BILL REQ. #:  S-0378.4 

Read first time 01/12/2007.   Referred to Committee on Transportation.

     AN ACT Relating to creating the freight congestion relief account to improve freight corridors with funding from the imposition of a fee on the processing of shipping containers; reenacting and amending RCW 43.84.092; adding a new chapter to Title 47 RCW; and prescribing penalties.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   The legislature finds and declares there is a need to mitigate the enormous burden imposed on the state transportation system by the overland movement of cargo shipped to and from Washington state ports. Accordingly, it is the intent of the legislature to alleviate this burden by imposing a fee on the processing of shipping containers through those ports and use the funds derived therefrom to provide congestion relief through the improvement of freight rail systems and state highways that function as freight corridors.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter unless the context clearly requires otherwise.
     (1) "Department" means the department of revenue.
     (2) "Marine terminal operator" means a person engaged in the state of Washington in the business of furnishing use of a wharf, dock, warehouse, or other terminal services and facilities including, but not limited to, all activities of a labor, service, or transportation nature where cargo is documented, handled, moved, or loaded/unloaded from vessels involved in waterborne commerce.
     (3) "Twenty-foot equivalent unit" means a measure of containerized cargo capacity equal to one standard twenty foot (length) by eight foot (width) by eight foot and six inches (height) container.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   (1) A fee is imposed on the processing of shipping containers in the ports of Washington state.
     (2) The fee must be imposed at the rate of fifty dollars per twenty-foot equivalent unit and is payable by the marine terminal operator processing the container. Every marine terminal operator engaged in processing twenty-foot equivalent units may retain ten percent of the fifty-dollar fee collected. The moneys retained may be used for costs associated with the proper collection and reporting of twenty-foot equivalent units processed. The retained amount must be reported as gross income under the service and other activities tax classification on the excise tax return.
     (3) The twenty-foot equivalent unit fee collected by marine terminal operators, less the ten percent amount retained by the marine terminal operator as provided in subsection (2) of this section, must be paid to the department in accordance with RCW 82.32.045.
     (4) The department must incorporate into the agency's regular audit cycle a reconciliation of the number of twenty-foot equivalent units processed and the amount of revenue collected by the marine terminal operators processing twenty-foot equivalent units. The department must collect from marine terminal operators processing twenty-foot equivalent units the following information, which shall be required to be reported on the appropriate business excise tax return form, as determined by the department:
     (a) All fees required to be collected under this section during the previous month;
     (b) A list of all freight containers processed by the marine terminal operator during the previous month; and
     (c) Satisfactory proof, as determined by the department, that the fee was imposed on each twenty-foot equivalent unit processed.
     (5) All other applicable provisions of chapter 82.32 RCW apply with respect to the fee imposed under this section. The department shall administer this section.
     (6) A fee imposed under this section is to take effect no sooner than seventy-five days after the department receives notice, and is to take effect only on the first day of January, April, July, or October. Unless waived by the department, notice includes providing the appropriate department with digital mapping and legal descriptions of areas in which the fee will be collected.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 4   The freight congestion relief account is created in the state treasury. All receipts from twenty-foot equivalent unit fees imposed under section 3 of this act must be deposited in the account. Moneys in the account may be spent only after appropriation. Expenditures from the account may only be used to provide congestion relief through the improvement of freight rail systems and state highways that function as freight corridors.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 5   (1) The fee required by this chapter, to be collected by the marine terminal operator, must be deemed to be held in trust by the marine terminal operator until paid to the department, and any marine terminal operator who appropriates or converts the fee collected to his or her own use or to any use other than the payment of the fee to the extent that the money required to be collected is not available for payment on the due date as prescribed in this chapter is guilty of a gross misdemeanor, as provided in RCW 9A.20.021.
     (2) If a marine terminal operator fails to collect the fee imposed in this chapter or, having collected the fee, fails to pay it to the department in the manner prescribed by this chapter, whether such failure is the result of his or her own acts or the result of acts or conditions beyond his or her control, he or she shall, nevertheless, be personally liable to the state for the amount of the fee.

