HOUSE BILL REPORT

ESHB 2879

BYHouse Committee on Higher Education (originally sponsored by Representatives Jesernig, Jacobsen, Hankins, Rector, Wood, R. Meyers, Basich, Grant, Prince, Brooks, Dorn, Nelson, Rust, Hargrove, Heavey, Fraser, Bennett, Nealey, Rayburn, Gallagher, H. Myers, Baugher, Miller, Todd, Belcher, G. Fisher, Day, Cooper, Van Luven, Ebersole, Raiter, Wang, Ferguson, D. Sommers, P. King, Dellwo, Wolfe and Wineberry)

Establishing the Washington state center for environmental and molecular sciences at Washington State University/Tri-Cities.

House Committe on Higher Education

Majority Report:  The substitute bill be substituted therefor and the substitute bill do pass.  (11)

      Signed by Representatives Jacobsen, Chair; Spanel, Vice Chair; Van Luven, Ranking Republican Member; Basich, Bennett, Doty, Fraser, Heavey, Jesernig, Miller and Rector.

House Staff:Susan Hosch (786-7120)

AS PASSED HOUSE FEBRUARY 9, 1990

BACKGROUND:

For the last few years, several of Washington's universities worked collaboratively to meet the upper-division and graduate education needs of the citizens in the Tri-Cities area.  In 1989, the Legislature assigned to Washington State University the sole responsibility for ensuring that those needs were met.  The University was directed to operate a branch campus in the Tri- Cities area.  This branch campus replaced the Tri-Cities University Center, a center that served many of the educational needs of the federal government's Hanford operation, the Hanford contractors, and the citizens of the area, for many years.

Recently, the Department of Energy has designated Battelle's Pacific Northwest Laboratory in the Tri-Cities, as the Center for Environmental Excellence and as its Molecular Science Center.  The department has also designated the Hanford site to be the focus of waste management and environmental restoration efforts.

SUMMARY:

By September 1, 1990, Washington State University will submit a proposal to the Higher Education Coordinating Board.  The proposal will describe a long-term development plan for a center for environmental and molecular sciences at Washington State University/Tri-Cities.

The purposes of the proposed center are described.  These purposes include coordinating the relationship of the university with federal research efforts in the Tri-Cities areas, and initiating collaborative research efforts with Hanford contractors and staff. With the approval of the Higher Education Coordinating Board, the center will also develop upper-division and graduate instructional programs in environmental assessment, remediation technology, and molecular sciences.  The center will develop expertise necessary to assist in technology transfer, and will foster strong, cooperative relationships with governmental agencies and businesses interested in hazardous waste and molecular science research and development.  The center also ensures that expertise from all Washington universities and colleges is available to aid federal research efforts.  In addition, the center will ensure that the state and its institutions of higher education are able to benefit from those efforts.  Other purposes of the proposed center are also described.

The elements of the proposal to the board are delineated.  The board is directed to review the proposal and to evaluate its policy and fiscal aspects.  The board will review the proposed center's role and mission within the context of the development plan for Washington State University's branch campuses.  By January 1, 1991, the board will recommend to the governor and the Legislature whether to establish a Washington State Center for Environmental and Molecular Sciences.  If the board does recommend the establishment of the center, the recommendation will include the long-term development needs of the center.

Fiscal Note:      Requested January 25, 1990.

House Committee ‑ Testified For:    Rep. Jim Jesernig, prime sponsor; Robert Smith and James Cochran, Washington State University.

House Committee - Testified Against:      No one.

House Committee - Testimony For:    The federal government will need to spend tens of billions of dollars in the coming years to clean up hazardous defense wastes.  Collaborative efforts in the areas of research and technology transfer should help reduce these costs.  The clean up efforts will also require highly trained scientists and technicians.  The state and its institutions of higher education have a unique opportunity to work in partnership with the government and its contractors to tackle these challenges.  However, a formal mechanism is needed to coordinate the state's role in research, technology transfer, and education and training.  The proposed center will be one mechanism the state can use for this purpose.  In addition, it will help Washington State University develop an area of specialized excellence in the emerging fields of environmental and molecular sciences.

House Committee - Testimony Against:      None.