(1) There is created the environmental enhancement and job creation task force within the office of the governor. The purpose of the task force is to provide a coordinated and comprehensive approach to implementation of chapter 516, Laws of 1993. The task force shall consist of the commissioner of public lands, the director of the department of fish and wildlife, the director of the department of ecology, the director of the parks and recreation commission, the timber team coordinator, the executive director of the workforce training and education coordinating board, and the executive director of the Puget Sound partnership, or their designees. The task force may seek the advice of the following agencies and organizations: The department of commerce, the conservation commission, the employment security department, the recreation and conservation office, appropriate federal agencies, appropriate special districts, the Washington state association of counties, the association of Washington cities, labor organizations, business organizations, timber-dependent communities, environmental organizations, and Indian tribes. The governor shall appoint the task force chair. Members of the task force shall serve without additional pay. Participation in the work of the committee by agency members shall be considered in performance of their employment. The governor shall designate staff and administrative support to the task force and shall solicit the participation of agency personnel to assist the task force.
(2) The task force shall have the following responsibilities:
(a) Soliciting and evaluating, in accordance with the criteria set forth in RCW
43.21J.040, requests for funds from the *environmental and forest restoration account and making distributions from the account. The task force shall award funds for projects and training programs it approves and may allocate the funds to state agencies for disbursement and contract administration;
(b) Coordinating a process to assist state agencies and local governments to implement effective environmental and forest restoration projects funded under this chapter;
(c) Considering unemployment profile data provided by the employment security department.
(3) Beginning July 1, 1994, the task force shall have the following responsibilities:
(a) To solicit and evaluate proposals from state and local agencies, private nonprofit organizations, and tribes for environmental and forest restoration projects;
(b) To rank the proposals based on criteria developed by the task force in accordance with RCW
43.21J.040; and
(c) To determine funding allocations for projects to be funded from the account created in *RCW
43.21J.020 and for projects or programs as designated in the omnibus operating and capital appropriations acts.
