BILL REQ. #:  S-0732.1 

Read first time 01/22/2003.   Referred to Committee on Agriculture.

     AN ACT Relating to agricultural conservation programs; amending RCW 90.58.065, 36.70A.060, and 36.70A.170; and adding a new section to chapter 15.04 RCW.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   A new section is added to chapter 15.04 RCW to read as follows:
     The department is authorized to enter into agreements with the commodity credit corporation of the United States department of agriculture to implement a conservation reserve enhancement program to assist in the restoration or enhancement of habitat for salmonids that have been listed as threatened or endangered species under the federal endangered species act and/or the improvement of water quality. The program shall continue to be delivered by conservation districts organized under chapter 89.08 RCW.
     The department is encouraged to examine conservation reserve enhancement programs offered in other states and to examine studies conducted by other states on how to increase the rate of participation in the program while reducing overall costs.
     Among the alternatives that shall be offered in the state of Washington, the department shall include one that has a minimum buffer that is no larger than offered in a neighboring state that shares a common environmentally significant unit with the state of Washington. This alternative shall be available for enrollment no later than August 1, 2003.
     In administering this program, the goal of the department shall be to maximize the number of miles of stream habitat that are benefited by the program while minimizing the total number of acres of agricultural land that are taken out of production. Additionally, the director shall examine how other states have incorporated the option of a permanent easement that continues beyond the contract period.      
     If sufficient funds are not appropriated to the department to meet the demand for the program, conservation districts may apply for additional funding to the salmon recovery funding board.
     The director, in consultation with the governor, shall be the sole contact person for the state of Washington with the United States department of agriculture and members of congress in regards to developing successful policies for implementation of the conservation reserve enhancement program in the state of Washington.

Sec. 2   RCW 90.58.065 and 2002 c 298 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) The guidelines adopted by the department and master programs developed or amended by local governments according to RCW 90.58.080 shall not require modification of or limit agricultural activities occurring on agricultural lands. In jurisdictions where agricultural activities occur, master programs developed or amended after June 13, 2002, shall include provisions addressing new agricultural activities on land not meeting the definition of agricultural land, conversion of agricultural lands to other uses, and development not meeting the definition of agricultural activities. Nothing in this section limits or changes the terms of the current exception to the definition of substantial development in RCW 90.58.030(3)(e)(iv). This section applies only to this chapter, and shall not affect any other authority of local governments.
     (2) For the purposes of this section:
     (a) "Agricultural activities" means agricultural uses and practices including, but not limited to: Producing, breeding, or increasing agricultural products; rotating and changing agricultural crops; allowing land used for agricultural activities to lie fallow in which it is plowed and tilled but left unseeded; allowing land used for agricultural activities to lie dormant as a result of adverse agricultural market conditions; allowing land used for agricultural activities to lie dormant because the land is enrolled in a local, state, or federal conservation program, or the land is subject to a conservation easement; enrolling and/or allowing land to remain in a local, state, or federal conservation program, such as the conservation reserve program or the conservation reserve enhancement program, for the duration of the contract and subsequent extensions; conducting agricultural operations; maintaining, repairing, and replacing agricultural equipment; maintaining, repairing, and replacing agricultural facilities, provided that the replacement facility is no closer to the shoreline than the original facility; and maintaining agricultural lands under production or cultivation;
     (b) "Agricultural products" includes but is not limited to horticultural, viticultural, floricultural, vegetable, fruit, berry, grain, hops, hay, straw, turf, sod, seed, and apiary products; feed or forage for livestock; Christmas trees; hybrid cottonwood and similar hardwood trees grown as crops and harvested within twenty years of planting; and livestock including both the animals themselves and animal products including but not limited to meat, upland finfish, poultry and poultry products, and dairy products;
     (c) "Agricultural equipment" and "agricultural facilities" includes, but is not limited to: (i) The following used in agricultural operations: Equipment; machinery; constructed shelters, buildings, and ponds; fences; upland finfish rearing facilities; water diversion, withdrawal, conveyance, and use equipment and facilities including but not limited to pumps, pipes, tapes, canals, ditches, and drains; (ii) corridors and facilities for transporting personnel, livestock, and equipment to, from, and within agricultural lands; (iii) farm residences and associated equipment, lands, and facilities; and (iv) roadside stands and on-farm markets for marketing fruit or vegetables; and
     (d) "Agricultural land" means those specific land areas on which agriculture activities are conducted.
     (3) The department and local governments shall assure that local shoreline master programs use definitions consistent with the definitions in this section.

