BILL REQ. #: H-1837.1
State of Washington | 63rd Legislature | 2013 Regular Session |
READ FIRST TIME 02/05/14.
AN ACT Relating to the public works board; amending RCW 43.155.010, 43.155.020, 43.155.030, 43.155.050, and 43.155.070; adding new sections to chapter 43.155 RCW; and repealing RCW 43.155.040, 43.155.060, 43.155.065, 43.155.068, 43.155.110, and 43.155.120.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec. 1 RCW 43.155.010 and 1996 c 168 s 1 are each amended to read
as follows:
(1) The legislature finds that ((there exists in the state of
Washington over four billion dollars worth of critical projects for the
planning, acquisition, construction, repair, replacement,
rehabilitation, or improvement of streets and roads, bridges, water
systems, and storm and sanitary sewage systems. The December, 1983
Washington state public works report prepared by the planning and
community affairs agency documented that local governments expect to be
capable of financing over two billion dollars worth of the costs of
those critical projects but will not be able to fund nearly half of the
documented needs.)) while local governments are responsible for
creating, developing, managing, financing, operating, and maintaining
local infrastructure systems, state priority policy objectives are
served by investing financial and technical resources in these local
systems. A significant backlog of projects to build, repair, and
improve local public infrastructure systems exists. The state intends
to strategically invest resources to address this backlog and to
promote the following priority policy objectives:
The legislature further finds that Washington's local governments
have unmet financial needs for solid waste disposal, including
recycling, and encourages the board to make an equitable geographic
distribution of the funds
(a) Efficient use of state resources;
(b) Preservation and enhancement of health and safety;
(c) Abatement of pollution and protection of the environment;
(d) Creation of new, family wage jobs, and avoidance of shifting
existing jobs from one community to another;
(e) Fostering economic development consistent with chapter 36.70A
RCW;
(f) Efficiency in delivery of goods and services, public transit,
and transportation;
(g) Avoidance of additional costs to state and local governments
that adversely impact local residents and small businesses; and
(h) Reduction of the overall cost of public infrastructure.
(2) It is the policy of the state of Washington to encourage self-reliance by local governments in meeting their public works needs and
to assist in the financing of critical public works projects by
((making loans, financing guarantees,)) providing financial and
technical assistance ((available)) to local governments for these
projects.
Sec. 2 RCW 43.155.020 and 2009 c 565 s 33 are each amended to
read as follows:
Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the definitions in
this section shall apply throughout this chapter.
(1) "Board" means the public works board created in RCW 43.155.030.
(2) "Capital facility plan" means a capital facility plan required
by the growth management act under chapter 36.70A RCW or, for local
governments not fully planning under the growth management act, a plan
required by a regulating state agency or the public works board.
(3) "Construction" means construction of public works projects as
defined within this chapter.
(4) "Department" means the department of commerce.
(((4) "Financing guarantees" means the pledge of money in the
public works assistance account, or money to be received by the public
works assistance account, to the repayment of all or a portion of the
principal of or interest on obligations issued by local governments to
finance public works projects.))
(5) "Director" means the director of the department.
(6) "Emergency" means a construction project made necessary by a
natural disaster or an immediate and emergent threat to the public
health and safety due to unforeseen or unavoidable circumstances as
evidenced by a local government declaration.
(7) "Financial assistance" means loans unless otherwise specified
in this chapter or by the legislature.
(8) "Local government((s))" means ((cities)) a city, town((s)),
((counties)) county, special purpose district((s)), and any other
municipal corporation((s)) or quasi-municipal corporation((s)) in the
state, excluding school districts and port districts, authorized by law
to fund public works.
(((6))) (9) "Planning project" means the process through which a
jurisdiction creates and adopts a capital facilities plan, a
comprehensive system plan, or equivalent.
(10) "Policy objectives" means state priorities that guide the
investment of public works assistance account funds as enumerated in
this chapter.
(11) "Preconstruction" means activities including, but not limited
to, project planning, design, engineering, bid document preparation,
environmental studies, right-of-way acquisition, and other preliminary
phases of construction projects as determined by the public works
board.
