Committee advances six bills on open space, burrowing shrimp, prescribed fire, natural resources and water systems

The Washington State Senate Agriculture and Natural Resource Committee advanced six bills during an executive session, voting by voice to send the measures to either the Ways & Means Committee or the Rules Committee.

Jeff Olson, committee staff, presented each bill in turn and committee members moved due-pass recommendations without amendments. The bills advanced were: substitute House Bill 1261 (open space incidental uses), substitute House Bill 1309 (burrowing shrimp research program), engrossed second substitute House Bill 1563 (prescribed fire claims pilot), engrossed House Bill 1609 (Board of Natural Resources designee authorization), House Bill 1615 (water system classification defaults), and House Bill 1947 (Group B public water system ownership/operation exceptions).

Substitute House Bill 1261 would allow certain incidental uses of land classified as open space—such as educational farming programs, seasonal farm festivals and celebratory gatherings—without removing the land from open space classification and reduces the penalty period for removing land from the program from seven years to four. Olson said the bill passed the House 90-7-0. The committee's vice chair moved "that the bill receive a due pass recommendation and be sent to the ways and means committee," and the motion passed by voice vote.

Substitute House Bill 1309 establishes an integrated pest management program at the Department of Agriculture to research control methods for burrowing shrimp in Willapa Bay and Grays Harbor, and creates a governing board to oversee that research. Olson said the House passed the companion 94-1, and the vice chair moved a due-pass recommendation to Ways & Means; the motion passed by voice vote.

Engrossed second substitute House Bill 1563 would create a prescribed fire claims pilot through the Office of Risk Management in cooperation with DNR to provide coverage for losses from prescribed fires and cultural burning on DNR-protected lands and certain tribal lands; Olson noted the pilot would expire in February. The vice chair moved a due-pass recommendation to the Rules Committee; the motion passed by voice vote.

Engrossed House Bill 1609 authorizes the superintendent of public construction to use a designee from that office to sit on the Board of Natural Resources. Olson said the bill had passed the House. The vice chair moved a due-pass recommendation to the Rules Committee; the motion passed by voice vote.

House Bill 1615 would prevent a default number from being used to calculate the average number of people served by a water system when that default would reclassify a Group B system as Group A; Olson said there was no fiscal impact. The vice chair moved a due-pass recommendation to the Rules Committee and the motion passed by voice vote.

House Bill 1947 provides that Group B public water systems are not required to be owned or operated by a satellite system management agency unless specific conditions are met; Olson said there was no fiscal impact. The vice chair moved a due-pass recommendation to the Rules Committee and the motion passed by voice vote.

For each bill the transcript records the vice chair making the motion and the committee responding with a voice "aye." Committee staff reported there were no amendments to these bills. The chair closed the executive action portion of the meeting and announced upcoming scheduling changes for the committee's next meetings.