BILL REQ. #:  S-0434.1 

Read first time 01/22/2003.   Referred to Committee on Parks, Fish & Wildlife.

     AN ACT Relating to fish barriers at fish hatcheries; and amending RCW 77.55.060.

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

Sec. 1   RCW 77.55.060 and 1998 c 190 s 86 are each amended to read as follows:
     A dam or other obstruction across or in a stream, including fish barrier dams constructed at department facilities, shall be provided with a durable and efficient fishway approved by the director. Plans and specifications shall be provided to the department prior to the director's approval. The fishway shall be maintained in an effective condition and continuously supplied with sufficient water to freely pass fish.
     If a person fails to construct and maintain a fishway or to remove the dam or obstruction in a manner satisfactory to the director, then within thirty days after written notice to comply has been served upon the owner, his or her agent, or the person in charge, the director may construct a fishway or remove the dam or obstruction. Expenses incurred by the department constitute the value of a lien upon the dam and upon the personal property of the person owning the dam. Notice of the lien shall be filed and recorded in the office of the county auditor of the county in which the dam or obstruction is situated. The lien may be foreclosed in an action brought in the name of the state.
     If, within thirty days after notice to construct a fishway or remove a dam or obstruction, the owner, his or her agent, or the person in charge fails to do so, the dam or obstruction is a public nuisance and the director may take possession of the dam or obstruction and destroy it. No liability shall attach for the destruction.
     By September 15, 2003, the department shall provide for an operating fishway at the fish barrier dam located at the fish hatchery on the Samish river. The fishway may be closed only during the period of time that broodstock are being captured to fulfill the needs of the hatchery. The department shall maintain a public record of the period of time that the fishway is closed to upstream migrating anadromous fish.
     The department shall conduct an inventory of all barriers that exist at fish hatcheries in the state that block access to natural habitat to the upstream migration of anadromous fish. The inventory shall include owner and operator of the hatchery, the number of stream miles of natural habitat on the main stem and tributary streams that are not accessible to upstream migrating anadromous fish, the months that the blockage occurs, the species that exist in the river below the barrier, and whether the species is listed as either a threatened or endangered species. The inventory shall be submitted to the legislature by December 1, 2003.