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Gov. Locke signs ag bills into law By
COOKSON BEECHER 5/30/03
For agriculture, there were many bright spots, although the governor’s decision to veto the trapping bill came as a disappointment. Here are some of the bills that have been signed into law: • HB 1361. This bill is designed to strengthen commodity commissions’ legal right to collect assessments by providing more government oversight of the commissions. Many commissions have been waiting to see if this bill would pass before making plans on how they will proceed in light of a federal court decision that mandatory assessments to the Washington Apple Commission are unconstitutional. • ESSHB 1418 and HB 1420. These bills address ditches and tidegates and the authority of drainage districts. They are important to sub-tidal delta farmers, especially to those in the Skagit Valley, but also to farmers in Grays Harbor, Whatcom and Snohomish counties. HB 1418 is an inclusive bill that exempts tidegates and flood gates statewide from fish-passage requirements, creates a task force to develop a plan for estuarine habitat, and provides for a process to inventory and assess tide gates and their role in salmon recovery. The legislation also clarifies the role of the diking and drainage commissioners and affirms their control of the districts. The governor did veto part of the bill that called for the removal of a self-regulating tidegate installed by the Fish and Wildlife Department in the Edison area. Farmers are opposed to these types of tidegates because they let saltwater onto the land. The governor explained that he vetoed that part because it applies to a situation where fish passage is already in place, calling it counterproductive to the state’s salmon-recovery strategies to eliminate existing fish passage. “The better approach is to use the task force process created in the bill to analyze the role of tidegates and habitat behind them for salmon recovery,” he said. In signing the bill, the governor also got a commitment from the farmers to participate in the task force, which includes agency fisheries officials. “We’re euphoric,” said Skagit County farmer Curtis Johnson, as he drove home from the bill signing Tuesday afternoon with a group of fellow farmers who have been working on this issue for four years. “The Fish and Wildlife Department no longer can take a heavyhanded approach to tidegates. The force of law is on our side.” ESSHB 1420 adds the words, “drainage ditches, tidegates, and floodgates,” to an existing state statute on flood and drainage control, thus giving the rights to diking and drainage commissioners to operate the diking and drainage districts. Ag lobbyist Chris Cheney said the bills are more important than most people realize — that they represent just the tip of the iceberg of a battle over private property rights. “Through the Agriculture, Fish and Wildlife process, we learned that fisheries regulators want to put restrictions on irrigation ditches and other infrastructure,” he said. “If these bills hadn’t passed, it would have given the agencies a green light to go after the agricultural community in the guise of fish recovery.” • SB 5889. This bill swings the state’s Livestock Nutrient Management program from the Ecology Department over to the Agriculture Department. The bill also calls for the creation of a task force that will include livestock raisers, environmentalists and agency officials. The task force will tackle the challenge of coming up with ways that the state can meet the federal government’s new livestock standards, which were released in February. • SB 5891. This livestock identification bill calls for a 40 percent across-the-board increase in livestock-related fees. As part of the bill, a task force will be set up to address issues relating to trace back of products, theft, and country of origin labeling. The recently reported case of “mad cow disease” in Canada highlights the importance of this bill, said Cheney. • 2SSB 5890. This bill relates to a pilot project by the Department of Labor & Industries to determine the feasibility and benefits of medical monitoring of agricultural workers. Dan Fazio of the state’s Farm Bureau said the organization has concerns about how this legislation will be implemented, explaining that the organization wants farmers to be paid to collect the data. • SSHB 1095. This bill provides relief to farmers and small-scale forest owners from the state’s Road Maintenance and Abandonment Plans’ requirements. Here are some other bills the governor signed into law: • SHB 1512 relates to controlling game damage to crops. • SHB 1113 relates to irrigation district boards of joint control. • HB 1126 relates to seed testing and certification fees. • SSHB 1240 provides for deferral or exemption of sales and use taxes for construction machinery and equipment used in the manufacture of biodiesel fuel, alcohol fuels, and biodiesel feedstock. This new law helps lower the upfront costs associated with building these facilities through tax exemption incentives. • SSB 6012 updates part of the negotiated settlement of the Department of Ecology’s shoreline guidelines relating to updates to local shoreline plans. • ESB 5073 relates to watershed management. • ESB 5343 relates to watershed planning. • SSB 5575 relates to small irrigation impoundments. • SHB 1100 relates to regulating the sale, processing, or purchase of agricultural products. |