BILL REQ. #:  H-4053.1 

Prefiled 01/11/08. Read first time 01/14/08.   Referred to Committee on Local Government.

     AN ACT Relating to procurement of renewable resources by public agencies; and amending RCW 39.34.030, 54.44.020, 25.15.005, 54.16.180, and 42.24.080.

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

Sec. 1   RCW 39.34.030 and 2004 c 190 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) Any power or powers, privileges or authority exercised or capable of exercise by a public agency of this state may be exercised and enjoyed jointly with any other public agency of this state having the power or powers, privilege or authority, and jointly with any public agency of any other state or of the United States to the extent that laws of such other state or of the United States permit such joint exercise or enjoyment. Any agency of the state government when acting jointly with any public agency may exercise and enjoy all of the powers, privileges and authority conferred by this chapter upon a public agency.
     (2) Any two or more public agencies may enter into agreements with one another for joint or cooperative action pursuant to the provisions of this chapter: PROVIDED, That any such joint or cooperative action by public agencies which are educational service districts and/or school districts shall comply with the provisions of RCW 28A.320.080. Appropriate action by ordinance, resolution or otherwise pursuant to law of the governing bodies of the participating public agencies shall be necessary before any such agreement may enter into force.
     (3) Any such agreement shall specify the following:
     (a) Its duration;
     (b) The precise organization, composition and nature of any separate legal or administrative entity created thereby together with the powers delegated thereto, provided such entity may be legally created. Such entity may include a nonprofit corporation organized pursuant to chapter 24.03 or 24.06 RCW whose membership is limited solely to the participating public agencies or a partnership organized pursuant to chapter 25.04 or 25.05 RCW whose partners are limited solely to participating public agencies, or a limited liability company organized under chapter 25.15 RCW whose membership is limited solely to participating public agencies, and the funds of any such corporation ((or)), partnership, or limited liability company shall be subject to audit in the manner provided by law for the auditing of public funds;
     (c) Its purpose or purposes;
     (d) The manner of financing the joint or cooperative undertaking and of establishing and maintaining a budget therefor;
     (e) The permissible method or methods to be employed in accomplishing the partial or complete termination of the agreement and for disposing of property upon such partial or complete termination;
     (f) Any other necessary and proper matters.
     (4) In the event that the agreement does not establish a separate legal entity to conduct the joint or cooperative undertaking, the agreement shall, in addition to items (a), (c), (d), (e) and (f) enumerated in subdivision (3) hereof, contain the following:
     (a) Provision for an administrator or a joint board responsible for administering the joint or cooperative undertaking. In the case of a joint board, public agencies party to the agreement shall be represented;
     (b) The manner of acquiring, holding and disposing of real and personal property used in the joint or cooperative undertaking. Any joint board is authorized to establish a special fund with a state, county, city, or district treasurer servicing an involved public agency designated "Operating fund of . . . . . . joint board".
     (5) No agreement made pursuant to this chapter relieves any public agency of any obligation or responsibility imposed upon it by law except that:
     (a) To the extent of actual and timely performance thereof by a joint board or other legal or administrative entity created by an agreement made hereunder, the performance may be offered in satisfaction of the obligation or responsibility; and
     (b) With respect to one or more public agencies purchasing or otherwise contracting through a bid, proposal, or contract awarded by another public agency or by a group of public agencies, any statutory obligation to provide notice for bids or proposals that applies to the public agencies involved is satisfied if the public agency or group of public agencies that awarded the bid, proposal, or contract complied with its own statutory requirements and either (i) posted the bid or solicitation notice on a web site established and maintained by a public agency, purchasing cooperative, or similar service provider, for purposes of posting public notice of bid or proposal solicitations, or (ii) provided an access link on the state's web portal to the notice.
     (6) Financing of joint projects by agreement shall be as provided by law.

