BILL REQ. #:  H-1409.2 

Read first time 02/01/2007.   Referred to Committee on Agriculture & Natural Resources.

     AN ACT Relating to agricultural activities occurring on agricultural lands; amending RCW 36.70A.060; adding new sections to chapter 36.70A RCW; and declaring an emergency.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   The definitions in this section apply throughout sections 2 and 3 of this act unless the context clearly requires otherwise.
     (1) "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; conducting agricultural operations; maintaining, repairing, and replacing agricultural equipment; maintaining, repairing, and replacing agricultural facilities, when the replacement facility is no closer to the shoreline than the original facility; and maintaining agricultural lands under production or cultivation.
     (2) "Agricultural land" means those specific land areas on which agriculture activities are conducted.
     (3) "Center" means the William D. Ruckelshaus center at Washington State University and the University of Washington.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   (1) Beginning July 1, 2007, the center shall design and carry out a process to identify issues that cause conflicts between agricultural activities occurring on agricultural lands and development regulations to protect critical areas.
     (2) The center shall involve stakeholders from diverse perspectives in the process, including but not limited to representatives of counties, cities, the agriculture industry, the environmental community, Native American tribes, and state agencies.
     (3) By October 1, 2008, the center shall report to the governor and the appropriate committees of the legislature its findings and recommendations for resolving or reducing these conflicts, including statutory changes for consideration during the 2009 legislative session.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   (1) Development regulations that protect critical areas adopted under this chapter do not apply to agricultural activities occurring on agricultural land until there is a resolution of issues causing conflicts between such activities and regulations. The legislature intends this act to be curative, remedial, and to apply retroactively and prospectively to development regulations that protect critical areas adopted under this chapter.
     (2) This chapter does not exempt from development regulations to protect critical areas: (a) New agricultural activities on land not meeting the definition of agricultural land; (b) conversion of agricultural lands to other uses; or (c) development not meeting the definition of agricultural activities.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 4   Sections 1 through 3 of this act are each added to chapter 36.70A RCW.

Sec. 5   RCW 36.70A.060 and 2005 c 423 s 3 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1)(a) ((Except as provided in RCW 36.70A.1701,)) 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.
     (b) 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) 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) 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.
     (5) The application of this section is subject to section 3 of this act.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 6   This act is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety, or support of the state government and its existing public institutions, and takes effect immediately.