Sec. 3   RCW 36.70A.060 and 1998 c 286 s 5 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) Each county that is required or chooses to plan under RCW 36.70A.040, and each city within such county, shall adopt development regulations on or before September 1, 1991, to assure the conservation of agricultural, forest, and mineral resource lands designated under RCW 36.70A.170. Regulations adopted under this subsection may not prohibit uses legally existing on any parcel prior to their adoption and shall remain in effect until the county or city adopts development regulations pursuant to RCW 36.70A.040. Such regulations shall assure that the use of lands adjacent to agricultural, forest, or mineral resource lands shall not interfere with the continued use, in the accustomed manner and in accordance with best management practices, of these designated lands for the production of food, agricultural products, or timber, or for the extraction of minerals. Counties and cities shall require that all plats, short plats, development permits, and building permits issued for development activities on, or within five hundred feet of, lands designated as agricultural lands, forest lands, or mineral resource lands, contain a notice that the subject property is within or near designated agricultural lands, forest lands, or mineral resource lands on which a variety of commercial activities may occur that are not compatible with residential development for certain periods of limited duration. The notice for mineral resource lands shall also inform that an application might be made for mining-related activities, including mining, extraction, washing, crushing, stockpiling, blasting, transporting, and recycling of minerals.
     (2) Each county and city shall adopt development regulations that protect critical areas that are required to be designated under RCW 36.70A.170. For counties and cities that are required or choose to plan under RCW 36.70A.040, such development regulations shall be adopted on or before September 1, 1991. For the remainder of the counties and cities, such development regulations shall be adopted on or before March 1, 1992.
     (3) No county shall adopt development regulations under this chapter that directly or indirectly preclude a person owning land from being able to qualify for enrollment of a parcel or a portion of any parcel in the conservation reserve enhancement program, or equivalent program that provides for the restoration or enhancement of fish and wildlife habitat and/or the improvement of water quality.
     (4) Such counties and cities shall review these designations and development regulations when adopting their comprehensive plans under RCW 36.70A.040 and implementing development regulations under RCW 36.70A.120 and may alter such designations and development regulations to insure consistency.
     (((4))) (5) Forest land and agricultural land located within urban growth areas shall not be designated by a county or city as forest land or agricultural land of long-term commercial significance under RCW 36.70A.170 unless the city or county has enacted a program authorizing transfer or purchase of development rights.

Sec. 4   RCW 36.70A.170 and 1990 1st ex.s. c 17 s 17 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) On or before September 1, 1991, each county, and each city, shall designate where appropriate:
     (a) Agricultural lands that are not already characterized by urban growth and that have long-term significance for the commercial production of food or other agricultural products;
     (b) Forest lands that are not already characterized by urban growth and that have long-term significance for the commercial production of timber;
     (c) Mineral resource lands that are not already characterized by urban growth and that have long-term significance for the extraction of minerals; and
     (d) Critical areas.
     (2) In making the designations required by this section, counties and cities shall consider the guidelines established pursuant to RCW 36.70A.050.
     (3) Enrolling land designated by a county as agricultural land of long-term commercial significance and/or allowing such land to remain in a local, state, or federal conservation program, such as the conservation reserve program or the conservation reserve enhancement program, for the duration of the contract and subsequent extensions shall not be considered to be in violation of its designation as agricultural land of long-term commercial significance. After expiration of the contract and subsequent extensions, land enrolled in such programs shall be allowed to return to its designated agricultural use unless a permanent easement has been acquired.