BILL REQ. #:  H-0092.4 

Read first time 01/15/2007.   Referred to Committee on Public Safety & Emergency Preparedness.

     AN ACT Relating to establishing the statewide CBRNE response program; amending RCW 43.43.938; adding a new chapter to Title 43 RCW; and making an appropriation.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   (1) The legislature finds that the threat of an incident caused by a chemical, biological, radioactive, nuclear, or explosive agent occurring in the state poses a severe threat to the health, safety, and welfare of the citizens of the state of Washington. In order to mitigate any damage that may be caused by CBRNE incidents, it is necessary that the state have a coordinated and comprehensive plan to respond to these dangerous and deadly incidents.
     (2) The legislature further finds that the current system of relying almost exclusively on local jurisdictions to respond to CBRNE incidents is inadequate because it stretches the capabilities of local jurisdictions, it lacks uniformity in training, equipment, and response standards, and it hinders the ability of jurisdictions to cooperate in the event of a catastrophic incident. Major portions of the state lack protection from CBRNE incidents because many local jurisdictions simply do not have the capabilities to respond to these incidents.
     (3) The purpose of this act is to establish a statewide CBRNE response program that relies on a network of regional response teams that operate with standardized training and equipment.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter unless the context clearly requires otherwise.
     (1) "CBRNE agent" means a chemical, biological, radioactive, nuclear, or explosive agent.
     (2) "CBRNE incident" means an incident creating a danger or the possibility of a danger to persons, property, or the environment as a result of spillage, seepage, fire, explosion, or release of a CBRNE agent.
     (3) "Director" means the director of fire protection in the Washington state patrol.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   (1) The director shall establish and maintain a statewide CBRNE response program. This program must include, without limitation:
     (a) The division of the state into CBRNE response regions;
     (b) A network of regional teams to respond to CBRNE incidents within their respective regions and to operate outside their respective regions to assist other regional teams;
     (c) Standards for training, equipment, and procedures for regional teams and other responders concerning responses to CBRNE incidents;
     (d) Procedures for reimbursing regional teams for costs incurred by approved responses; and
     (e) Procedures for recovering response costs from parties responsible for causing a CBRNE incident.
     (2) The director shall adopt any rules necessary to implement and administer the provisions of this chapter.
     (3) The requirement of the program under this chapter is subject to appropriation by the legislature.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 4   (1) The director shall divide the state into CBRNE response regions. In making this division, the director must consider (a) the history of any CBRNE or hazardous materials incident locations throughout the state and the factors that contribute to those incidents; (b) the current geographical distribution of CBRNE or hazardous materials responders; and (c) any existing regional divisions in the state.
     (2) After consultation with the technical advisory committee established under section 6 of this act, the director may, with good cause, modify boundaries of the established regions.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 5   (1) For each region, the director shall determine the number of response teams, the number of technicians, and the level of training required of the response teams for that region. These determinations must be made based upon the risk that each region faces from a CBRNE incident.
     (2) The director shall contract with one or more regional response teams from each of the regions, as determined under subsection (1) of this section. The director may contract only with a unit of local government with respect to a regional response team. Units of local government that are located in the same region may enter into intergovernmental agreements for the formation of a regional response team.
     (3) After consultation with the technical advisory committee established under section 6 of this act, the director may modify the number of response teams, the number of technicians, or the level of training required for regional response teams.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 6   (1) The technical advisory committee is created to assist the director in his or her implementation and management of the program, to help formulate administrative rules, and to render advice on training and equipment standards, planning, operational protocols, and policy issues. The technical advisory committee has a strictly advisory role to the director in all matters.
     (2) The technical advisory committee consists of ex officio members and appointed members.
     (a) The ex officio members include the executives or administrative heads, or their designees, of the following state organizations:
     (i) The state emergency response commission;
     (ii) The department of health;
     (iii) The department of ecology; and
     (iv) The office of the attorney general.
     Additionally, the executive or administrative head of any other state organization may, with the consent of the director, appoint himself or herself or a designee to be a member of the committee.
