HB 1418-S - DIGEST

(SUBSTITUTED FOR - SEE 2ND SUB)

Declares that the purposes of this act are to: (1) Clarify the purpose of the fishway and hydraulic project approval requirements of chapter 77.55 RCW as applied to works and projects related to drainage infrastructure including tide gates, flood gates, and pump stations;

(2) Specify a statutory process for the department of fish and wildlife to follow when imposing conditions on drainage infrastructure for fishways and for hydraulic project approvals on designated agricultural lands;

(3) Create demonstration projects to assess the effectiveness of self-regulating tide gates in achieving fish passage and to test their impact, if any, on surrounding agricultural lands;

(4) Prioritize the use of public lands for fish habitat restoration projects; and

(5) Establish a task force to review issues regarding the implementation of fishway and hydraulic project approval requirements as they relate to designated agricultural lands, analyze the effectiveness of the demonstration projects for fish habitat restoration, and report any legislative recommendations to the legislature.

Provides that, in conjunction with other public landowners, the department shall create a salmon habitat restoration plan for all public lands in Skagit county. The plan shall include a list of public properties that must be restored for salmon, a description of how those properties can be altered to support salmon, a description of costs and sources of funds to restore the property, and a strategy and schedule for prioritizing the restoration of public lands for salmon habitat.

Requires the department to make the Skagit public lands salmon habitat restoration plan a priority and complete it by November 30, 2004.