Sec. 2   RCW 54.44.020 and 1997 c 230 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) Except as provided in subsections (2) and (3) of this section, cities of the first class, public utility districts organized under chapter 54.08 RCW, and joint operating agencies organized under chapter 43.52 RCW, any such cities and public utility districts which operate electric generating facilities or distribution systems and any joint operating agency shall have power and authority to participate and enter into agreements with each other and with electrical companies which are subject to the jurisdiction of the Washington utilities and transportation commission or the public utility commissioner of Oregon, hereinafter called "regulated utilities", and with rural electric cooperatives, including generation and transmission cooperatives for the undivided ownership of any type of electric generating plants and facilities, including, but not limited to nuclear and other thermal power generating plants and facilities and transmission facilities including, but not limited to, related transmission facilities, hereinafter called "common facilities", and for the planning, financing, acquisition, construction, operation and maintenance thereof. It shall be provided in such agreements that each city, public utility district, or joint operating agency shall own a percentage of any common facility equal to the percentage of the money furnished or the value of property supplied by it for the acquisition and construction thereof and shall own and control a like percentage of the electrical output thereof.
     (2) Cities of the first class, public utility districts organized under chapter 54.08 RCW, and joint operating agencies organized under chapter 43.52 RCW, shall have the power and authority to participate and enter into agreements for the undivided ownership of a coal-fired thermal electric generating plant and facility placed in operation before July 1, 1975, including related common facilities, and for the planning, financing, acquisition, construction, operation, and maintenance of the plant and facility. It shall be provided in such agreements that each city, public utility district, or joint operating agency shall own a percentage of any common facility equal to the percentage of the money furnished or the value of property supplied by the city, district, or agency, for the acquisition and construction of the facility and shall own and control a like percentage of the electrical output thereof. Cities of the first class, public utility districts, and joint operating agencies may enter into agreements under this subsection with each other, with regulated utilities, with rural electric cooperatives, with electric companies subject to the jurisdiction of the regulatory commission of any other state, and with any power marketer subject to the jurisdiction of the federal energy regulatory commission.
     (3) Except as provided in subsections (1) and (2) of this section, cities of the first class, public utility districts organized under chapter 54.08 RCW, any cities that operate electric generating facilities or distribution systems, any joint operating agency, or any separate legal entity comprising two or more thereof organized under chapter 39.34 RCW shall, either directly or as co-owners of a separate legal entity, have power and authority to participate and enter into agreements with each other, and with any of the following, either directly or as co-owners of a separate legal entity: Any public agency, as that term is defined in RCW 39.34.020, with electrical companies that are subject to the jurisdiction of the Washington utilities and transportation commission or the regulatory commission of any state, hereinafter called "regulated utilities," and with rural electric cooperatives and generation and transmission cooperatives or any wholly owned subsidiaries of either rural electric cooperatives or generation and transmission cooperatives, for the undivided ownership, or indirect ownership in the case of a separate legal entity, of any type of electric generating plants powered by an eligible renewable resource as defined in RCW 19.285.030 and transmission facilities including, but not limited to, related transmission facilities, hereinafter called "common facilities," and for the planning, financing, acquisition, construction, operation, and maintenance thereof. Such an agreement must provide that each city, public utility district, or joint operating agency must own a percentage of any common facility or a percentage of any separate legal entity equal to the percentage of the money furnished or the value of property supplied by it for the acquisition and construction thereof and must own and control, or have a right to own and control in the case of a separate legal entity, a like percentage of the electrical output thereof.
     (4) Each participant shall defray its own interest and other payments required to be made or deposited in connection with any financing undertaken by it to pay its percentage of the money furnished or value of property supplied by it for the planning, acquisition and construction of any common facility, or any additions or betterments thereto. The agreement shall provide a uniform method of determining and allocating operation and maintenance expenses of the common facility.
     (((4))) (5) Each city, public utility district, joint operating agency, regulated utility, and cooperatives participating in the direct or indirect ownership or operation of a common facility as described in subsections (1) through (3) of this section shall pay all taxes chargeable to its share of the common facility and the electric energy generated thereby under applicable statutes as now or hereafter in effect, and may make payments during preliminary work and construction for any increased financial burden suffered by any county or other existing taxing district in the county in which the common facility is located, pursuant to agreement with such county or taxing district.