     (b) The appointed members consist of the following:
     (i) One member from each CBRNE response region appointed by and representing the contracting units of local government under section 5(2) of this act; and
     (ii) Any additional member appointed by the director as the director deems appropriate.
     (c) All appointed members serve at the discretion of the appointing authority.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 7   (1) The primary duty of a regional response team is to stabilize a CBRNE incident. Regional response teams are limited to emergency responses and the evaluation and documentation functions arising from CBRNE incidents that threaten life, property, or the environment. A regional response team must respond to the best of its ability, subject to the limitations of available equipment and personnel. Regional response teams must work with known local hazard industries, first response agencies, and local emergency planning agencies to ensure an appropriate integration of plans and operational response.
     (2) A regional response team may sample, test, analyze, treat, remove, recover, package, monitor, or track the involvement of a CBRNE agent only if it is incidentally necessary to identify a CBRNE agent, prevent the release or threat of a release of a CBRNE agent, or stabilize a CBRNE incident.
     (3) The activities of a regional response team are limited to those that can be accomplished safely to stabilize a CBRNE incident and, except as may be incidentally necessary, do not include the transport, storage, disposal, or remedial cleanup of CBRNE agents.
     (4) A regional response team is not required to maintain general security or safety perimeters, locate underground utilities, ensure appropriate traffic control services, conduct hydrological investigations and analysis, or provide testing, removal, or disposal of underground storage tank contamination at or near the CBRNE incident to which the team is dispatched.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 8   The director must establish procedures for the dispatch of a regional response team to a CBRNE incident. These procedures must include standards for the evaluation of a CBRNE incident by a state or local agency and, if the incident cannot be controlled with local resources, a process for the state or local agency to request the assistance of a regional response team.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 9   (1) If a unit of local government requests the assistance of a regional response team under the dispatch procedures set forth under section 8 of this act, then, upon the team's arrival, the unit of local government must provide the team with site-specific and geographical and topological information sufficient to support the tactical decisions required by the situation.
     (2) A unit of local government, upon request by the appropriate regional response team, must provide any preplanning information that the team reasonably requests. This information may include, without limitation:
     (a) Facility site-specific floor plans and occupancy information;
     (b) Local maps; and
     (c) An inventory of the types and levels of emergency operational support and resources available locally.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 10   (1) The statewide CBRNE response account is created in the custody of the state treasurer.
     (2) The account shall contain all of the following:
     (a) All moneys recovered from cost reimbursements under section 11 of this act;
     (b) All grant proceeds not otherwise required to be maintained in a separate account;
     (c) All moneys transferred under sections 13 and 14 of this act; and
     (d) Any other moneys appropriated or transferred to the account by the legislature.
     (3) Expenditures from the account may be used only as provided in this act. Only the director or his or her designee may authorize expenditures from the account. The account is subject to allotment procedures under chapter 43.88 RCW, but an appropriation is not required for expenditures.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 11   (1) If a specific person is responsible for the necessary expenses incurred by the director or a CBRNE regional response team pertaining to its response to a CBRNE incident, then the director shall notify the responsible party by appropriate order. The director may not issue an order pertaining to a project or activity that was completed more than five years prior to the date of the proposed issuance of the order. The order must state the findings of the director concerning liability, the amount of necessary expenses incurred in conducting the response, and a notice that the amount is due and payable immediately upon receipt of the order.
     (2) The director may, upon application from the recipient of an order received within thirty days after the receipt of the order, reduce or set aside, in its entirety, the amount due and payable if it appears from the application, and from any further investigation the director may desire to undertake, that a reduction or setting aside is just and fair under all the circumstances.
     (3) If the responsible party fails to pay the amount specified in the order issued by the director or if an application has been made within thirty days as provided in this section and the amount provided in the order issued by the department subsequent to such application is not paid within fifteen days after receipt thereof, the attorney general, upon request of the director, shall bring an action on behalf of the state in the superior court of Thurston county or any county in which the person to which the order is directed does business, or in any other court of competent jurisdiction, to recover the amount specified in the final order of the director.
