BILL REQ. #:  S-4106.1 

Read first time 01/30/14.   Referred to Committee on Natural Resources & Parks.

     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.
     (4)(a))) 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((.
     (i))) or written notice has not been provided to the user. However:
     (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 79A RCW.