Washington § 43.30.582 - Marbled murrelet conservation strategy — Reports. (Contingent expiration date.)

(1)(a) By December 1, 2018, and each December 1st until the year after the United States fish and wildlife service issues an incidental take permit on the state trust land habitat conservation plan for the long-term conservation strategy for the marbled murrelet, the department must provide a report to the legislature, consistent with RCW 43.01.036, as required in this section.

(b) No fewer than ninety days before submitting the report to the legislature as described in this section, the department must first submit a draft of the report for review and comment to the chair and ranking member of the committees of the house of representatives and senate with jurisdiction over state trust lands management.

(c) Each regular legislative session, the standing committee with jurisdiction over state trust land management from the house of representatives and senate must each hold a meeting, which may be held as a joint meeting, on the report required in this section and the habitat conservation plan update process.

(2) The report required in this section must annually include an economic analysis of potential losses or gains from any proposed marbled murrelet long-term conservation strategy selected by the board of natural resources, forwarded to or approved by the United States fish and wildlife service, and subsequently adopted by the board.

(3) The initial report required under this section must also include recommendations relating to the following, to be updated as appropriate in subsequent reports:

(a) Actions that support maintaining or increasing family-wage timber and related jobs in the affected rural communities, taking into account, as appropriate, the role of other market factors;

(b) Strategies to ensure no net loss of revenues to the trust beneficiaries due to the implementation of additional marbled murrelet conservation measures;

(c) Additional means of financing county services; and

(d) Additional reasonable, incentive-based, nonregulatory conservation measures for the marbled murrelet that also provide economic benefits to rural communities.

Contingent expiration date—2018 c 255 ss 2 and 3: "(1) Sections 2 and 3 of this act expire at the end of the calendar year following the issuance by the United States fish and wildlife service of an incidental take permit on the long-term conservation strategy for the marbled murrelet under the state trust lands habitat conservation plan and subsequent adoption by the board of natural resources.

(2) The department of natural resources must notify the chief clerk of the house of representatives, the secretary of the senate, and the office of the code reviser when the conditional expiration date of sections 1 and 2 [2 and 3] of this act is satisfied." [ 2018 c 255 s 4.]

Findings—Intent—2018 c 255: "(1) The legislature finds that the 1997 state trust lands habitat conservation plan and the proposed amendment related to the conservation of the marbled murrelet, which provide certainty for beneficiaries of affected state lands and state forestlands, present an important and ongoing issue for the people of the state of Washington. The legislature further finds that complying with the endangered species act is a necessary aspect of managing state trust lands. The lands that are the subject of the 1997 habitat conservation plan are held by the state in trust for the trust beneficiaries, and the proposed amendment to the 1997 state trust lands habitat conservation plan presents an opportunity for the legislature to engage in its role as a fiduciary of those lands.

(2) The legislature intends that the process set forth in this act will serve as a model for future processes in the event that there are any subsequent amendments to the 1997 state trust lands habitat conservation plan beyond those envisioned in this act." [ 2018 c 255 s 1.]