BILL REQ. #:  S-3883.3 

READ FIRST TIME 01/30/14.   

     AN ACT Relating to reducing PCBs in products purchased by agencies; reenacting and amending RCW 39.26.010; adding new sections to chapter 39.26 RCW; and creating a new section.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   Polychlorinated biphenyls, commonly known as PCBs, are a family of human-made organic chemicals that were used in many industrial and commercial products such as insulating fluids for electric transformers and capacitors, hydraulic fluids, plasticizers, paint additives, lubricants, inks, caulk, and carbonless copy paper. PCBs were used because of their fire resistance, chemical stability, and electrical insulating properties. PCBs are also found in products as an unintentional by-product of manufacturing processes. PCBs are ubiquitous in the environment because of their stability, extensive previous use, by-production in manufacturing, inadvertent release, and the inability to control and eliminate them through current waste management practices. PCBs are persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic, and they cycle between the air, soil, and water. PCBs have been shown to cause cancer and affect the human immune, reproductive, nervous, and endocrine systems. The United States toxic substances control act prohibited the commercial production of PCBs in 1979. However, the United States environmental protection agency rules implementing the ban provides exemptions for certain products containing PCBs at concentrations of fifty parts per million or less as a result of manufacturing processes and therefore the continued manufacture, processing, distribution, and use of products containing PCBs remains permitted.

Sec. 2   RCW 39.26.010 and 2012 c 224 s 2 are each reenacted and amended to read as follows:
     The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter unless the context clearly requires otherwise.
     (1) "Agency" means any state office or activity of the executive and judicial branches of state government, including state agencies, departments, offices, divisions, boards, commissions, institutions of higher education as defined in RCW 28B.10.016, and correctional and other types of institutions.
     (2) "Bid" means an offer, proposal, or quote for goods or services in response to a solicitation issued for such goods or services by the department or an agency of Washington state government.
     (3) "Bidder" means an individual or entity who submits a bid, quotation, or proposal in response to a solicitation issued for such goods or services by the department or an agency of Washington state government.
     (4) "Businesses owned and operated by persons with disabilities" means any for-profit business certified under chapter 39.19 RCW as being owned and controlled by persons who have been either:
     (a) Determined by the department of social and health services to have a developmental disability, as defined in RCW 71A.10.020;
     (b) Determined by an agency established under Title I of the federal vocational rehabilitation act to be or have been eligible for vocational rehabilitation services;
     (c) Determined by the federal social security administration to be or have been eligible for either social security disability insurance or supplemental security income; or
     (d) Determined by the United States department of veterans affairs to be or have been eligible for vocational rehabilitation services due to service-connected disabilities, under 38 U.S.C. Sec. 3100 et seq.
     (5) "Client services" means services provided directly to agency clients including, but not limited to, medical and dental services, employment and training programs, residential care, and subsidized housing.
     (6) "Community rehabilitation program of the department of social and health services" means any entity that:
     (a) Is registered as a nonprofit corporation with the secretary of state; and
     (b) Is recognized by the department of social and health services, division of vocational rehabilitation as eligible to do business as a community rehabilitation program.
     (7) "Competitive solicitation" means a documented formal process providing an equal and open opportunity to bidders and culminating in a selection based on predetermined criteria.
     (8) "Contractor" means an individual or entity awarded a contract with an agency to perform a service or provide goods.
     (9) "Debar" means to prohibit a contractor, individual, or other entity from submitting a bid, having a bid considered, or entering into a state contract during a specified period of time as set forth in a debarment order.
     (10) "Department" means the department of enterprise services.
     (11) "Director" means the director of the department of enterprise services.
     (12) "Estimated useful life" of an item means the estimated time from the date of acquisition to the date of replacement or disposal, determined in any reasonable manner.
     (13) "Goods" means products, materials, supplies, or equipment provided by a contractor.
     (14) "In-state business" means a business that has its principal office located in Washington.
     (15) "Life-cycle cost" means the total cost of an item to the state over its estimated useful life, including costs of selection, acquisition, operation, maintenance, and where applicable, disposal, as far as these costs can reasonably be determined, minus the salvage value at the end of its estimated useful life.
     (16) "Master contracts" means a contract for specific goods or services, or both, that is solicited and established by the department in accordance with procurement laws and rules on behalf of and for general use by agencies as specified by the department.
     (17) "Microbusiness" means any business entity, including a sole proprietorship, corporation, partnership, or other legal entity, that: (a) Is owned and operated independently from all other businesses; and (b) has a gross revenue of less than one million dollars annually as reported on its federal tax return or on its return filed with the department of revenue.
     (18) "Minibusiness" means any business entity, including a sole proprietorship, corporation, partnership, or other legal entity, that: (a) Is owned and operated independently from all other businesses; and (b) has a gross revenue of less than three million dollars, but one million dollars or more annually as reported on its federal tax return or on its return filed with the department of revenue.
     (19) "Purchase" means the acquisition of goods or services, including the leasing or renting of goods.
     (20) "Services" means labor, work, analysis, or similar activities provided by a contractor to accomplish a specific scope of work.
     (21) "Small business" means an in-state business, including a sole proprietorship, corporation, partnership, or other legal entity, that:
     (a) Certifies, under penalty of perjury, that it is owned and operated independently from all other businesses and has either:
     (i) Fifty or fewer employees; or
     (ii) A gross revenue of less than seven million dollars annually as reported on its federal income tax return or its return filed with the department of revenue over the previous three consecutive years; or
     (b) Is certified with the office of women and minority business enterprises under chapter 39.19 RCW.
     (22) "Sole source" means a contractor providing goods or services of such a unique nature or sole availability at the location required that the contractor is clearly and justifiably the only practicable source to provide the goods or services.
     (23) "Washington grown" has the definition in RCW 15.64.060.
     (24) "Polychlorinated biphenyls" means any polychlorinated biphenyl congeners and homologs.
     (25) "Practical quantification limit" means the lowest concentration that can be reliably measured within specified limits of precision, accuracy, representativeness, completeness, and comparability during routine laboratory operating conditions.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   A new section is added to chapter 39.26 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) The department shall establish purchasing and procurement policies that provide a preference for products and products in packaging that does not contain polychlorinated biphenyls.
     (2) No agency may knowingly purchase products or products in packaging containing polychlorinated biphenyls above the practical quantification limit except when it is not cost-effective or technically feasible to do so.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 4   A new section is added to chapter 39.26 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) This chapter does not require the department to test every product procured. However, the department may accept from businesses, manufacturers, organizations, and individuals results obtained from an accredited laboratory or testing facility documenting product or product packaging polychlorinated biphenyl levels.
     (2) The department may request suppliers of products to provide testing data from an accredited laboratory or testing facility documenting product or product packaging polychlorinated biphenyl levels.