Sec. 3   RCW 25.15.005 and 2002 c 296 s 3 are each amended to read as follows:
     ((As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires:)) The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter unless the context clearly requires otherwise.
     (1) "Certificate of formation" means the certificate referred to in RCW 25.15.070, and the certificate as amended.
     (2) "Event of dissociation" means an event that causes a person to cease to be a member as provided in RCW 25.15.130.
     (3) "Foreign limited liability company" means an entity that is formed under:
     (a) The limited liability company laws of any state other than this state; or
     (b) The laws of any foreign country that is: (i) An unincorporated association, (ii) formed under a statute pursuant to which an association may be formed that affords to each of its members limited liability with respect to the liabilities of the entity, and (iii) not required, in order to transact business or conduct affairs in this state, to be registered or qualified under Title 23B or 24 RCW, or any other chapter of the Revised Code of Washington authorizing the formation of a domestic entity and the registration or qualification in this state of similar entities formed under the laws of a jurisdiction other than this state.
     (4) "Limited liability company" and "domestic limited liability company" means a limited liability company having one or more members that is organized and existing under this chapter.
     (5) "Limited liability company agreement" means any written agreement of the members, or any written statement of the sole member, as to the affairs of a limited liability company and the conduct of its business which is binding upon the member or members.
     (6) "Limited liability company interest" means a member's share of the profits and losses of a limited liability company and a member's right to receive distributions of the limited liability company's assets.
     (7) "Manager" or "managers" means, with respect to a limited liability company that has set forth in its certificate of formation that it is to be managed by managers, the person, or persons designated in accordance with RCW 25.15.150(2).
     (8) "Member" means a person who has been admitted to a limited liability company as a member as provided in RCW 25.15.115 and who has not been dissociated from the limited liability company.
     (9) "Person" means an individual, corporation, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, limited liability company, association, joint venture, government, governmental subdivision, agency, or instrumentality, or a separate legal entity comprised of two or more of these entities, or any other legal or commercial entity.
     (10) "Professional limited liability company" means a limited liability company which is organized for the purpose of rendering professional service and whose certificate of formation sets forth that it is a professional limited liability company subject to RCW 25.15.045.
     (11) "Professional service" means the same as defined under RCW 18.100.030.
     (12) "State" means the District of Columbia or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico or any state, territory, possession, or other jurisdiction of the United States other than the state of Washington.