(12) "Public works project" means a project of a local government
((for)) listed in a capital facilities plan or equivalent that results
in the planning, acquisition, construction, repair, reconstruction,
replacement, rehabilitation, or improvement of streets and roads,
bridges, water systems, or storm and sanitary sewage systems and solid
waste facilities, including recycling facilities. A planning project
may include the compilation of biological, hydrological, or other data
on a county, drainage basin, or region necessary to develop a base of
information for a capital facility plan.
(((7) "Solid waste or recycling project" means remedial actions
necessary to bring abandoned or closed landfills into compliance with
regulatory requirements and the repair, restoration, and replacement of
existing solid waste transfer, recycling facilities, and landfill
projects limited to the opening of landfill cells that are in existing
and permitted landfills.)) (13) "Technical assistance" means training and other services
provided to local governments to:
(8)
(a) ((Help such local governments plan, apply, and qualify for
loans and financing guarantees from the board, and (b) help local
governments improve their ability to plan for, finance, acquire,
construct, repair, replace, rehabilitate, and maintain public
facilities)) Improve their ability to plan for, finance, acquire,
construct, reconstruct, and maintain infrastructure systems; and/or
(b) Improve their technical, financial, and/or managerial capacity
to operate their infrastructure systems in a manner consistent with
federal and state requirements and ensure long-term sustainability of
the systems.
Sec. 3 RCW 43.155.030 and 1999 c 153 s 58 are each amended to
read as follows:
(1) The public works board is hereby created.
(2) The board shall be composed of thirteen members appointed by
the governor for terms of four years((, except that five members
initially shall be appointed for terms of two years)). The board shall
include: (a) Three members, including two ((of whom shall be)) elected
officials and one ((shall be a public works manager)) official working
in public works or a related field, appointed from a list of ((at least
six)) persons nominated by the association of Washington cities or its
successor; (b) three members, including two ((of whom shall be))
elected officials and one ((shall be a public works manager)) official
working in public works or a related field, appointed from a list of
((at least six)) persons nominated by the Washington state association
of counties or its successor; (c) ((three members appointed from a list
of at least six persons nominated jointly by the Washington public
utility districts association and a state association of water-sewer
districts, or their successors)) one member appointed from a list of
persons nominated by the Washington public utility districts
association or its successor; (d) two members appointed from a list of
persons nominated by the Washington association of sewer and water
districts or its successor; and (((d))) (e) four members appointed from
the general public. In appointing the four general public members, the
governor shall endeavor to balance the geographical composition of the
board and to include members with special expertise in relevant fields
((such as public finance, architecture and civil engineering, and
public works construction)). The governor shall appoint one of the
general public members of the board as chair. The term of the chair
shall coincide with the term of the governor.
(3) ((Staff support to the board shall be provided by the
department.)) Members of the board shall receive no compensation but shall
be reimbursed for travel expenses under RCW 43.03.050 and 43.03.060.
(4)
(((5))) (4) If a vacancy on the board occurs by death, resignation,
or otherwise, the governor shall fill the vacant position for the
unexpired term. Each vacancy in a position appointed from lists
provided by the associations under subsection (2) of this section shall
be filled from a list of ((at least three)) persons nominated by the
relevant association or associations. Any members of the board((,
appointive or otherwise,)) may be removed by the governor for cause in
accordance with RCW 43.06.070 and 43.06.080.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 4 A new section is added to chapter 43.155 RCW
to read as follows:
(1) In order to assist local governments, the board:
(a) Must manage the public works assistance account in such a way
as to ensure its sustainability;
(b) Must execute contracts or otherwise financially obligate funds
from the public works assistance account for projects approved for
funding by the board;
(c) May approve public works projects for financial assistance
under the following programs:
(i) Construction;
(ii) Preconstruction;
(iii) Capital facilities planning;
(iv) Emergency;
(v) Energy or water efficiency;
(vi) Water system acquisition and rehabilitation as created by RCW
70.119A.190; and
(vii) Any other program authorized by the legislature;
(d) Must, before November 1st of each year, develop and submit to
the appropriate fiscal committees of the senate and house of
representatives a ranked list of qualified public works projects which
have been evaluated by the board and are recommended for funding by the
legislature. The board must establish the ranked list based, at a
minimum, on the factors provided in section 10 of this act. The
maximum amount of funding that the board may recommend for any one
project is ten million dollars. For each project on the ranked list,
as well as for eligible projects not recommended for funding, the board
must document the numerical ranking that was assigned;
(e) May not sign contracts or otherwise financially obligate funds
from the public works assistance account before the legislature has
appropriated funds for a specific list of public works projects. The
legislature may remove projects from the ranked list recommended by the
board. The legislature may not change the ranked order of the projects
recommended for funding by the board;
(f) May provide grants for water system acquisition and
rehabilitation projects;
(g) May require such terms and conditions and may charge such rates
of interest on its loans as it deems necessary or convenient to carry
out the purposes of this chapter. Money received from local
governments in repayment of loans made under this section must be paid
into the public works assistance account for uses consistent with this
chapter;
(h) May not refinance existing debt or financial obligations of
local governments, except for short-term debt associated with
construction projects approved by the board or other cases as defined
in rule by the board;
(i) Must provide technical assistance as defined in RCW 43.155.020.
