SHB 2658 -
By Committee on Natural Resources, Ocean & Recreation
Strike everything after the enacting clause and insert the following:
"NEW SECTION. Sec. 1 The legislature finds that providing
information to off-road vehicle users about those lands open for off-road vehicle use will help ease crowding on such lands and decrease
conflicts between off-road vehicle users, landowners, and other
recreational user groups. Therefore, the legislature intends to
provide information to off-road vehicle users about lands available for
off-road vehicle use by creating an ORV data base and by encouraging
landowners to make lands available for off-road vehicle use and to
provide information regarding their lands for inclusion in the data
base.
Sec. 2 RCW 46.09.250 and 1986 c 206 s 11 are each amended to read
as follows:
(1) The ((interagency)) committee ((for outdoor recreation)) shall
maintain a statewide plan which shall be updated at least once every
third biennium and shall be used by all participating agencies to guide
distribution and expenditure of funds under this chapter.
(2)(a) The committee shall also maintain:
(i) A statewide data base of ORV trails, ORV sports parks, and
other ORV recreation areas open to the general public. The data base
must be based on a geographic information system program and include
all state and federal lands open for public ORV use. The provisions of
RCW 4.24.210(5)(b) apply to publicly owned ORV sports parks or other
public facilities included in the data base. The data base must be
available to the public over the committee's internet web site, along
with links to or information on state and local laws and rules relating
to ORV use, state and local noise standards, and practices for riding
in a safe and considerate manner, and a link to the data base must be
created on web sites operated by all state agencies, other than
colleges and universities, that manage recreational land of any nature.
The committee shall fund the data base consistent with RCW 46.09.110;
(ii) A statewide data base of trails, facilities, and other areas
open to the general public for nonmotorized recreational use. The data
base must be based on a geographic information system program. The
data base must be available to the public over the committee's internet
web site and a link to the data base must be created on web sites
operated by all state agencies, other than colleges and universities,
that manage recreational land of any nature. The committee shall fund
the data base consistent with RCW 46.09.170(2)(d)(ii)(B); and
(iii) A statewide data base of campgrounds, facilities, and other
areas open to the general public for nonhighway road recreational use.
The data base must be based on a geographic information system program.
The data base must be available to the public over the committee's
internet web site and a link to the data base must be created on web
sites operated by all state agencies, other than colleges and
universities, that manage recreational land of any nature. The
committee shall fund the data base consistent with RCW
46.09.170(2)(d)(ii)(C).
(b) In providing public access to the data bases maintained under
(a) of this subsection, the committee may provide access to multiple
data bases simultaneously or take other such actions in order to
maximize the information available to the public.
Sec. 3 RCW 46.09.110 and 2004 c 105 s 2 are each amended to read
as follows:
The moneys collected by the department under this chapter shall be
distributed from time to time but at least once a year in the following
manner:
(1) The department shall retain enough money to cover expenses
incurred in the administration of this chapter((: PROVIDED, That such
retention)). However, the money retained for administration shall
never exceed eighteen percent of fees collected.
(2) The remaining moneys shall be distributed by the committee for
the ORV data base required by RCW 46.09.250(2)(a)(i) and for ORV
recreation facilities ((by the interagency committee for outdoor
recreation)) in accordance with RCW 46.09.170(2)(d)(ii)(A).
Sec. 4 RCW 46.09.170 and 2004 c 105 s 6 are each amended to read
as follows:
(1) From time to time, but at least once each year, the state
treasurer shall refund from the motor vehicle fund one percent of the
motor vehicle fuel tax revenues collected under chapter 82.36 RCW,
based on a tax rate of: (a) Nineteen cents per gallon of motor vehicle
fuel from July 1, 2003, through June 30, 2005; (b) twenty cents per
gallon of motor vehicle fuel from July 1, 2005, through June 30, 2007;
(c) twenty-one cents per gallon of motor vehicle fuel from July 1,
2007, through June 30, 2009; (d) twenty-two cents per gallon of motor
vehicle fuel from July 1, 2009, through June 30, 2011; and (e) twenty-three cents per gallon of motor vehicle fuel beginning July 1, 2011,
and thereafter, less proper deductions for refunds and costs of
collection as provided in RCW 46.68.090.