Sec. 4   RCW 54.16.180 and 1999 c 69 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
     A district may sell and convey, lease, or otherwise dispose of all or any part of its works, plants, systems, utilities and properties, after proceedings and approval by the voters of the district, as provided for the lease or disposition of like properties and facilities owned by cities and towns: PROVIDED, That the affirmative vote of three-fifths of the voters voting at an election on the question of approval of a proposed sale, shall be necessary to authorize such sale: PROVIDED FURTHER, That a district may sell, convey, lease or otherwise dispose of all or any part of the property owned by it, located outside its boundaries, to another public utility district, city, town or other municipal corporation without the approval of the voters; or may sell, convey, lease, or otherwise dispose of to any person or public body, any part, either within or without its boundaries, which has become unserviceable, inadequate, obsolete, worn out or unfit to be used in the operations of the system and which is no longer necessary, material to, and useful in such operations, without the approval of the voters: PROVIDED FURTHER, That a district may sell, convey, lease or otherwise dispose of items of equipment or materials to any other district, to any cooperative, mutual, consumer-owned or investor-owned utility, to any federal, state, or local government agency, to any contractor employed by the district or any other district, utility, or agency, or any customer of the district or of any other district or utility, from the district's stores without voter approval or resolution of the district's board, if such items of equipment or materials cannot practicably be obtained on a timely basis from any other source, and the amount received by the district in consideration for any such sale, conveyance, lease, or other disposal of such items of equipment or materials is not less than the district's cost to purchase such items or the reasonable market value of equipment or materials: PROVIDED FURTHER, That a public utility district located within a county with a population of from one hundred twenty-five thousand to less than two hundred ten thousand may sell and convey to a city of the first class, which owns its own water system, all or any part of a water system owned by said public utility district where a portion of it is located within the boundaries of such city, without approval of the voters upon such terms and conditions as the district shall determine: PROVIDED FURTHER, That a public utility district located in a county with a population of from twelve thousand to less than eighteen thousand and bordered by the Columbia river may, separately or in connection with the operation of a water system, or as part of a plan for acquiring or constructing and operating a water system, or in connection with the creation of another or subsidiary local utility district, may provide for the acquisition or construction, additions or improvements to, or extensions of, and operation of a sewage system within the same service area as in the judgment of the district commission is necessary or advisable in order to eliminate or avoid any existing or potential danger to the public health by reason of the lack of sewerage facilities or by reason of the inadequacy of existing facilities: AND PROVIDED FURTHER, That a public utility district located within a county with a population of from one hundred twenty-five thousand to less than two hundred ten thousand bordering on Puget Sound may sell and convey to any city or town with a population of less than ten thousand all or any part of a water system owned by said public utility district without approval of the voters upon such terms and conditions as the district shall determine: AND PROVIDED FURTHER, That a public utility district may sell and convey, lease, or otherwise dispose of, to any person or entity without approval of the voters and upon such terms and conditions as the public utility district determines, all or any part of an electric generating project owned directly or indirectly by the public utility district, regardless of whether the project is completed, operable, or operating, as long as such a project is or would be powered by an eligible renewable resource as that term is defined in RCW 19.285.030, and as long as the public utility district, or the separate legal entity in which the district has an interest in the case of indirect ownership: (1) Has the right to purchase all or any part of the energy from such a project during the period it does not have a direct or indirect ownership interest in the project; and (2) has an option to repurchase the project or part thereof sold, conveyed, leased, or otherwise disposed of at or below fair market value within twenty-two years from the date of sale, conveyance, lease, or other disposition. Public utility districts are municipal corporations for the purposes of this section and the commission shall be held to be the legislative body and the president and secretary shall have the same powers and perform the same duties as the mayor and city clerk and the resolutions of the districts shall be held to be ordinances within the meaning of the statutes governing the sale, lease, or other disposal of public utilities owned by cities and towns.

Sec. 5   RCW 42.24.080 and 1995 c 301 s 72 are each amended to read as follows:
     All claims presented against any county, city, district or other municipal corporation or political subdivision by persons furnishing materials, rendering services or performing labor, or for any other contractual purpose, shall be audited, before payment, by an auditing officer elected or appointed pursuant to statute or, in the absence of statute, an appropriate charter provision, ordinance or resolution of the municipal corporation or political subdivision. Such claims shall be prepared for audit and payment on a form and in the manner prescribed by the state auditor. The form shall provide for the authentication and certification by such auditing officer that the materials have been furnished, the services rendered ((or)), the labor performed as described, or that any advance payment is due and payable pursuant to a contract, or is available as an option for full or partial fulfillment of an obligation pursuant to a contract, and that the claim is a just, due and unpaid obligation against the municipal corporation or political subdivision; and no claim shall be paid without such authentication and certification: PROVIDED, That the certificates as to claims of officers and employees of a county, city, district or other municipal corporation or political subdivision, for services rendered, shall be made by the person charged with the duty of preparing and submitting vouchers for the payment of services, and he or she shall certify that the claim is just, true and unpaid, which certificate shall be part of the voucher.