BILL REQ. #: H-3295.1
State of Washington | 63rd Legislature | 2014 Regular Session |
Read first time 01/15/14. Referred to Committee on Agriculture & Natural Resources.
AN ACT Relating to encouraging private landowners to allow public access to their land; amending RCW 4.24.210 and 9A.52.090; adding a new section to chapter 82.04 RCW; adding a new chapter to Title 79A RCW; and prescribing penalties.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1 The definitions in this section apply
throughout this chapter unless the context clearly requires otherwise.
(1) "Commission" means the state conservation commission.
(2) "Department" means the department of fish and wildlife.
(3) "Participating landowner" means a private landowner who has
contractually agreed with the commission under section 3 of this act to
allow public recreational access on private land.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2 (1) The commission must conduct outreach
with private landowners in an attempt to establish a network of private
landholdings upon which the public is invited by the owners to pursue
recreational activities, including hunting and fishing, consistent with
this chapter.
(2) Upon receiving commitments of participation by a number of
landowners representing a number of acres determined by the commission
to be significant enough to move forward, the commission must initiate
and manage public access on the participating private lands consistent
with this chapter.
(3) The commission must consult with the department to identify the
types of land suitable for hunting and fishing access.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3 (1) Landowners participating in public
access under this section must sign a contract with the commission
outlining the responsibilities and expectations of the landowner and
the commission.
(2) Participating landowners are expected to allow public
recreational access on portions of landholdings specifically identified
for this purpose. Landowners are not required to allow access on all
contiguous lands in order to participate under this chapter and may
close otherwise included parcels on a temporary basis when the
landowner's use of the land is incompatible with public access or on a
seasonal basis.
(3) Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, the agreement
between a participating landowner and the commission must allow for
unlimited recreational access on all included landholdings.
(4) Participating landowners are entitled to a share of revenue
generated by permit sales under section 4 of this act in consideration
for allowing public access. However, the landowner may not implement
any other access-for-fee agreements.
(5) Participation in the public access program is voluntary and no
landowner may be compelled to participate.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 4 (1) Only individuals in possession of a
valid annual public-private access permit may access private lands
identified for public access by the commission under this section for
the purposes of recreation.
(2) Annual public-private access permits must be made available for
purchase through the department's automated licensing system consistent
with RCW 77.32.050. The cost of a public-private access permit is
thirty-five dollars.
(3) All revenue collected from the sales of public-private access
permits must be deposited into the public-private recreational access
account created in section 5 of this act.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 5 (1) The public-private recreational access
account is created in the state treasury. All receipts from the sales
of public-private access permits under section 4 of this act must be
deposited in the account. Moneys in the account may be spent only
after appropriation.
(2) Expenditures from the account may only be used as follows:
(a) Twenty percent of revenue in the account may be used by the
commission to reach out to additional landowners for participation in
the program created in this chapter and to manage all related contract
management issues;
(b) Twenty percent of revenue in the account may be used by the
department for enforcement efforts on land owned by private landowners
participating in the program created under this chapter; and
(c) Sixty percent of revenue in the account may be used by the
commission to reimburse landowners participating in the access program
created by this chapter in consideration for the use of their land by
public recreationalists.
(3) The commission must determine by rule how reimbursement amounts
to participating landowners will be determined.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 6 (1) The commission may specify rules or
policies for public recreationists to follow when recreating on land
owned by a participating landowner. The rules and policies must be
applicable to all lands included for public access under this section
and, to the degree practicable, be developed in coordination with the
participating landowners.
(2) Any violation of a rule or policy developed under this section
is a natural resources infraction subject to the provisions of chapter
7.84 RCW.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 7 (1) Any person who is found recreating on
the land of a participating landowner without a valid public-private
access permit is guilty of criminal trespass in the second degree as
provided in RCW 9A.52.080.
(2) Any person who is found liable under RCW 4.24.630 or who
commits a violation of any of the following while on the land of a
participating landowner shall have his or her public-private access
permit immediately confiscated and is prohibited from possessing
another public-private access permit for five years:
(a) Any violation of Title 77 RCW;
(b) Any violation of RCW 70.93.060;
(c) Any violation of chapter 9A.48 RCW;
(d) Any violation of RCW 9.91.150; or
(e) Any rule or policy developed by the commission under section 6
of this act.
(3) This chapter may be enforced by the department and any local
law enforcement agency.