(2) Subsection (1)(d) and (e) of this section does not apply to
financial assistance provided through the preconstruction, capital
facilities planning, emergency, energy or water efficiency programs,
water system acquisition and rehabilitation, or any other programs
authorized by the legislature.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 5 A new section is added to chapter 43.155 RCW
to read as follows:
(1) Beginning November 1, 2014, and November 1st every even-numbered year thereafter, the board must report to the governor and
appropriate fiscal committees of the legislature on: (a) How the board
is using the state's priority policy objectives identified in RCW
43.155.010 to guide its investment of public works assistance account
funds; and (b) the outcomes produced by these investment choices.
(2) The board must:
(a) Establish and maintain direct collaborative relations with
governmental, private, and other financing organizations, advocate
groups, and other stakeholders associated with infrastructure
financing;
(b) Provide direct information and advice to the governor and
appropriate committees of the legislature on matters related to local
government infrastructure financing; and
(c) At the direction of the governor, provide information and
advocacy at the national level on matters related to local government
infrastructure financing.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 6 A new section is added to chapter 43.155 RCW
to read as follows:
The board must:
(1) Consistent with the guidelines issued by the office of
financial management and in consultation with the department, prepare
biennial operating and capital budgets and, as needed, update these
budgets during the biennium;
(2) Accept or reject any gifts, grants, or loans of funds,
property, or financial or other aid in any form from any other source
on any terms and conditions that are not in conflict with this chapter;
(3) Adopt rules under chapter 34.05 RCW as necessary to carry out
the purposes of this chapter; and
(4) Do and perform all acts and things necessary or convenient to
carry out the powers expressly granted or implied under this chapter.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 7 A new section is added to chapter 43.155 RCW
to read as follows:
(1) The department must:
(a) In collaboration with the board, and in accordance with the
board's operating budget, provide staff to the board necessary to
efficiently and effectively carry out the duties of this chapter; and
(b) Submit the board's operating and capital budgets in accordance
with guidelines set by the office of financial management.
(2) The director must:
(a) Be accountable to the board for operating and capital
expenditures from the account; and
(b) Represent the interests and concerns of the board as a member
of the governor's executive cabinet.
Sec. 8 RCW 43.155.050 and 2012 2nd sp.s. c 2 s 6004 are each
amended to read as follows:
(1) The public works assistance account is hereby established in
the state treasury. Money may be placed in the public works assistance
account from the proceeds of bonds when authorized by the legislature
or from any other lawful source. Money in the public works assistance
account shall be used ((to make loans and to give financial guarantees
to local governments for public works projects. Moneys in the account
may also be appropriated to provide for state match requirements under
federal law for projects and activities conducted and financed by the
board under the drinking water assistance account)) for purposes as
authorized by this chapter.
(2) A minimum of eighty-five percent of the biennial capital budget
appropriation to the public works board from this account shall be
obligated for construction loans. Not more than fifteen percent of the
biennial capital budget appropriation to the public works board from
this account may be ((expended or)) obligated for ((preconstruction
loans, emergency loans, or loans for capital facility planning under
this chapter; of this amount, not more than ten percent of the biennial
capital budget appropriation may be expended for emergency loans and
not more than one percent of the biennial capital budget appropriation
may be expended for capital facility planning loans)) programs other
than construction loans. Within this fifteen percent, state match for
federal programs or funds for other state programs may be obligated.
((During the 2011-2013 fiscal biennium, the legislature may transfer
from the public works assistance account to the general fund, the water
pollution control revolving account, and the drinking water assistance
account such amounts as reflect the excess fund balance of the account.