(2) The treasurer shall place these funds in the general fund as
follows:
(a) Thirty-six percent shall be credited to the ORV and nonhighway
vehicle account and administered by the department of natural resources
solely for acquisition, planning, development, maintenance, and
management of ORV, nonmotorized, and nonhighway road recreation
facilities, and information programs and maintenance of nonhighway
roads;
(b) Three and one-half percent shall be credited to the ORV and
nonhighway vehicle account and administered by the department of fish
and wildlife solely for the acquisition, planning, development,
maintenance, and management of ORV, nonmotorized, and nonhighway road
recreation facilities and the maintenance of nonhighway roads;
(c) Two percent shall be credited to the ORV and nonhighway vehicle
account and administered by the parks and recreation commission solely
for the acquisition, planning, development, maintenance, and management
of ORV, nonmotorized, and nonhighway road recreation facilities; and
(d) Fifty-eight and one-half percent shall be credited to the
nonhighway and off-road vehicle activities program account to be
administered by the committee for the purposes of RCW 46.09.250(2)(a)
(ii) and (iii) and for planning, acquisition, development, maintenance,
and management of ORV, nonmotorized, and nonhighway road recreation
facilities and for education, information, and law enforcement
programs. The funds under this subsection shall be expended in
accordance with the following limitations:
(i) Not more than thirty percent may be expended for education,
information, and law enforcement programs under this chapter;
(ii) Not less than seventy percent may be expended for the purposes
of RCW 46.09.250(2)(a) (ii) and (iii) and for ORV, nonmotorized, and
nonhighway road recreation facilities. Except as provided in (d)(iii)
of this subsection, of this amount:
(A) Not less than thirty percent, together with the funds the
committee receives under RCW 46.09.110, may be expended for ORV
recreation facilities;
(B) Not less than thirty percent may be expended for the purposes
of RCW 46.09.250(2)(a)(ii) and for nonmotorized recreation facilities.
Funds expended under this subsection (2)(d)(ii)(B) shall be known as
Ira Spring outdoor recreation facilities funds; and
(C) Not less than thirty percent may be expended for the purposes
of RCW 46.09.250(2)(a)(iii) and for nonhighway road recreation
facilities;
(iii) The committee may waive the minimum percentage cited in
(d)(ii) of this subsection due to insufficient requests for funds or
projects that score low in the committee's project evaluation. Funds
remaining after such a waiver must be allocated in accordance with
committee policy.
(3) On a yearly basis an agency may not, except as provided in RCW
46.09.110, expend more than ten percent of the funds it receives under
this chapter for general administration expenses incurred in carrying
out this chapter.
(4) During the 2003-05 fiscal biennium, the legislature may
appropriate such amounts as reflect the excess fund balance in the NOVA
account to the interagency committee for outdoor recreation, the
department of natural resources, the department of fish and wildlife,
and the state parks and recreation commission. This appropriation is
not required to follow the specific distribution specified in
subsection (2) of this section.
Sec. 5 RCW 4.24.210 and 2003 c 39 s 2 and 2003 c 16 s 2 are each
reenacted and amended to read as follows:
(1) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (3) or (4) of this
section, any public or private landowners or others in lawful
possession and control of any lands whether designated resource, rural,
or urban, or water areas or channels and lands adjacent to such areas
or channels, who allow members of the public to use them for the
purposes of outdoor recreation, which term includes, but is not limited
to, the cutting, gathering, and removing of firewood by private persons
for their personal use without purchasing the firewood from the
landowner, hunting, fishing, camping, picnicking, swimming, hiking,
bicycling, skateboarding or other nonmotorized wheel-based activities,
hanggliding, paragliding, rock climbing, the riding of horses or other
animals, clam digging, pleasure driving of off-road vehicles,
snowmobiles, and other vehicles, boating, nature study, winter or water
sports, viewing or enjoying historical, archaeological, scenic, or
scientific sites, without charging a fee of any kind therefor, shall
not be liable for unintentional injuries to such users.
(2) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (3) or (4) of this
section, any public or private landowner or others in lawful possession
and control of any lands whether rural or urban, or water areas or
channels and lands adjacent to such areas or channels, who offer or
allow such land to be used for purposes of a fish or wildlife
cooperative project, or allow access to such land for cleanup of litter
or other solid waste, shall not be liable for unintentional injuries to
any volunteer group or to any other users.
