Opinion ID: 2638406
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: statutory forfeiture; rcw 90.16.060

Text: Ecology also denied the District's application for a change of point of diversion on the basis that under chapter 90.14 RCW the District relinquished most of its 440 cfs under its 1980 permit, because the right was unused for over five years. The Board reversed. As Ecology points out, this basis for denial of a change in point of diversion is mooted by our holding that an inchoate right is not subject to change under RCW 90.03.380. In any event, the Board's decision is correct. First, RCW 90.14.150 provides that nothing in chapter 90.14 RCW shall be construed to affect any rights or privileges arising from any permit to withdraw public waters or any application for such permit, but the department of ecology shall grant extensions of time to the holder of a preliminary permit only as provided by RCW 90.03.290. Thus, the Legislature has plainly made statutory forfeiture inapplicable to unperfected water rights. Ecology maintains, though, that RCW 90.14.150 must be harmonized with RCW 90.14.140(2) and RCW 90.16.060. We will not harmonize RCW 90.14.140(2) with RCW 90.14.150 where the latter statute plainly states that chapter 90.14 RCW does not apply to affect rights under a permit. Were we to do otherwise, it would be in blatant disregard of expressed legislative intent. However, there remains a question whether the right has been abandoned under the provisions of RCW 90.16.060. The Board granted summary judgment to the District on the issue of whether it abandoned its water rights for failure to timely pay the annual hydroelectric power fees to Ecology. The Board stated that there was no genuine issue of material fact that the District inadvertently failed to pay a portion of its annual licensing fees for hydroelectric projects under RCW 90.16.060 from 1986 to 1993, and that the District had established that the missed payments were the result of a clerical error. The late fees and penalties were paid in 1998. From 1992 forward, the correct fees were paid. PUD No. 1 of Pend Oreille County v. Dep't of Ecology, No. 97-177 (Amended Summary Judgment and Order, Factual Background XL, XXVII, Wash. Oct. 15, 1998). [6] RCW 90.16.050 and RCW 90.16.060 require the filing of annual statements showing the extent of claims for power development and the payment of annual licensing fees. Ecology argues that the District failed to claim the full 440 cfs right for power development and failed to pay licensing fees, and that under RCW 90.16.060 this is conclusive evidence of abandonment of the water right used or proposed to be used for power development. We do not read RCW 90.16.060 as providing for such abandonment. First, as to payment of fees, the statute states that the failure to file statement and pay the fees, as herein required, for any power site or claim of power rights on account of riparian ownership within two years after June 12, 1929, shall be conclusive evidence of abandonment. RCW 90.16.060 (emphasis added). The statute was enacted in 1929 and, evidently, the quoted language was intended to assure that power developers complied with the new act's provisions in a timely fashion. Nothing in the statute indicates that the abandonment provision applies to the failure to pay fees after 1931. Moreover, the rest of the statute demonstrates that it does not. RCW 90.16.060 also provides that [s]hould any claimant fail or neglect to file such statement within the time specified, or fail or neglect to pay such fees within the time specified, the fees due and payable shall be at the schedule rates set out in RCW 90.16.050, increased twenty-five percent, and the state shall have preference lien therefor, with interest at the rate of ten percent per annum from the date of delinquency[.] We do not believe the Legislature intended that a water right would be deemed conclusively abandoned, while at the same time allowing the late payment of fees relating to that right. Nor do we understand why a claimant would pay late fees once the water right necessary for power production was abandoned. By allowing the late payment of fees, with penalty and interest, the Legislature plainly contemplated that the statement could be filed and licensing fees could be paid late without abandoning the water right(s) involved. We would have to read the June 12, 1929 date out of the statute in order to read the statute as Ecology would have us do. We decline to do so. We also decline to render the language allowing the late payment of fees superfluous. See Svendsen v. Stock, 143 Wash.2d 546, 555, 23 P.3d 455 (2001) (statutes should not be construed to render any portion superfluous). We note that our decision does not leave a void in the law. Common law abandonment principles and statutory forfeiture (and its exceptions) may apply, and other statutes govern requirements for perfection of a water right, including the diligence required in perfecting permitted water rights. As to the failure to file the annual statement claiming the full 440 cfs, the statute plainly ties the filing of the annual statement and payment of licensing fees together. By allowing the later payment of the licensing fees where they have not been paid, the statute contemplates that the claimant may correct the failure or neglect to pay. We believe that it necessarily follows that the claimant may also correct the statement of the amount of water under the claimed water rights. Otherwise, the right to pay late fees, as the statute allows, would be meaningless. We conclude that the District has not abandoned any portion of its 440 cfs inchoate right under RCW 90.16.060 by failing to timely pay licensing fees and claim the full extent of its water right, because it lawfully paid its fees, together with penalty and interest, as permitted by the statute. Accordingly, the Board's grant of summary judgment in favor of the District on this issue is affirmed.