BILL REQ. #: S-2129.2
| State of Washington | 58th Legislature | 2003 Regular Session |
READ FIRST TIME 03/05/03.
AN ACT Relating to volunteer amateur radio emergency communications; creating a new section; and making an appropriation.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1 The preparedness of our emergency systems in
advance of the need to deploy them is crucial to our capabilities as a
state to assume a heightened awareness of potential threats and to
respond to actual attack or natural disaster. While the Washington
state emergency management council is performing a strategic assessment
of the ability of local and tribal emergency management organizations
to effectively provide for all phases of comprehensive emergency
management, the legislature acknowledges that the interface between the
governmental sector and the private sector is essential to a prepared
citizenry. On the front line of this interface, especially in times of
emergency, are the amateur (ham) radio operators in our state.
To further the public purpose of encouraging the expansion of the
ham radio network, a work group shall be convened. The work group
shall consist of six members, appointed as follows: Three members of
the public representing the ham radio community, two appointed by the
chair of the senate committee on government operations and elections
and one appointed by the ranking minority member thereof; and three
members appointed by the adjutant general to include one representative
of the interests of urban planning, one representative of the interests
of rural planning, and one representative of the state emergency
management department.
The work group shall submit a written report to the governor and to
the appropriate standing committees of the legislature by December 1,
2003. The report shall include, but not be limited to, recommendations
for regulating ham radio antenna heights in urban areas; for a
credential to indicate that the person holding it is a trained and
qualified emergency worker within the context of chapter 38.52 RCW; and
for encouraging the expansion of the ham radio network so that ideally
there are no inhabited areas of the state without communication links
for use in emergencies.
Subject to available funds, the work group shall be staffed by the
military department.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2 The sum of five hundred dollars, or as much
thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated for the fiscal year ending
June 30, 2004, from the general fund to the military department for the
purposes of reimbursing the expenses of participating in and attending
meetings of the work group that are incurred by the private citizens
serving as representatives of the ham radio community, to whom no other
compensation is provided.