 1, 2005.
     (2) This section expires January 31, 2005.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   A new section is added to chapter 90.56 RCW to read as follows:
     The marine protection account is created in the custody of the state treasury. All receipts from federal funds provided for marine protection, interest earnings from the oil spill prevention account and the oil spill response account, vessel oil spill penalties assessed under RCW 90.56.330, and any other moneys appropriated to the account by the legislature must be deposited into the account. Expenditures from the account must be used for marine protection activities including but not limited to vessel salvage, an oil spill prevention tug, marine fire fighting activities, and other marine protection measures approved by the department. Only the director of the department of ecology or the director's designee may authorize expenditures from the account. The account is subject to allotment procedures under chapter 43.88 RCW, but an appropriation is not required for expenditures.

Sec. 4   RCW 90.56.500 and 1991 c 200 s 805 are each amended to read as follows:
     The state oil spill response account is created in the state treasury. All receipts from RCW 82.23B.020(1) shall be deposited in the account. Interest earnings from the account shall be transferred by the state treasurer on a quarterly basis to the marine protection account established in section 3 of this act. All costs reimbursed to the state by a responsible party or any other person for responding to a spill of oil shall also be deposited in the account. Moneys in the account shall be spent only after appropriation. The account is subject to allotment procedures under chapter 43.88 RCW. The account shall be used exclusively to pay for the costs associated with the response to spills of crude oil or petroleum products into the navigable waters of the state. Payment of response costs under this section shall be limited to spills which the director has determined are likely to exceed fifty thousand dollars. Before expending moneys from the account, the director shall make reasonable efforts to obtain funding for response costs from the person responsible for the spill and from other sources, including the federal government. Reimbursement for response costs shall be allowed only for costs which are not covered by funds appropriated to the agencies responsible for response activities. Costs associated with the response to spills of crude oil or petroleum products shall include:
     (1) Natural resource damage assessment and related activities;
     (2) Spill related response, containment, wildlife rescue, cleanup, disposal, and associated costs;
     (3) Interagency coordination and public information related to a response; and
     (4) Appropriate travel, goods and services, contracts, and equipment.

Sec. 5   RCW 43.21B.300 and 2001 c 36 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) Any civil penalty provided in RCW 18.104.155, 70.94.431, 70.105.080, 70.107.050, 88.46.090, 90.03.600, 90.48.144, 90.56.310, and 90.56.330 shall be imposed by a notice in writing, either by certified mail with return receipt requested or by personal service, to the person incurring the penalty from the department or the local air authority, describing the violation with reasonable particularity. Within fifteen days after the notice is received, the person incurring the penalty may apply in writing to the department or the authority for the remission or mitigation of the penalty. Upon receipt of the application, the department or authority may remit or mitigate the penalty upon whatever terms the department or the authority in its discretion deems proper. The department or the authority may ascertain the facts regarding all such applications in such reasonable manner and under such rules as it may deem proper and shall remit or mitigate the penalty only upon a demonstration of extraordinary circumstances such as the presence of information or factors not considered in setting the original penalty.
     (2) Any penalty imposed under this section may be appealed to the pollution control hearings board in accordance with this chapter if the appeal is filed with the hearings board and served on the department or authority thirty days after receipt by the person penalized of the notice imposing the penalty or thirty days after receipt of the notice of disposition of the application for relief from penalty.
     (3) A penalty shall become due and payable on the later of:
     (a) Thirty days after receipt of the notice imposing the penalty;
     (b) Thirty days after receipt of the notice of disposition on application for relief from penalty, if such an application is made; or
     (c) Thirty days after receipt of the notice of decision of the hearings board if the penalty is appealed.
     (4) If the amount of any penalty is not paid to the department within thirty days after it becomes due and payable, the attorney general, upon request of the department, shall bring an action in the name of the state of Washington in the superior court of Thurston county, or of any county in which the violator does business, to recover the penalty. If the amount of the penalty is not paid to the authority within thirty days after it becomes due and payable, the authority may bring an action to recover the penalty in the superior court of the county of the authority's main office or of any county in which the violator does business. In these actions, the procedures and rules of evidence shall be the same as in an ordinary civil action.
