2020 Regular Session

ByRepresentatives Corry, Appleton, Rude, Frame, Dent, Riccelli, Davis, and Lekanoff

Read first time 01/21/20.Referred to Committee on State Government & Tribal Relations.

AN ACT Relating to official state designations; amending RCW 1.20.090 and 1.20.042; adding a new section to chapter 1.20 RCW; and creating a new section.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds that the Ellensburg blue agate is a gem unique to the state of Washington. It is only found near the basalt beds located around Ellensburg, Washington and Kittitas Valley. Ellensburg blue agates were originally formed by mineral-dense fluid in the small cavities of the Teanaway basalts, which are more than forty million years old, and were carried by an ancient river to the Ellensburg region where they are found today. The Ellensburg blue agate is known for its rarity and color, which ranges from a light sky-blue to an almost royal-blue, and is the only agate to be considered a semiprecious gem.

Sec. 2. RCW 1.20.090 and 1975 c 8 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:

((Petrified wood))The Ellensburg blue agate is hereby designated as the official gem of the state of Washington.

Sec. 3. RCW 1.20.042 and 1998 c 129 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:

The Columbian mammoth of North America, Mammuthus columbi, is hereby designated as the official vertebrate fossil of the state of Washington.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. A new section is added to chapter 1.20 RCW to read as follows:

Petrified wood is hereby designated as the official vegetative fossil of the state of Washington.