Passed by the House April 17, 2007 Yeas 98 Nays 0 ________________________________________ Speaker of the House of Representatives Passed by the Senate April 12, 2007 Yeas 48 Nays 1 ________________________________________ President of the Senate		CERTIFICATE I, Richard Nafziger, Chief Clerk of the House of Representatives of the State of Washington, do hereby certify that the attached is HOUSE BILL 1038 as passed by the House of Representatives and the Senate on the dates hereon set forth. ________________________________________ Chief Clerk
Approved ________________________________________ Governor of the State of Washington		FILED Secretary of State State of Washington

Prefiled 12/27/2006. Read first time 01/08/2007. Referred to Committee on Technology, Energy & Communications.

AN ACT Relating to developing regional compacts for siting electric transmission lines; adding a new section to chapter 80.50 RCW; creating a new section; and providing an expiration date.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1 It is the intent of the legislature to create a regional process for the siting of new electric transmission lines related to the national energy policy act of 2005. This regional process will facilitate the siting of new cross borders electric transmission lines by providing a "one stop" licensing process. This act calls for the creation of a legislative task force to establish an interstate compact to assert jurisdiction over national interest electric transmission corridors.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   A new section is added to chapter 80.50 RCW to read as follows:
     (1)(a) A legislative task force on national interest electric transmission corridors is established, with members as provided in this subsection.
     (i) The chair and the ranking minority member from the senate water, energy and telecommunications committee or their designees;
     (ii) The chair and the ranking minority member from the house of representatives technology, energy and communications committee or their designees;
     (iii) The governor shall appoint five members representing the energy facility site evaluation council, local governments, resource agencies, or other persons with appropriate expertise.
     (b) The task force shall choose its cochairs representing the senate and house of representatives from among its legislative membership.
     (2)(a) The task force shall negotiate the terms of an interstate compact that establishes a regional process for siting national interest electric transmission corridors satisfactory to the national energy policy act of 2005.
     (b) In negotiating the terms of the compact, the task force shall ensure that the compact reflects as close as possible the Washington state energy facility site evaluation council model under this chapter and its procedures to ensure appropriate adjudicative proceedings and mitigation of environmental impacts.
     (c) The task force shall negotiate the terms of the compact through processes established and supported by the Pacific Northwest economic region for which the state of Washington is a party as referenced in RCW 43.147.010.
     (3) Staff support for the task force members shall be provided from respective committees and appropriate agencies appointed by the governor.
     (4) Legislative members of the task force shall be reimbursed for travel expenses in accordance with RCW 44.04.120. Nonlegislative members, except those representing an employer or organization, are entitled to be reimbursed for travel expenses in accordance with RCW 43.03.050 and 43.03.060.
     (5) The task force shall report its preliminary recommendations on the compact to the appropriate committees of the legislature by January 1, 2008.
     (6) The task force shall report its final recommendations on the compact to the appropriate committees of the legislature by September 1, 2008.
     (7) This section expires July 1, 2009.