BILL REQ. #:  Z-0808.2 

Read first time 01/18/08.   Referred to Committee on Finance.

     AN ACT Relating to the business and occupation tax classification for cleaning up radioactive waste and other byproducts of weapons production and nuclear research and development; amending RCW 82.04.263; creating a new section; and providing an effective date.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   (1) The legislature finds that the cleaning up of radioactive waste at the Hanford site is crucial to the environment in this state. The legislature intends to include services supporting the cleanup within the radioactive waste cleanup business and occupation tax classification, but it is not the legislature's intent to extend the radioactive waste cleanup classification to all business activities conducted at the Hanford site or performed for persons engaged in the performance of cleanup.
     (2) It is the legislature's intent in enacting this legislation to ensure that the radioactive waste cleanup business and occupation tax classification applies to all services contributing to the performance of a clean-up project at the Hanford site other than services that are routinely provided to any business, including businesses that are not engaged in clean-up activities.

Sec. 2   RCW 82.04.263 and 1996 c 112 s 3 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) Upon every person engaging within this state in the business of cleaning up for the United States, or its instrumentalities, radioactive waste and other byproducts of weapons production and nuclear research and development; as to such persons the amount of the tax with respect to such business shall be equal to the ((value of the)) gross income of the business multiplied by the rate of 0.471 percent.
     (2) For the purposes of this chapter, "cleaning up radioactive waste and other byproducts of weapons production and nuclear research and development" means:
     (a) The activities of handling, storing, treating, immobilizing, stabilizing, or disposing of radioactive waste, radioactive tank waste and capsules, nonradioactive hazardous solid and liquid wastes, or spent nuclear fuel;
     (b) Spent nuclear fuel conditioning;
     (c) Removal of contamination in soils and groundwater;
     (d) Decontamination and decommissioning of facilities; and ((activities integral and necessary to the direct performance of cleanup))
     (e) Services supporting the performance of cleanup. For the purposes of this subsection (2)(e), a service supports the performance of cleanup if it:
     (i) Is within the scope of work under a clean-up contract with the United States department of energy; or
     (ii) Assists in the accomplishment of a requirement of a clean-up project undertaken by the United States department of energy under a subcontract entered into with the prime contractor or another subcontractor in furtherance of a clean-up contract between the United States department of energy and a prime contractor.
     (3) A service does not assist in the accomplishment of a requirement of a clean-up project undertaken by the United States department of energy if the same services are routinely provided to businesses not engaged in clean-up activities, except that the following services are always deemed to contribute to the accomplishment of a requirement of a clean-up project undertaken by the United States department of energy:
     (a) Information technology and computer support services;
     (b) Services rendered in respect to infrastructure; and
     (c) Security, safety, and health services.
     (4) The legislature intends that the examples provided in this subsection be used as a guideline when determining whether a service is "routinely provided to businesses not engaged in clean-up activities" as that phrase is used in subsection (3) of this section.
     (a) The radioactive waste cleanup classification does not apply to general accounting services but does apply to performance audits performed for persons cleaning up radioactive waste.
     (b) The radioactive waste cleanup classification does not apply to general legal services but does apply to those legal services that assist in the accomplishment of a requirement of a clean-up project undertaken by the United States department of energy. Thus, legal services provided to contest any local, state, or federal tax liability or to defend a company against a workers' compensation claim arising from a worksite injury do not qualify for the radioactive waste cleanup classification. But legal services related to the resolution of a contractual dispute between the parties to a clean-up contract between the United States department of energy and a prime contractor do qualify.
     (c) General office janitorial services do not qualify for the radioactive waste cleanup classification, but the specialized cleaning of equipment exposed to radioactive waste does qualify.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   This act takes effect July 1, 2008, and applies prospectively only to activities occurring on or after July 1, 2008.