BILL REQ. #:  H-0584.1 

Read first time 01/16/13.   Referred to Committee on Public Safety.

     AN ACT Relating to prefire mitigation; amending RCW 43.43.934; and creating a new section.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   The legislature finds that wildfire occurrence, fire intensity, and values at risk have continued to increase across the state in recent years. Three of the primary causal factors behind these increases are population growth, changes in land use, and weather patterns and drought. The 2012 wildfire season was one of the worst in history and caused untold millions of dollars' worth of fire-related damages. Costs associated with ongoing fire resource deployment, state fire mobilization, as well as lingering air quality issues and freight delay due to road closures, have added up to one of the costliest fire seasons on record.
     The legislature intends to help limit the scope of future wildfires by establishing a statewide prefire mitigation plan to be overseen by the office of the state fire marshal. This plan must provide for coordination with local fire departments to develop individualized community-wide protection plans that include public education such as firewise, partnership building, and personal wildfire action plans in the event of a wildfire.

Sec. 2   RCW 43.43.934 and 2012 c 229 s 818 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) The director of fire protection shall:
     (((1)))(a)(i)(A) With the state board for community and technical colleges, provide academic, vocational, and field training programs for the fire service; and (((ii))) (B) with the state colleges and universities, provide instructional programs requiring advanced training, especially in command and management skills;
     (((b))) (ii) Cooperate with the common schools, technical and community colleges, institutions of higher education, and any department or division of the state, or of any county or municipal corporation in establishing and maintaining instruction in fire service training and education in accordance with any act of congress and legislation enacted by the legislature in pursuance thereof and in establishing, building, and operating training and education facilities.
     Industrial fire departments and private fire investigators may participate in training and education programs under this chapter for a reasonable fee established by rule;
     (((c))) (iii) Develop and adopt a master plan for constructing, equipping, maintaining, and operating necessary fire service training and education facilities subject to the provisions of chapter ((43.19)) 39.26 RCW;
     (((d))) (iv) Develop and adopt a master plan for the purchase, lease, or other acquisition of real estate necessary for fire service training and education facilities in a manner provided by law; and
     (((e))) (v) Develop and adopt a plan with a goal of providing firefighter one and wildland training to all firefighters in the state. Wildland training reimbursement will be provided if a fire protection district or a city fire department has and is fulfilling their interior attack policy or if they do not have an interior attack policy. The plan will include a reimbursement for fire protection districts and city fire departments of not less than three dollars for every hour of firefighter one or wildland training. The Washington state patrol shall not provide reimbursement for more than two hundred hours of firefighter one or wildland training for each firefighter trained((.));
     (((2)(a))) (b)(i) Promote mutual aid and disaster planning for fire services in this state;
     (((b))) (ii) Assure the dissemination of information concerning the amount of fire damage including that damage caused by arson, and its causes and prevention; and
     (((c))) (iii) Implement any legislation enacted by the legislature to meet the requirements of any acts of congress that apply to this section((.));
     (((3))) (c)(i) Develop a statewide plan for prefire mitigation by adopting by rule the principles and tenets of the Ready Set Go program developed by the international association of fire chiefs. The rules must require coordination with local fire departments to develop individualized community-wide protection plans that include public education such as firewise, partnership building, and personal wildfire action plans in the event of a wildfire.
     (ii) The office of the state fire marshal shall work with the state building code council to identify potential barriers to, and encourage adoption of, the international wildland urban interface code.
     (iii) The wildfire prevention account is hereby created in the custody of the state treasurer. The account shall consist of: (A) All bequests, fees, gifts, emoluments, or donations given or paid into the account; (B) five percent of all moneys received by the state from taxes on fire insurance premiums under RCW 48.14.020; and (C) interest on the investments of the account. Expenditures from the account may be used only for prefire mitigation efforts as described in this chapter and any rules adopted under this chapter. Only the director of state fire protection or the director's designee may authorize expenditures from the account. The account is subject to allotment procedures under chapter 43.88 RCW, but an appropriation is not required for expenditures.
     (2) In carrying out its statutory duties, the office of the state fire marshal shall give particular consideration to the appropriate roles to be played by the state and by local jurisdictions with fire protection responsibilities. Any determinations on the division of responsibility shall be made in consultation with local fire officials and their representatives.
     To the extent possible, the office of the state fire marshal shall encourage development of regional units along compatible geographic, population, economic, and fire risk dimensions. Such regional units may serve to: (a) Reinforce coordination among state and local activities in fire service training, reporting, inspections, and investigations; (b) identify areas of special need, particularly in smaller jurisdictions with inadequate resources; (c) assist the state in its oversight responsibilities; (d) identify funding needs and options at both the state and local levels; and (e) provide models for building local capacity in fire protection programs.
     (3) "Firewise," for purpose of this chapter, means the firewise communities program developed by the national fire protection association, which encourages local solutions for wildfire safety by involving homeowners, community leaders, planners, developers, firefighters, and others in the effort to protect people and property from wildfire risks.