     (5) All penalties recovered shall be paid into the state treasury and credited to the general fund except those penalties imposed pursuant to RCW 18.104.155, which shall be credited to the reclamation account as provided in RCW 18.104.155(7), RCW 70.94.431, the disposition of which shall be governed by that provision, RCW 70.105.080, which shall be credited to the hazardous waste control and elimination account, created by RCW 70.105.180, and RCW 90.56.330, which shall be credited to the coastal protection fund created by RCW 90.48.390 and to the marine protection account created in section 3 of this act as provided in subsection (6) of this section.
     (6) Penalties assessed under RCW 90.56.330 against an owner or operator of a ship as defined under RCW 90.56.010 shall be credited to the marine protection account created in section 3 of this act.

Sec. 6   RCW 43.84.092 and 2002 c 242 s 2, 2002 c 114 s 24, and 2002 c 56 s 402 are each reenacted and amended to read as follows:
     (1) All earnings of investments of surplus balances in the state treasury shall be deposited to the treasury income account, which account is hereby established in the state treasury.
     (2) The treasury income account shall be utilized to pay or receive funds associated with federal programs as required by the federal cash management improvement act of 1990. The treasury income account is subject in all respects to chapter 43.88 RCW, but no appropriation is required for refunds or allocations of interest earnings required by the cash management improvement act. Refunds of interest to the federal treasury required under the cash management improvement act fall under RCW 43.88.180 and shall not require appropriation. The office of financial management shall determine the amounts due to or from the federal government pursuant to the cash management improvement act. The office of financial management may direct transfers of funds between accounts as deemed necessary to implement the provisions of the cash management improvement act, and this subsection. Refunds or allocations shall occur prior to the distributions of earnings set forth in subsection (4) of this section.
     (3) Except for the provisions of RCW 43.84.160, the treasury income account may be utilized for the payment of purchased banking services on behalf of treasury funds including, but not limited to, depository, safekeeping, and disbursement functions for the state treasury and affected state agencies. The treasury income account is subject in all respects to chapter 43.88 RCW, but no appropriation is required for payments to financial institutions. Payments shall occur prior to distribution of earnings set forth in subsection (4) of this section.
     (4) Monthly, the state treasurer shall distribute the earnings credited to the treasury income account. The state treasurer shall credit the general fund with all the earnings credited to the treasury income account except:
     (a) The following accounts and funds shall receive their proportionate share of earnings based upon each account's and fund's average daily balance for the period: The capitol building construction account, the Cedar River channel construction and operation account, the Central Washington University capital projects account, the charitable, educational, penal and reformatory institutions account, the common school construction fund, the county criminal justice assistance account, the county sales and use tax equalization account, the data processing building construction account, the deferred compensation administrative account, the deferred compensation principal account, the department of retirement systems expense account, the drinking water assistance account, the drinking water assistance administrative account, the drinking water assistance repayment account, the Eastern Washington University capital projects account, the education construction fund, the emergency reserve fund, the federal forest revolving account, the health services account, the oil spill response account, the public health services account, the health system capacity account, the personal health services account, the state higher education construction account, the higher education construction account, the highway infrastructure account, the industrial insurance premium refund account, the judges' retirement account, the judicial retirement administrative account, the judicial retirement principal account, the local leasehold excise tax account, the local real estate excise tax account, the local sales and use tax account, the medical aid account, the mobile home park relocation fund, the multimodal transportation account, the municipal criminal justice assistance account, the municipal sales and use tax equalization account, the natural resources deposit account, the oyster reserve land account, the perpetual surveillance and maintenance account, the public employees' retirement system plan 1 account, the public employees' retirement system combined plan 2 and plan 3 account, the public facilities construction loan revolving account beginning July 1, 2004, the public health supplemental account, the Puyallup tribal settlement account, the regional transportation investment district account, the resource management cost account, the site closure account, the special wildlife account, the state employees' insurance account, the state employees' insurance reserve account, the state investment board expense account, the state investment board commingled trust fund accounts, the supplemental pension account, the Tacoma Narrows toll bridge account, the teachers' retirement system plan 1 account, the teachers' retirement system combined plan 2 and plan 3 account, the tobacco prevention and control account, the tobacco settlement account, the transportation infrastructure account, the tuition recovery trust fund, the University of Washington bond retirement fund, the University of Washington building account, the volunteer fire fighters' and reserve officers' relief and pension principal fund, the volunteer fire fighters' and reserve officers' administrative fund, the Washington fruit express account, the Washington judicial retirement system account, the Washington law enforcement officers' and fire fighters' system plan 1 retirement account, the Washington law enforcement officers' and fire fighters' system plan 2 retirement account, the Washington school employees' retirement system combined plan 2 and 3 account, the Washington state health insurance pool account, the Washington state patrol retirement account, the Washington State University building account, the Washington State University bond retirement fund, the water pollution control revolving fund, and the Western Washington University capital projects account. Earnings derived from investing balances of the agricultural permanent fund, the normal school permanent fund, the permanent common school fund, the scientific permanent fund, and the state university permanent fund shall be allocated to their respective beneficiary accounts. All earnings to be distributed under this subsection (4)(a) shall first be reduced by the allocation to the state treasurer's service fund pursuant to RCW 43.08.190.