During the 2011-2013 fiscal biennium, the legislature may appropriate
moneys from the account for economic development, innovation, and
export grants, including brownfields; main street improvement grants;
and the loan program consolidation board.))
Sec. 9 RCW 43.155.070 and 2012 c 196 s 9 are each amended to read
as follows:
(1) To qualify for ((loans or pledges)) financial assistance under
this chapter the board must determine that a local government meets all
of the following conditions:
(a) The city or county must be imposing a tax under chapter 82.46
RCW at a rate of at least one-quarter of one percent;
(b) The local government must have developed a capital facility
plan; ((and))
(c) The local government must be using all local revenue sources
which are reasonably available for funding public works, taking into
consideration local employment and economic factors; and
(d) The local government can demonstrate the financial capacity to
repay the loan.
(2) Except where necessary to address a public health need or
substantial environmental degradation, a county, city, or town planning
under RCW 36.70A.040 ((must have)) may not receive financial assistance
under this chapter unless it has adopted a comprehensive plan,
including a capital facilities plan element, and development
regulations as required by RCW 36.70A.040. This subsection does not
require any county, city, or town planning under RCW 36.70A.040 to
adopt a comprehensive plan or development regulations before requesting
or receiving ((a loan or loan guarantee)) financial assistance under
this chapter if such request is made before the expiration of the time
periods specified in RCW 36.70A.040. A county, city, or town planning
under RCW 36.70A.040 which has not adopted a comprehensive plan and
development regulations within the time periods specified in RCW
36.70A.040 is not prohibited from receiving ((a loan or loan
guarantee)) financial assistance under this chapter if the
comprehensive plan and development regulations are adopted as required
by RCW 36.70A.040 before ((submitting a request for a loan or loan
guarantee)) executing a contractual agreement for financial assistance
with the board.
(3) In considering awarding ((loans)) financial assistance for
public facilities to special districts requesting funding for a
proposed facility located in a county, city, or town planning under RCW
36.70A.040, the board must consider whether the county, city, or town
planning under RCW 36.70A.040 in whose planning jurisdiction the
proposed facility is located has adopted a comprehensive plan and
development regulations as required by RCW 36.70A.040.
(4) ((The board must develop a priority process for public works
projects as provided in this section. The intent of the priority
process is to maximize the value of public works projects accomplished
with assistance under this chapter. The board must attempt to assure
a geographical balance in assigning priorities to projects. The board
must consider at least the following factors in assigning a priority to
a project:))
When awarding financial assistance, the board must consider:
(a) Whether the local government receiving assistance has
experienced severe fiscal distress resulting from natural disaster or
emergency public works needs;
(b) Except as otherwise conditioned by RCW 43.155.110, whether the
entity receiving assistance is a Puget Sound partner, as defined in RCW
90.71.010;
(c) Whether the project is referenced in the action agenda
developed by the Puget Sound partnership under RCW 90.71.310;
(d) Whether the project is critical in nature and would affect the
health and safety of a great number of citizens;
(e) Whether the applicant's permitting process has been certified
as streamlined by the office of regulatory assistance;
(f) Whether the applicant has developed and adhered to guidelines
regarding its permitting process for those applying for development
permits consistent with section 1(2), chapter 231, Laws of 2007;
(g) The cost of the project compared to the size of the local
government and amount of loan money available;
(h) The number of communities served by or funding the project;
(i) Whether the project is located in an area of high unemployment,
compared to the average state unemployment;
(j) Whether the project is the acquisition, expansion, improvement,
or renovation by a local government of a public water system that is in
violation of health and safety standards, including the cost of
extending existing service to such a system;
(k) Except as otherwise conditioned by RCW 43.155.120, and
effective one calendar year following the development of model
evergreen community management plans and ordinances under RCW
35.105.050, whether the entity receiving assistance has been
recognized, and what gradation of recognition was received, in the
evergreen community recognition program created in RCW 35.105.030;
(l) The relative benefit of the project to the community,
considering the present level of economic activity in the community and
the existing local capacity to increase local economic activity in
communities that have low economic growth; and
(m) Other criteria that the board considers advisable.
(5) Existing debt or financial obligations of local governments may
not be refinanced under this chapter. Each local government applicant
must provide documentation of attempts to secure additional local or
other sources of funding for each public works project for which
financial assistance is sought under this chapter.
