Embedded Files
Bills Passed: Housing & Land Use
Bills Passed: Housing & Land Use
Transit Oriented Development HB 1491
Requires local zoning standards to allow greater density near transit across the state with 10% required to be affordable, and 20% for workforce housing. Developers who meet the requirements get a 20-year multifamily property tax exemption and half off local impact fees. Applies within a half-mile of light rail or streetcar, and within a quarter mile to bus rapid transit stops. For King County, rezoning must be complete by 2030. For more info, see the Washington State Standard.
Passed with bipartisan support, signed by Governor
Parking Mandate Reform SB 5184
Sets a cap on how much parking may be required for developments. The goal is to reduce the cost of new buildings (including the carbon cost), improve walkability, and increase green space.
A city can’t require more than .5 parking spaces per apartment, or more than 2 parking spaces per 1,000 feet of commercial space
A city can’t require parking minimums for affordable housing, senior housing, child care facilities, commercial spaces under 3,000 square feet, commercial mixed use, and residences smaller than 1,200 square feet.
For more information on this bill, see Sightline.
Passed with bipartisan support, signed by Governor
Builder's Remedy SB 5148
Sets up a process for the Dept. of Commerce to review local housing development regulations. Local authorities may submit regulations for voluntary review, or Commerce may select local jurisdictions for targeted review. Jurisdictions that are designated as non-compliant may not deny affordable or moderate-income housing developments, or approve such developments with conditions that would have a substantial impact on the development.
Passed on a bipartisan vote, signed by Governor
Strengthing the Growth Management Act HB 1135
Over the past four years, the Growth Management Act (GMA), originally intended to prevent sprawl, has added new requirements for housing affordability and climate change in local comprehensive plans. HB 1135 closes a loophole that allowed cities and counties to avoid complying with these provisions of the GMA. Now, cities and counties are not considered compliant with the GMA until they have amended a non-compliant plan or regulation, and non-compliant cities and counties are subject to financial sanctions. This will add teeth to the GMA and prevent evasion.
Passed on party line vote with 1 dissenting Democrat in the House (Rule, D-42), Signed by Governor
Lot Splitting
Requires local jurisdictions that are subject to middle housing requirements to allow residential lots to be split in order to facilitate middle housing development.
Passed with bipartisan support, awaiting Governor's Signature
Clean Buildings Standard
Creates alternative pathways for compliance with the Clean Buildings Act by allowing either metric targets or intensity targets when measuring energy use. It also adds more exemptions for building types and extensions for compliance. By providing more flexibility, there will be more of an incentive for building owners to comply with the Clean Buildings Act and less need for penalties.
Passed unanimously, signed by Governor
Update Building Codes for Sustainable and Affordable Housing HB 1183
Requires a variety of tweaks to local city building codes to make it easier to build affordable and sustainable housing and to retrofit buildings to be more sustainable:
Cities must allow minor exceptions to height and setback limits to create space for insulation retrofits, solar panel installations, and Passive House construction.
Removes off-street parking requirements for affordable housing, Passive House, and mass timber construction.
Prevents cities from requiring affordable housing units to exceed certain baseline sizes given the number of bedrooms (for example, a city can’t require a single bedroom affordable apartment is larger that 550 square feet).
Passed on party line vote, signed by Governor
Thermal Energy Networks HB 1514
Creates a regulatory framework for thermal energy networks—systems that use networked ground source heat pumps to heat and cool buildings without fossil fuels. It allows utilities to operate these networks while ensuring consumer protections and affordable rates.
Passed on a bipartisan vote, signed by Governor
Simplify Condominium Construction HB 1403
Cleans up the language in state law to create clear, workable standards for condos.
Passed on a bipartisan vote, signed by Governor
Bills Passed: Transportation
Bills Passed: Transportation
Strengthen the Clean Fuels Act HB 1409
Accelerates the carbon intensity reduction requirements for transportation fuels under the Clean Fuels Program (CFP) by possibly as much as double, and reduces air pollution from transportation. It establishes penalties and other enforcement powers specific to the CFP program, and eliminates Clean Air Act criminal and civil penalties for violations of the CFP. Increases funding for EV charging and sustainable fuels production. More info from Climate Solutions.
Passed on party line vote with 3 dissenting Democrats in the House (Rule D-42, Timmons D-42, Shavers D-10) and 3 dissenting Democrats in the Senate (Conway D-29, Hasegawa D-11, Krishnadasan D-13). Awaiting Governor's Signature.
Including Riders on Transit Boards
Most smaller transit systems in the state are overseen by a board made up of elected leaders from the cities, towns and county covered by a Public Transportation Benefit Area (PTBA). HB 1418 encourages those boards to include two members who are regular users of the transit system, one of whom is a representative of a community based organization, and requires meetings to be held at times and places reasonably accessible by public transit. Transit systems overseen by PTBA boards cover most agencies in the state other than the largest ones in the Puget Sound region (Sound Transit & King County Metro). Rider representation on these smaller systems is a key step in improving transit access across the state.
Passed with bipartisan support, signed by Governor
Eliminating Driver's License Requirements for Jobs SB 5501
Makes it unlawful to require a valid driver's license as a condition of employment or include such a requirement in a job posting unless the employer reasonably expects driving to be one of the essential job functions of the position.
Passed with bipartisan support, signed by Governor.
Intercity Rail Improvements HB 1837
Establishes priority targets to increase the frequency and improve the reliability of the Amtrak Cascades route between Seattle and Vancouver, BC and Portland, OR. WSDOT must report annually on progress, with recommendations to remove any constraints.
