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Eickmeyer sponsors proposal to help fund Hood Canal
restoration
Legislator says account shores up protection for
‘irreplaceable resource’
February 1, 2006
OLYMPIA — Bringing Hood Canal back from the brink of extinction is the goal
of legislation introduced today (Feb. 1) by state Rep. Bill Eickmeyer.
Eickmeyer, D-Belfair, is sponsoring
House
Bill 3282 to establish an account as a source of stable funding to restore
Hood Canal.
The 35th Legislative District representative is hardly a newcomer to the Hood
Canal-restoration mission. Several years ago, Eickmeyer was one of the first
lawmakers to sound an alarm about the dire straits threatening this great
American fjord. He chairs the House Select Committee on Hood Canal — a panel
charged with finding ways to prevent the resource from becoming a dead zone.
“The lack of dissolved oxygen in Hood Canal threatens to turn these beautiful
waters into a Dead Sea,” Eickmeyer said. “All species in the Canal, even those
that require only a small level of dissolved oxygen, are threatened with
extinction.”
In working to recapture the health of the Canal, “we must look at the complex
interrelationship between its species and chemistries,” he explained. “We’ve got
to establish healthy guidelines for management and protection of this
irreplaceable resource.”
The Hood Canal lawmaker is also sponsoring
House
Bill 3142 to provide a tax exemption for qualified on-site sewage-disposal
systems located in rehabilitation zones.
“Many of the companies providing new technology that treat sewage, including the
treatment of nitrogen, are start-up companies,” Eickmeyer explained. “These
companies need a financial incentive in order to be competitive.”
He said the tax exemption would be a key part of a package of incentives to help
and encourage homeowners to maintain and repair their systems.
“The average on-site system on Hood Canal is two decades old,” he pointed out.
“And 20 percent of these systems were installed before our state even had any
sewage-system regulations.”
Eickmeyer’s select committee has invested more than a year in reviewing
management of Hood Canal’s water quality, as well as management of its fisheries
and shellfish industries. In last year’s legislative session, Eickmeyer won
support for two key measures (House Bill 2081 and House Bill 2097). He said
these measures reflect his commitment to:
* Develop a framework for coordination and action.
* Complete scientific studies and surveys.
* Commence identification of key issues.
* Begin early corrective actions to deal with known problems.
* Engage communities in problem-solving.
A rehabilitation zone in Eickmeyer’s 2005 legislative package includes all
watersheds that drain to Hood Canal south of a line projected from Tala Point in
Jefferson County to Foulweather Bluff in Kitsap County.
Another provision establishes the Hood Canal Coordinating Council as a
co-management entity for regional recovery efforts. The council actively works
with the Puget Sound Action Team on setting priorities for Canal programs,
studies and projects.
Eickmeyer’s measure also calls on the council to assist in coordinating
watershed-planning activities. The legislation requires the council and its
participating local and tribal governments to assess concepts for a regional
governance structure, and to report findings and recommendations to the
Legislature.
Also in last year’s legislative session, Eickmeyer helped win support for
funding to clean up and protect Hood Canal. The money is aimed at assisting
landowners who have failing septic systems, preventing storm-water runoff, and
studying the role that geoducks play in the natural cleanup of the Canal.
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Radio and TV News Directors: To obtain broadcast-quality audio on this issue, or
to arrange for TV or radio interviews, please contact Dan Frizzell, House
Democratic Caucus broadcast coordinator, at frizzell.dan@leg.wa.gov or (360)
786-7208.
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