     (b) The following accounts and funds shall receive eighty percent of their proportionate share of earnings based upon each account's or fund's average daily balance for the period: The aeronautics account, the aircraft search and rescue account, the county arterial preservation account, the department of licensing services account, the essential rail assistance account, the ferry bond retirement fund, the grade crossing protective fund, the high capacity transportation account, the highway bond retirement fund, the highway safety account, the motor vehicle fund, the motorcycle safety education account, the pilotage account, the public transportation systems account, the Puget Sound capital construction account, the Puget Sound ferry operations account, the recreational vehicle account, the rural arterial trust account, the safety and education account, the special category C account, the state patrol highway account, the transportation equipment fund, the transportation fund, the transportation improvement account, the transportation improvement board bond retirement account, and the urban arterial trust account.
     (5) In conformance with Article II, section 37 of the state Constitution, no treasury accounts or funds shall be allocated earnings without the specific affirmative directive of this section.

Sec. 7   RCW 43.79A.040 and 2002 c 322 s 5, 2002 c 204 s 7, and 2002 c 61 s 6 are each reenacted and amended to read as follows:
     (1) Money in the treasurer's trust fund may be deposited, invested, and reinvested by the state treasurer in accordance with RCW 43.84.080 in the same manner and to the same extent as if the money were in the state treasury.
     (2) All income received from investment of the treasurer's trust fund shall be set aside in an account in the treasury trust fund to be known as the investment income account.
     (3) The investment income account may be utilized for the payment of purchased banking services on behalf of treasurer's trust funds including, but not limited to, depository, safekeeping, and disbursement functions for the state treasurer or affected state agencies. The investment income account is subject in all respects to chapter 43.88 RCW, but no appropriation is required for payments to financial institutions. Payments shall occur prior to distribution of earnings set forth in subsection (4) of this section.
     (4)(a) Monthly, the state treasurer shall distribute the earnings credited to the investment income account to the state general fund except under (b) and (c) of this subsection.
     (b) The following accounts and funds shall receive their proportionate share of earnings based upon each account's or fund's average daily balance for the period: The Washington promise scholarship account, the college savings program account, the Washington advanced college tuition payment program account, the agricultural local fund, the American Indian scholarship endowment fund, the basic health plan self-insurance reserve account, the Washington state combined fund drive account, the Washington international exchange scholarship endowment fund, the developmental disabilities endowment trust fund, the energy account, the fair fund, the fruit and vegetable inspection account, the game farm alternative account, the grain inspection revolving fund, the juvenile accountability incentive account, the marine protection account created in section 3 of this act, the rural rehabilitation account, the stadium and exhibition center account, the youth athletic facility account, the self-insurance revolving fund, the sulfur dioxide abatement account, and the children's trust fund. However, the earnings to be distributed shall first be reduced by the allocation to the state treasurer's service fund pursuant to RCW 43.08.190.
     (c) The following accounts and funds shall receive eighty percent of their proportionate share of earnings based upon each account's or fund's average daily balance for the period: The advanced right of way revolving fund, the advanced environmental mitigation revolving account, the city and county advance right-of-way revolving fund, the federal narcotics asset forfeitures account, the high occupancy vehicle account, the local rail service assistance account, and the miscellaneous transportation programs account.
     (5) In conformance with Article II, section 37 of the state Constitution, no trust accounts or funds shall be allocated earnings without the specific affirmative directive of this section.