(6) Before November 1st of each even-numbered year, the board must
develop and submit to the appropriate fiscal committees of the senate
and house of representatives a description of the loans made under RCW
43.155.065, 43.155.068, and subsection (9) of this section during the
preceding fiscal year and a prioritized list of projects which are
recommended for funding by the legislature, including one copy to the
staff of each of the committees. The list must include, but not be
limited to, a description of each project and recommended financing,
the terms and conditions of the loan or financial guarantee, the local
government jurisdiction and unemployment rate, demonstration of the
jurisdiction's critical need for the project and documentation of local
funds being used to finance the public works project. The list must
also include measures of fiscal capacity for each jurisdiction
recommended for financial assistance, compared to authorized limits and
state averages, including local government sales taxes; real estate
excise taxes; property taxes; and charges for or taxes on sewerage,
water, garbage, and other utilities.
(7) The board may not sign contracts or otherwise financially
obligate funds from the public works assistance account before the
legislature has appropriated funds for a specific list of public works
projects. The legislature may remove projects from the list
recommended by the board. The legislature may not change the order of
the priorities recommended for funding by the board.
(8) Subsection (7) of this section does not apply to loans made
under RCW 43.155.065, 43.155.068, and subsection (9) of this section.
(9) Loans made for the purpose of capital facilities plans are
exempted from subsection (7) of this section.
(10) To qualify for loans or pledges for solid waste or recycling
facilities under this chapter, a city or county must demonstrate that
the solid waste or recycling facility is consistent with and necessary
to implement the comprehensive solid waste management plan adopted by
the city or county under chapter 70.95 RCW.
(11) After January 1, 2010, any project designed to address the
effects of storm water or wastewater on Puget Sound may be funded under
this section only if the project is not in conflict with the action
agenda developed by the Puget Sound partnership under RCW 90.71.310.
(a) Whether the entity receiving assistance is a Puget Sound
partner, as defined in RCW 90.71.010. Entities that are not eligible
to be a Puget Sound partner due to geographic location, composition,
exclusion from the scope of the action agenda developed by the Puget
Sound partnership under RCW 90.71.310, or for any other reason, may not
be given less preferential treatment than Puget Sound partners; and
(b) Whether the project is referenced in the action agenda
developed by the Puget Sound partnership under RCW 90.71.310.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 10 A new section is added to chapter 43.155
RCW to read as follows:
The intent of the project selection process is to promote state
policy objectives as identified in this chapter and to maximize the
value of projects financed under this chapter. The board must develop
a process for numerically ranking the applications submitted by local
governments. The board must consider, at a minimum and in any order,
the following factors in assigning a numerical ranking to a project:
(1) Whether the project is critical in nature and would affect the
health and safety of many people;
(2) The extent to which the project leverages nonstate funds;
(3) The extent to which the project is ready to proceed to
construction;
(4) Whether the project is located in an area of high unemployment,
compared to the average state unemployment;
(5) Whether the project promotes the sustainable use of resources
and environmental quality;
(6) Whether the project consolidates or regionalizes systems;
(7) Whether the project encourages economic development through
mixed-use and mixed income development consistent with chapter 36.70A
RCW;
(8) Whether the system is being well-managed in the present and for
long-term sustainability;
(9) Achieving equitable distribution of funds by geography and
population;
(10) The extent to which the project meets state policy objectives
identified in this chapter; and
(11) Other criteria that the board considers necessary to achieve
the purposes of this chapter.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 11 The following acts or parts of acts are
each repealed:
(1) RCW 43.155.040 (General powers of the board) and 1985 c 446 s
10;
(2) RCW 43.155.060 (Public works financing powers -- Competitive bids
on projects) and 1988 c 93 s 2 & 1985 c 446 s 11;
(3) RCW 43.155.065 (Emergency public works projects) and 2001 c 131
s 3, 1990 c 133 s 7, & 1988 c 93 s 1;
(4) RCW 43.155.068 (Loans for preconstruction activities) and 2001
c 131 s 4 & 1995 c 363 s 2;
(5) RCW 43.155.110 (Puget Sound partners) and 2007 c 341 s 25; and
(6) RCW 43.155.120 (Administering funds -- Preference to an evergreen
community) and 2008 c 299 s 30.