RCW 79.64.130 Forest health revolving account.

(1)(a) The forest health revolving account is created in the custody of the state treasurer. All receipts from the proceeds of forest health treatment sales as defined in this section and RCW 79.10.520 and 79.10.530 and all legislative transfers, gifts, grants, and federal funds must be deposited into the account. Expenditures from the account may be used only for the payment of costs, including management and administrative costs, incurred on forest health treatments necessary to improve forest health as defined in RCW 79.10.520. Only the commissioner or the commissioner's designee may authorize expenditures from the account. The board of natural resources has oversight of the account, and the commissioner must periodically report to the board of natural resources as to the status of the account, its disbursement, and receipts. The account is subject to allotment procedures under chapter 43.88 RCW, but an appropriation is not required for expenditures.

(b) The forest health revolving account is an interest-bearing account and the interest must be credited to the account.

(2) Beginning calendar year 2018, the fund balance attributable to the receipts from the proceeds of forest health treatment sales is subject to the following:

(a) Any unobligated amounts up to ten million dollars at the end of the calendar year are not subject to disbursements to trust beneficiaries, the resource management account, or the forest development account.

(b) Any unobligated amounts exceeding ten million dollars at the end of the calendar year must be disbursed to the appropriate trust beneficiaries as determined by the board of natural resources and these disbursements are not subject to the deductions for the resource management cost account described in RCW 79.64.040 or the forest development account described in RCW 79.64.110.

(c) If the board of natural resources determines that the department has permanently discontinued using the forest health revolving account for the forest health treatments under RCW 79.10.520 and 79.10.530, the board must disburse all remaining fund balance attributable to the proceeds of forest health treatment sales to the appropriate trust beneficiaries, and these disbursements are not subject to the deductions for the resource management cost account described in RCW 79.64.040 or the forest development account described in RCW 79.64.110.

(3)(a) Except as provided in (b) and (c) of this subsection, expenditures on state lands and state forestlands for forest health treatments by the department from the forest health revolving account must be consistent with the prioritization policy under RCW 79.10.520 and the prioritization list created under RCW 79.10.530.

(b) The department is not bound to adhere to the list submitted to the legislature under RCW 79.10.520 in the event that emerging information or changed circumstances support a reprioritization of lands consistent with the policy created under RCW 79.10.520.

(c) The department is not required to apply the prioritization policy of RCW 79.10.520 where doing so would be incompatible with the conditions of funding provided by the federal government or another organization that is contributing funds to forest health treatments involving the department.

[ 2017 c 248 § 3.]