Sec. 6   RCW 43.84.092 and 2006 c 337 s 11, 2006 c 311 s 23, 2006 c 171 s 10, 2006 c 56 s 10, and 2006 c 6 s 8 are each reenacted and amended to read as follows:
     (1) All earnings of investments of surplus balances in the state treasury shall be deposited to the treasury income account, which account is hereby established in the state treasury.
     (2) The treasury income account shall be utilized to pay or receive funds associated with federal programs as required by the federal cash management improvement act of 1990. The treasury income account is subject in all respects to chapter 43.88 RCW, but no appropriation is required for refunds or allocations of interest earnings required by the cash management improvement act. Refunds of interest to the federal treasury required under the cash management improvement act fall under RCW 43.88.180 and shall not require appropriation. The office of financial management shall determine the amounts due to or from the federal government pursuant to the cash management improvement act. The office of financial management may direct transfers of funds between accounts as deemed necessary to implement the provisions of the cash management improvement act, and this subsection. Refunds or allocations shall occur prior to the distributions of earnings set forth in subsection (4) of this section.
     (3) Except for the provisions of RCW 43.84.160, the treasury income account may be utilized for the payment of purchased banking services on behalf of treasury funds including, but not limited to, depository, safekeeping, and disbursement functions for the state treasury and affected state agencies. The treasury income account is subject in all respects to chapter 43.88 RCW, but no appropriation is required for payments to financial institutions. Payments shall occur prior to distribution of earnings set forth in subsection (4) of this section.
     (4) Monthly, the state treasurer shall distribute the earnings credited to the treasury income account. The state treasurer shall credit the general fund with all the earnings credited to the treasury income account except:
     (a) The following accounts and funds shall receive their proportionate share of earnings based upon each account's and fund's average daily balance for the period: The capitol building construction account, the Cedar River channel construction and operation account, the Central Washington University capital projects account, the charitable, educational, penal and reformatory institutions account, the Columbia river basin water supply development account, the common school construction fund, the county criminal justice assistance account, the county sales and use tax equalization account, the data processing building construction account, the deferred compensation administrative account, the deferred compensation principal account, the department of retirement systems expense account, the developmental disabilities community trust account, the drinking water assistance account, the drinking water assistance administrative account, the drinking water assistance repayment account, the Eastern Washington University capital projects account, the education construction fund, the education legacy trust account, the election account, the emergency reserve fund, the energy freedom account, The Evergreen State College capital projects account, the federal forest revolving account, the freight congestion relief account, the freight mobility investment account, the freight mobility multimodal account, the health services account, the public health services account, the health system capacity account, the personal health services account, the state higher education construction account, the higher education construction account, the highway infrastructure account, the high-occupancy toll lanes operations account, the industrial insurance premium refund account, the judges' retirement account, the judicial retirement administrative account, the judicial retirement principal account, the local leasehold excise tax account, the local real estate excise tax account, the local sales and use tax account, the medical aid account, the mobile home park relocation fund, the multimodal transportation account, the municipal criminal justice assistance account, the municipal sales and use tax equalization account, the natural resources deposit account, the oyster reserve land account, the pension funding stabilization account, the perpetual surveillance and maintenance account, the public employees' retirement system plan 1 account, the public employees' retirement system combined plan 2 and plan 3 account, the public facilities construction loan revolving account beginning July 1, 2004, the public health supplemental account, the public works assistance account, the Puyallup tribal settlement account, the real estate appraiser commission account, the regional mobility grant program account, the resource management cost account, the rural Washington loan fund, the site closure account, the small city pavement and sidewalk account, the special wildlife account, the state employees' insurance account, the state employees' insurance reserve account, the state investment board expense account, the state investment board commingled trust fund accounts, the supplemental pension account, the Tacoma Narrows toll bridge account, the teachers' retirement system plan 1 account, the teachers' retirement system combined plan 2 and plan 3 account, the tobacco prevention and control account, the tobacco settlement account, the transportation infrastructure account, the transportation partnership account, the tuition recovery trust fund, the University of Washington bond retirement fund, the University of Washington building account, the volunteer fire fighters' and reserve officers' relief and pension principal fund, the volunteer fire fighters' and reserve officers' administrative fund, the Washington fruit express account, the Washington judicial retirement system account, the Washington law enforcement officers' and fire fighters' system plan 1 retirement account, the Washington law enforcement officers' and fire fighters' system plan 2 retirement account, the Washington public safety employees' plan 2 retirement account, the Washington school employees' retirement system combined plan 2 and 3 account, the Washington state health insurance pool account, the Washington state patrol retirement account, the Washington State University building account, the Washington State University bond retirement fund, the water pollution control revolving fund, and the Western Washington University capital projects account. Earnings derived from investing balances of the agricultural permanent fund, the normal school permanent fund, the permanent common school fund, the scientific permanent fund, and the state university permanent fund shall be allocated to their respective beneficiary accounts. All earnings to be distributed under this subsection (4)(a) shall first be reduced by the allocation to the state treasurer's service fund pursuant to RCW 43.08.190.
     (b) The following accounts and funds shall receive eighty percent of their proportionate share of earnings based upon each account's or fund's average daily balance for the period: The aeronautics account, the aircraft search and rescue account, the county arterial preservation account, the department of licensing services account, the essential rail assistance account, the ferry bond retirement fund, the grade crossing protective fund, the high capacity transportation account, the highway bond retirement fund, the highway safety account, the motor vehicle fund, the motorcycle safety education account, the pilotage account, the public transportation systems account, the Puget Sound capital construction account, the Puget Sound ferry operations account, the recreational vehicle account, the rural arterial trust account, the safety and education account, the special category C account, the state patrol highway account, the transportation 2003 account (nickel account), the transportation equipment fund, the transportation fund, the transportation improvement account, the transportation improvement board bond retirement account, and the urban arterial trust account.
     (5) In conformance with Article II, section 37 of the state Constitution, no treasury accounts or funds shall be allocated earnings without the specific affirmative directive of this section.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 7   Sections 1 through 5 of this act constitute a new chapter in Title 47 RCW.