     (4) No order issued under this section may be construed as an order within the meaning of RCW 43.21B.310 and is not appealable to the hearings board.
     (5) All moneys recovered under this section must be deposited into the statewide CBRNE response account established under section 10 of this act.
     (6) For the purposes of this section, "necessary expenses" means the expenses incurred by the director and assisting state or local agencies for (a) investigating the source of the incident; (b) conducting actions to stabilize the CBRNE incident; and (c) enforcing the provisions of this chapter and collecting for damages caused by a CBRNE incident.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 12   (1) The director shall establish procedures to actively seek grants from public or private sources for the operation and administration of the statewide CBRNE response program. The director shall work in cooperation with the state military department and local jurisdictions to obtain grant funding for the program.
     (2) Grant proceeds must be deposited into the statewide CBRNE response account, or if required as a condition of the grant into a dedicated grant fund.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 13   (1) On July 1, 2008, and on each July 1st thereafter, the director shall notify the state treasurer if the combined total amount in the statewide CBRNE response account and any dedicated grant accounts is less than seventeen million dollars.
     (2) Within thirty days after receiving this notification, the state treasurer shall transfer, into the statewide CBRNE response account, the amount needed to bring the moneys for the program to seventeen million dollars. The state treasurer shall transfer this amount from the general fund.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 14   (1) On July 1, 2008, and on each July 1st thereafter, the director shall notify the state treasurer if the combined total amount in the statewide CBRNE response account and any dedicated grant accounts exceeds twenty-five million dollars.
     (2) Within thirty calendar days after receiving this notification, the state treasurer shall transfer the amount exceeding twenty-five million dollars from the statewide CBRNE response account to the general fund or to any other fund from which moneys were transferred into the statewide CBRNE response account.

Sec. 15   RCW 43.43.938 and 1995 c 369 s 18 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) Wherever the term state fire marshal appears in the Revised Code of Washington or the Washington Administrative Code it shall mean the director of fire protection.
     (2) The chief of the Washington state patrol shall appoint an officer who shall be known as the director of fire protection. The board, after consulting with the chief of the Washington state patrol, shall prescribe qualifications for the position of director of fire protection. The board shall submit to the chief of the Washington state patrol a list containing the names of three persons whom the board believes meet its qualifications. If requested by the chief of the Washington state patrol, the board shall submit one additional list of three persons whom the board believes meet its qualifications. The appointment shall be from one of the lists of persons submitted by the board.
     (3) The director of fire protection may designate one or more deputies and may delegate to those deputies his or her duties and authorities as deemed appropriate.
     (4) The director of fire protection, in accordance with the policies, objectives, and priorities of the fire protection policy board, shall prepare a biennial budget pertaining to fire protection services. Such biennial budget shall be submitted as part of the Washington state patrol's budget request.
     (5) The director of fire protection, shall implement and administer, within constraints established by budgeted resources, the policies, objectives, and priorities of the board and all duties of the chief of the Washington state patrol that are to be carried out through the director of fire protection. Such administration shall include negotiation of agreements with the state board for community and technical colleges, the higher education coordinating board, and the state colleges and universities as provided in RCW ((43.63A.320)) 43.43.934. Programs covered by such agreements shall include, but not be limited to, planning curricula, developing and delivering instructional programs and materials, and using existing instructional personnel and facilities. Where appropriate, such contracts shall also include planning and conducting instructional programs at the state fire service training center.
     (6) The director of fire protection shall establish and maintain the statewide CBRNE response program required under this act.
     (7) The chief of the Washington state patrol, through the director of fire protection, shall seek the advice of the board in carrying out his or her duties under law.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 16   The sum of twenty-three million dollars, or as much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2008, from the general fund to the director of fire protection for the purposes of this act.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 17   Sections 1 through 14 of this act constitute a new chapter in Title 43 RCW.