Directs the Director of the Department specified in 49.12 RCW to create a farm internship pilot project through 2017 for small farms with the intent of providing interns with vocational knowledge and skills about farming practices and enterprises. A farm may not employ more than three interns at any given time. The project will take place in San Juan, Skagit, King, Whatcom, Kitsap, Pierce, Jefferson, Spokane, Yakima, Chelan, Grant, Kittitas, Lincoln, and Thurston counties. Funds necessary for the project shall come from the general fund.   Official Text and Analysis.

The Department of Labor and Industries must limit the administrative costs of implementing the farm internship pilot program by relying on farm organizations and other stakeholders to perform outreach and inform the community of the program, and by limiting employee travel to the investigation of allegations of noncompliance with program requirements. The requirement that appropriation be made only from the state general fund is removed. Island County and Snohomish County are added to the 14 other counties eligible to participate in the pilot project.

Provides that qualified small farms in certain counties are eligible to participate in a farm internship pilot project. Qualified small farms may employ up to three farm interns at any time, working under special certificates issued by the Department of Labor and Industries (L&I). Farms seeking to employ interns must submit an application to L&I and execute an agreement with the intern that sets forth specific information including a description of the work to be performed, any wages to be paid, and a description of the farm internship program. The internship program must: provide a curriculum and supervised participation in farm activates designed to teach interns about farming practices; be based on the valid curriculum of an educational or vocational institution; and be reasonably designed to provide the intern with vocational knowledge and skills about farming practices. Upon receiving an application from a small farm, L&I must review the application and issue a certificate within 15 days if the farm meets certain criteria. L&I must adopt a special industrial insurance risk class for farm interns. L&I must monitor and evaluate the pilot project and report back to the Legislature by December 31, 2017.