Sec. 8 RCW 4.24.210 and 2012 c 15 s 1 are each amended to read as
follows:
(1) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (3) ((or (4))) of
this section, any public or private landowners, hydroelectric project
owners, or others in lawful possession and control of any lands whether
designated resource, rural, or urban, or water areas or channels and
lands adjacent to such areas or channels, who allow members of the
public to use them for the purposes of outdoor recreation, which term
includes, but is not limited to, the cutting, gathering, and removing
of firewood by private persons for their personal use without
purchasing the firewood from the landowner, hunting, fishing, camping,
picnicking, swimming, hiking, bicycling, skateboarding or other
nonmotorized wheel-based activities, aviation activities including, but
not limited to, the operation of airplanes, ultra-light airplanes, hang
gliders, parachutes, and paragliders, rock climbing, the riding of
horses or other animals, clam digging, pleasure driving of off-road
vehicles, snowmobiles, and other vehicles, boating, kayaking, canoeing,
rafting, nature study, winter or water sports, viewing or enjoying
historical, archaeological, scenic, or scientific sites, without
charging a fee of any kind therefor, shall not be liable for
unintentional injuries to such users.
(2) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (3) ((or (4))) of
this section, any public or private landowner or others in lawful
possession and control of any lands whether rural or urban, or water
areas or channels and lands adjacent to such areas or channels, who
offer or allow such land to be used for purposes of a fish or wildlife
cooperative project, or allow access to such land for cleanup of litter
or other solid waste, shall not be liable for unintentional injuries to
any volunteer group or to any other users.
(3) ((Any public or private landowner, or others in lawful
possession and control of the land, may charge an administrative fee of
up to twenty-five dollars for the cutting, gathering, and removing of
firewood from the land.)) Nothing in this section shall prevent the liability of a
landowner or others in lawful possession and control for injuries
sustained to users by reason of a known dangerous artificial latent
condition for which warning signs have not been conspicuously posted((
(4)(a).)) or written notice has not been provided to the user.
However:
(i)
(a) A fixed anchor used in rock climbing and put in place by
someone other than a landowner is not a known dangerous artificial
latent condition and a landowner under subsection (1) of this section
shall not be liable for unintentional injuries resulting from the
condition or use of such an anchor((.));
(ii)
(b) Releasing water or flows and making waterways or channels
available for kayaking, canoeing, or rafting purposes pursuant to and
in substantial compliance with a hydroelectric license issued by the
federal energy regulatory commission, and making adjacent lands
available for purposes of allowing viewing of such activities, does not
create a known dangerous artificial latent condition and hydroelectric
project owners under subsection (1) of this section shall not be liable
for unintentional injuries to the recreational users and observers
resulting from such releases and activities.
(((b))) (4) Nothing in RCW 4.24.200 and this section limits or
expands in any way the doctrine of attractive nuisance.
(((c))) (5) Usage by members of the public, volunteer groups, or
other users is permissive and does not support any claim of adverse
possession.
(((5))) (6) Nothing in this section prevents a landowner from
excluding access to individuals who violate rules or conditions of
access established by the landowner.
(7) A landowner who allows recreational access consistent with
chapter 79A.-- RCW (the new chapter created in section 11 of this act)
is not liable to a third party for the intentional, reckless, or
negligent acts of recreational users granted access to the property.
(8) For purposes of this section, the following are not fees:
(a) A license or permit issued for statewide use under authority of
chapter 79A.05 RCW or Title 77 RCW;
(b) A pass or permit issued under RCW 79A.80.020, 79A.80.030, or
79A.80.040; ((and))
(c) A daily charge not to exceed twenty dollars per person, per
day, for access to a publicly owned ORV sports park, as defined in RCW
46.09.310, or other public facility accessed by a highway, street, or
nonhighway road for the purposes of off-road vehicle use;
(d) Payments from state or local governments to a landowner to
facilitate or manage public access, including distributions from the
public-private recreational access account created in section 5 of this
act; and
(e) A daily charge of up to twenty-five dollars for the cutting,
gathering, and removing of firewood.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 9 A new section is added to chapter 82.04 RCW
to read as follows:
This chapter does not apply to amounts received by businesses from
the state conservation commission through the public-private
recreational access account created in section 5 of this act in
consideration for providing public recreational access under chapter
79A.-- RCW (the new chapter created in section 11 of this act).
Sec. 10 RCW 9A.52.090 and 2011 c 336 s 374 are each amended to
read as follows:
In any prosecution under RCW 9A.52.070 and 9A.52.080, it is a
defense that:
(1) A building involved in an offense under RCW 9A.52.070 was
abandoned; or
(2) The premises were at the time open to members of the public and
the actor complied with all lawful conditions imposed on access to or
remaining in the premises, including the possession of a valid public-private access permit issued under section 4 of this act; or
(3) The actor reasonably believed that the owner of the premises,
or other person empowered to license access thereto, would have
licensed him or her to enter or remain; or
(4) The actor was attempting to serve legal process which includes
any document required or allowed to be served upon persons or property,
by any statute, rule, ordinance, regulation, or court order, excluding
delivery by the mails of the United States. This defense applies only
if the actor did not enter into a private residence or other building
not open to the public and the entry onto the premises was reasonable
and necessary for service of the legal process.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 11 Sections 1 through 7 of this act constitute
a new chapter in Title