WSR 17-16-014

EMERGENCY RULES

DEPARTMENT OF ARCHAEOLOGY

AND HISTORIC PRESERVATION

[Filed July 20, 2017, 1:45 a.m., effective July 23, 2017]

Effective Date of Rule: July 23, 2017.

Other Findings Required by Other Provisions of Law as Precondition to Adoption or Effectiveness of Rule: EHB 1595 (chapter 304, Laws of 2017) establishes new requirements for state agencies wishing to charge fees to recover the cost of providing public records. Section 3 (2)(b) specifies that an agency need not calculate actual costs for providing records if it has rules or regulations declaring the reasons that doing so would be unduly burdensome. The department of archaeology and historic preservation (DAHP) finds that its records are diverse in nature and are preserved in a wide variety of formats. Thus, it would require significant time and resources to compile actual costs of providing records. The needed resources to do a cost study are not currently available and, therefore, DAHP finds that it would be unduly burdensome to calculate the actual costs of copying public records. DAHP intends to adopt the default cost schedule established by EHB 1595.

Purpose: This new rule is adopted on an emergency basis to comply with HB [EHB] 1595 (chapter 304, Laws of 2017), which establishes new requirements for state agencies wishing to charge fees to recover the cost of providing public records. The bill's effective date is July 23, 2017. DAHP will also file a preproposal statement of inquiry (CR-101) to adopt this and other permanent changes to its Public records—Disclosure rules.

Statutory Authority for Adoption: EHB 1595 (chapter 304, Laws of 2017), chapters 42.56 and 43.330 RCW.

Under RCW 34.05.350 the agency for good cause finds that immediate adoption, amendment, or repeal of a rule is necessary for the preservation of the public health, safety, or general welfare, and that observing the time requirements of notice and opportunity to comment upon adoption of a permanent rule would be contrary to the public interest.

Reasons for this Finding: DAHP presently relies upon the Public Records Act which allows recovery of costs of responding to public records requests. Changes made by EHB 1595 (chapter 304, Laws of 2017) require adoption of an emergency rule before the bill's effective date of July 23, 2017, in order to continue to lawfully recover such costs. The general welfare is dependent upon agencies such as DAHP being able to meet the needs of the people of the state. Accessing public records is one such need, and therefore this emergency rule adoption is necessary for the preservation of general welfare. Insufficient time remains before the bill's effective date for adoption of a permanent rule, thus it would be contrary to the public interest to allow DAHP's basis for cost recovery to lapse between the bill's effective date and the effective date of a permanent rule. Adopting this emergency rule is in the public interest as it preserves DAHP's ability to recover costs until a permanent rule is adopted.

Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Comply with Federal Statute: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Federal Rules or Standards: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Recently Enacted State Statutes: New 1, Amended 0, Repealed 0.

Number of Sections Adopted at Request of a Nongovernmental Entity: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.

Number of Sections Adopted on the Agency's Own Initiative: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.

Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Clarify, Streamline, or Reform Agency Procedures: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.

Number of Sections Adopted Using Negotiated Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Pilot Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Other Alternative Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.

Date Adopted: July 20, 2017.

Allyson Brooks

Director

NEW SECTION

WAC 25-10-005 Fees—Inspection and copying.

(1) The department is not calculating all actual costs for copying records because to do so would be unduly burdensome for the following reasons: i) It would require significant time and resources to conduct a cost study to determine actual costs of providing copies of records; ii) the needed resources to do a cost study are not currently available; iii) to conduct such a study would interfere with other essential agency functions; and iv) through the 2017 legislative process, the public and requesters have commented on and been informed of authorized fees and costs, including for electronic records, as provided in RCW 42.56.120 (2)(b) and (c), (3) and (4).

(2) The department may charge the default fees for copies of paper and electronic public records as established in RCW 42.56.120.

(3) No fee shall be charged for the inspection of public records.

(4) The public records officer or designee may waive fees for copies of public records when collecting the fees would not be cost effective to the department.

(5) Before beginning to copy public records, the public records officer or designee may require:

(a) A deposit of up to ten percent of the estimated costs of copying all the records selected by the requestor;

(b) The payment of the remainder of the copying costs before providing all the records; or

(6) The department will not charge sales tax when it makes copies of public records.

(7) Payment must be made by cash, check, or money order, in the exact amount charged, to the department.