Jim Hedrick has provided a summary of maritime-related bills and their status at the end of the regular legislative session. To review the list, click here. 

One bill that has been of particular interest to NYBA and its members is changes to the Southern Resident Killer Whale protection zone. The bill was signed into law by Governor Inslee, increasing the protection zone, but two provisions were vetoed. From Jim Hedrick,

"Please be advised, Governor Inslee vetoed 2 sections of SB 5371, protecting southern resident orcas from vessels. The governor struck section 3 concerning educational outreach to vessel operators and section 4 concerning the development of a state plan to implement vessel distance regs.  The governor signed the rest of the bill into law including the new distance requirements. A link to the partial veto message is found here: https://crmpublicwebservice.ofm.wa.gov/bears/attachment/vetomessage/187

An excerpt from the partial veto message with the governor’s rationale for striking the sections are below:

Section 3 of the bill requires a mailing to every registered vessel owner in the state regarding the orca protection vessel setbacks, speed limits, and whale warning flags. This mailing would entail a significant cost to the identified agencies, but funding was not provided for this work in the final budget. For this reason, I am vetoing Section 3. However, the updated vessel distance laws do not come in effect until 2025, so it is my hope that the workgroup tasked with developing outreach and education strategies under Section 6 of the bill will be able to provide recommendations and cost estimates to be considered in the 2024 supplemental budget.

Section 4 of the bill requires the Department of Fish and Wildlife to develop a transboundary and statewide plan to implement vessel distance regulations. The department is a coordinating partner in the Be Whale Wise partnership, which coordinates orca recovery efforts, including a transboundary plan for vessel guidelines across the state, federal, and international jurisdictions. Updating the transboundary plan is already prescribed in RCW 77.65.620, and the existing Southern Resident orca conservation and management framework also includes biennial adaptive management reporting requirements. The plan required in Section 4 would largely duplicate this ongoing effort and would not likely produce meaningfully different results. In addition, no funding was provided for the requirements in Section 4. For these reasons, I am vetoing Section 4. However, I am directing the department to coordinate with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans and with Transport Canada, who have jurisdiction in Canadian waters and manage vessel restrictions in Canada, in support of the updated Southern Resident orca recovery efforts."