(1) The wolf-livestock conflict account is created in the custody of the state treasurer. Any transfers under RCW 77.36.170 must be deposited in the account. The department may also deposit into the account any grants, gifts, or donations to the state for the purposes of providing compensation for injury or loss of livestock caused by wolves. Consistent with this chapter, expenditures from the account may be used only for mitigation, assessment, and payments for injury or loss of livestock caused by wolves. Only the director or the director's designee may authorize expenditures from the account. The account is subject to allotment procedures under chapter 43.88 RCW, but an appropriation is not required for expenditures.

(2)(a) The department must maintain a list of claims submitted under RCW 77.36.100, organized chronologically by the date wolf predation is confirmed, for injury or loss of livestock caused by wolves that have been approved for payment but not yet been fully paid by the department. As funding becomes available to the department under this section, RCW 77.36.170, or any other source, the department must pay claims in the chronologic order they appear on the list. The department must maintain, and is authorized to pay, claims that appear on the list due to injury or loss that occurred in a previous fiscal biennium.

(b) The payment of a claim included on the list maintained by the department under this section is conditional on the availability of specific funding for this purpose and is not a guarantee of reimbursement.