2008 Legislative Review
by Heather H. Hansen, WSNLA Lobbyist
While much of the focus on the legislative session was on the landscape architects’ licensing bill, there were other issues that could affect your business.
The 2008 legislative session began with a slew of bills that could have had an adverse effect on the green industry from a proposed six percent tax on gas powered equipment, to a ban on phosphorous fertilizer. When the dust settled, those proposals had not passed.
Those who hold a pesticide applicators license will notice an increase in cost after January 1, 2009. A private applicators license will increase to $33/year, commercial applicators will pay $215/year, each commercial apparatus will be charged $27/year and the commercial operators license fee will be $67/year.
Career and technical education (CTE) will be better coordinated due to Senate Bill 6377. The Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI) sets standards for all middle and high school CTE courses. The SPI must establish performance measures for CTE programs in specified areas. The SPI, with the Workforce Training and Education Coordinating Board (WTECB), the Washington State Apprenticeship and Training Council, and the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges (SBCTC) must develop a list of statewide high-demand secondary CTE programs. During the 2008-09 school year, model programs must be developed for construction, health care and information technology. Additional programs of study will be developed in the future with a priority on high-demand programs. SPI must develop and conduct an ongoing campaign to increase awareness among teachers, counselors, students, parents, principals, school administrators and the public about the opportunities offered by CTE programs. The CTE curriculum advisory committee is extended to December 2009.
House Bill 2537 - In 2007 the Legislature established a Health Insurance Partnership to serve small employers. The Partnership will provide a subsidy for low-income employees with incomes below 200 percent of the federal poverty level. The bill requires small employers participating in the partnership to attest to the fact that they do not currently offer health insurance to their employees, and that at least 50 percent of their employees are low-wage workers. The program will be up and running by January 1, 2009.
House Bill 2844 was dubbed the Evergreen cities bill by its proponents. The Department of Community, Trade and Economic Development (CTED) is responsible for setting criteria for qualification as an Evergreen Community. Criteria must include developing a community forestry program, recognizing Arbor Day, and completing a forest inventory. The application process for becoming an Evergreen Community will be managed through DNR’s urban forestry program. Cities and counties pursuing designation as an Evergreen Community are required to adopt an Evergreen Community Urban Forestry Management Plan. The CTED must develop a model Management Plan for cities to consider. The plan must address pest management, prioritization of planting sites, staff training requirements, canopy cover goals, stormwater management improvements and plans for maximizing building energy efficiency. The process of becoming recognized as an Evergreen Community also requires cities and counties to adopt an Evergreen Community Ordinance. In addition to a model Management
Plan, the CTED is also required to develop a model Evergreen Community Ordinance that includes tree conservation and retention, tree spacing, use of native trees to reduce stormwater runoff, use and protection of native soils, promotion of tree maintenance to promote utility safety, street tree installation and riparian tree buffers. The Evergreen Community Ordinances may include a mechanism for civil enforcement.
A total of $2.6 million was given to the Puget Sound Partnership to develop a long-term action plan that identifies and prioritizes actions for restoring Puget Sound by 2020. The plan must be completed by September 1, 2008. The Partnership must also analyze sources of contamination to Puget Sound from fuel-related air emissions, and develop mitigation priorities.
The Department of Ecology also received nearly $1.3 million and two new FTE’s to implement House Bill 2815, which requires developing a greenhouse gas reduction plan including a reporting system to monitor greenhouse gas emissions, and market-based system to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The plan must seek to reduce overall greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020 and to 50% of 1990 levels by 2050. The Department will monitor progress toward meeting emission-reduction goals.
New development will be affected by Senate Bill 6580, which addresses the impacts of climate change through the growth management act. It requires the Department of Community, Trade and Economic Development (CTED) to provide counties and cities with ideas to help them respond to climate change. The agency must also identify local land use and building regulations that would lead to minimizing vehicle travel. Some counties and cities will be selected for grants and technical assistance to aid their efforts to anticipate, mitigate and adapt to global warming.
House Bill 2525 allows the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) to issue emergency oral approval of a hydraulic permit to repair damage after the Governor has declared a state of emergency due to flooding. Where chronic flood danger exists, WDFW must approve hydraulic permits to remove obstructions, restore banks and roads, repair structures and protect property. Projects intended to mitigate a chronic flood danger are not required to undergo a State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) analysis as long as they are designed consistent with fish habitat enhancement projects.
Sometimes new policies are implemented through the budget. The Department of Ecology was given $80,000 to create a stakeholder-advisory committee to develop recommendations to help businesses achieve a 50% reduction in the use of toxic chemicals. The committee will make recommendations to improve the effectiveness of technical assistance in pollution prevention planning. They will also develop recommendations to reduce hazardous waste.
Two issues that did not pass, but will be back next year are pesticide use reporting and proposals to limit the use of phosphorous fertilizer and the landscape architects licensing bill.
The faces who make-up the legislature could change significantly before the 2009 session. As of this writing, eleven legislators, nine from the House and two from the Senate, have announced retirement plans. The most high-profile retirees are Representative Helen Sommers, (D) Seattle, the longest serving member of the House of Representatives, who has chaired the House Committee on Appropriations and been chief budget writer for decades; and Senator Harriet Spanel, (D) Bellingham, who is currently Senate Democratic Caucus Chair.
The other significant change will be the, yet unknown, effect of the top-two primary. In 2004, Washington’s voters approved a citizen’s initiative creating a primary election system where voters are free to choose from all political parties and the top two vote getters, regardless of party affiliation, advance to the general election in November. That primary system was never implemented due to ongoing litigation. The final legal verdict was recently delivered by the US Supreme Court. Washington’s top-two primary will by used for the first time August 19, 2008.