(3) Any public or private landowner, or others in lawful possession
and control of the land, may charge an administrative fee of up to
twenty-five dollars for the cutting, gathering, and removing of
firewood from the land.
(4) Nothing in this section shall prevent the liability of a
landowner or others in lawful possession and control for injuries
sustained to users by reason of a known dangerous artificial latent
condition for which warning signs have not been conspicuously posted.
A fixed anchor used in rock climbing and put in place by someone other
than a landowner is not a known dangerous artificial latent condition
and a landowner under subsection (1) of this section shall not be
liable for unintentional injuries resulting from the condition or use
of such an anchor. Nothing in RCW 4.24.200 and ((4.24.210)) this
section limits or expands in any way the doctrine of attractive
nuisance. Usage by members of the public, volunteer groups, or other
users is permissive and does not support any claim of adverse
possession.
(5) For purposes of this section, the following are not fees:
(a) A license or permit issued for statewide use under authority of
chapter 79A.05 RCW or Title 77 RCW ((is not a fee)); and
(b) A daily charge not to exceed twenty dollars per person, per
day, for access to a publicly owned ORV sports park, as defined in RCW
46.09.020, or other public facility for the purposes of off-road
vehicle use, including such public parks or facilities included in the
ORV data base created in RCW 46.09.250.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 6 (1) The interagency committee for outdoor
recreation shall convene a working group to develop and propose policy
strategies and legislation to address issues relating to access to
public and private lands for recreational off-road vehicle use,
including:
(a) Proposals to improve recreational off-road vehicle use
opportunities on public lands where such use is compatible with other
types of recreation and the environmental, habitat, and trust
responsibilities of the department of natural resources and other
public land managers, and to decrease use where it is not compatible;
(b) Proposals for addressing the conflicts and safety issues posed
by the growing pressure on public and private lands available for
recreational off-road vehicle use, including noise issues and any
recommended changes to the recreational use immunity statute, RCW
4.24.210; and
(c) Proposals to ensure the existence of the financial resources
necessary to provide access to appropriate public lands for
recreational off-road vehicle use, including funding for agency
planning and management activities, land stewardship and trail
maintenance, noise control, and education and enforcement programs.
(2) The working group consists of the following:
(a) One member from the department of natural resources, appointed
by the commissioner of public lands;
(b) One member from the department of fish and wildlife, appointed
by the director of the department of fish and wildlife;
(c) One member from the state parks and recreation commission,
appointed by the director of the state parks and recreation commission;
(d) One member from the interagency committee for outdoor
recreation, appointed by the director of the interagency committee for
outdoor recreation;
(e) Two members representing county governments, one county
commissioner each from an urban and a rural county, invited by the
governor;
(f) One member representing the United States forest service,
invited by the governor;
(g) Two members representing off-road vehicle recreational user
groups, invited by the governor;
(h) One member representing private land managers, invited by the
governor;
(i) One member representing the off-road vehicle industry, invited
by the governor;
(j) A representative of local law enforcement, selected by the
Washington association of sheriffs and police chiefs;
(k) Two members representing nonmotorized outdoor recreation,
invited by the governor;
(l) One representative of an environmental organization, invited by
the governor; and
(m) One representative of the department of ecology, appointed by
the director of ecology.
(3) Two members of the house of representatives, one from each
major caucus, may be appointed to the working group by the speaker of
the house of representatives, and two members of the senate, one from
each major caucus, may be appointed to the working group by the
president of the senate. Legislative members are nonvoting liaisons
representing the legislature.
(4) In carrying out its duties, the working group shall provide a
forum for interested citizens and organizations to provide information
and suggestions to the working group.
(5) The working group shall deliberate together in developing its
recommendations. The working group shall issue a report and it may
contain majority reports and minority reports. The report must be
provided to the governor and legislature by December 1, 2007.
(6) This section expires June 30, 2008.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 7 If specific funding for the purposes of
section 6 of this act, referencing section 6 of this act by bill or
chapter number and section number, is not provided by June 30, 2006, in
the omnibus appropriations act, section 6 of this act is null and
void."
SHB 2658 -
By Committee on Natural Resources, Ocean & Recreation
On page 1, line 1 of the title, after "Relating to" strike the remainder of the title and insert "nonhighway and off-road vehicle recreation; amending RCW 46.09.250, 46.09.110, and 46.09.170; reenacting and amending RCW 4.24.210; creating new sections; and providing an expiration date."