(1) Except as provided in RCW 79.130.060, the department may lease to the abutting tidelands or shorelands owner or lessee, the beds of navigable waters lying below the line of extreme low tide in waters where the tide ebbs and flows, and below the line of navigability in lakes and rivers claimed by the state and defined in Article XVII, section 1 of the state Constitution.

(2) In case the abutting tidelands or shorelands or the abutting uplands are not improved or occupied for residential or commercial purposes, the department may lease the beds to any person for a period not exceeding ten years for booming purposes.

(3) Nothing in this chapter shall change or modify any of the provisions of the state Constitution or laws of the state which provide for the leasing of harbor areas and the reservation of lands lying in front of harbor areas.

Severability—1987 c 271: See note following RCW 79.130.050.