Passed on a bipartisan vote, awaiting Governor's Signature
Shared Streets SB 5595
Allows cities to designate neighborhood streets where cars, bikes, and pedestrians share the same space, but speed limits are low and pedestrians are the priority. These are like the "Stay Healthy" streets established in Seattle during the pandemic.
Passed with bipartisan support, signed by Governor
Transportation Budget Breakdown
The budget started at a deficit because of cost increases for building highways: highway expansion projects approved in 2021 and currently in progress are seeing large (30-50%) cost increases over original estimates. The new budget adds new revenue, including a 6 cent raise in the gas tax, and hikes in many different fees, plus a transfer from the General Fund. Most of this new revenue goes to finish out the Puget Sound Gateway, Spokane Corridor, I-405 & I-90 widening, as well as the I-5 Interstate Bridge. Spending on maintenance is about the same as before, even though our maintenance backlog keeps growing. The emphasis on highway expansion will likely add to our GHG emissions as it enables more development in car-dependent areas.
Here's the spending breakdown by percentage, courtesy of Ryan Packer:
Highway capacity (expansion) projects: 36%
Ferries: 14%
Maintenance & preservation: 13%
Fish passage: 9%
Local grants: 8%
Public transit: 6.3%
Transportation operations: 3.5%
Rail: 3.3%
Aviation: 1.3%
The budget has not yet been signed, and line item vetos are not unusual.
Bills Passed: Waste Management
Bills Passed: Waste Management
Recycling Reform Act – SB 5284
Creates a producer responsibility program in which manufacturers and brands come together to reduce unnecessary packaging and paper, increase recycling, and reduce costs for local governments and residents across the state. Makes producers financially responsible, which incentivizes them to reduce the amount of packaging they use, or switch to packaging that is reusable, compostable, or recyclable. Brings consistent and accessible recycling to all state residents.
Passed on party line vote with 2 dissenting Democrats in the Senate (Chapman D-24, Krishnadasan D-26), and 7 dissenting Democrats in the House (Fey D-27, Bronoske D-28, Leavit D-28, Morgan D-29, Reeves D-30, Richards D-26, Wylie D-49). Awaiting Governor's Signature.
Sewage Spills Right To Know HB 1670
Requires the Department of Ecology to make sewage discharge information publicly available. Passed unanimously, awaiting Governor's Signature
Stronger Oversight of Landfills
Strengthens oversight to help bring certain problem landfills into compliance with their permits and solid waste laws.
Passed on party line vote, awaiting Governor's Signature
Hydrofluorocarbon Reduction and Refrigerant Recovery HB 1462
Reduces emissions of hydrofluorocarbons by:
Phasing out sales of equipment that doesn't reclaim HFCs to support the transition of new equipment to lower global warming potential refrigerants.
Creating a task force to study and assess transitioning to low and ultra-low global warming potential refrigerants.
Passed on party line vote with 4 dissenting Democrats in the Senate (Chapman D-24, Hasegawa D-11, Krishnadasan D-26, Trudeau D-27). Awaiting Governor's Signature
Right to Repair Electronics
Requires manufacturers of digital electronic products to make repair information, parts and tools available to independent repair providers and owners.
Passed on a bipartisan vote, awaiting Governor's Signature
Right to Repair Mobility Devices
Requires manufacturers of powered wheelchairs and similar devices to make repair information, parts and tools available to independent repair businesses and owners.
Passed unanimously, awaiting Governor's Signature
Improving Food and Yard Waste Management HB 1497
Make composting programs more comprehensive and effective:
Bring organics collection to more businesses and multi-family buildings.
Standardize color-coded and labeled collection containers and lids to improve source separation and reduce contamination.
Identify food waste reduction educational best practices and ways to overcome food waste reduction barriers in schools.
Passed on party line vote with 3 dissenting Democrats in the Senate (Chapman D-24, Kauffman D-47, Hasegawa D-11, Trudeau D-27). Awaiting Governor's Signature.
Analyze PFAS in Biosolids SB 5033
Establish a PFAS (forever chemicals) monitoring program for wastewater treatment facilities that generate biosolids. Passed unanimously, awaiting Governor's Signature
Bills That Failed to Pass
Bills That Failed to Pass
Environmental Justice
Environmental Justice
CURB Act – HB 1303
Requires environmental justice to be considered as an element under the State Environmental Policy Act. Was much reduced in scope after a financial note that came in very high, but made it through House Appropriations and failed to get a floor vote.
Energy
Energy
Expand Electrical Transmission – SB 5466
Creates a Washington Electric Transmission Authority (WETA) to support upgrading and expanding the electric transmission system and be a state-wide resource for electrical
transmission. The State would develop a transmission needs assessment and report on debt-financing instruments for building new lines. Also streamlines the permitting process for new lines. This bill passed the Senate on a party line vote, and was scheduled for a vote on the House floor.
Upgrade Existing Electrical Tranmission Lines – HB 1819
Requires electric utilities with more than 25,000 customers to evaluate where reconductoring would yield meaningful improvements to the grid, and streamlines permitting for upgrades and rebuilds of transmission lines. Passed unanimously in the House, failed to get approval by the Senate Committee on Environment, Energy & Technology. Republicans are in favor of this, but opposed to centralized state planning (see SB 5466).
Housing & Land Use
Housing & Land Use
Energy Labeling of Residential Buildings – HB 1015
Authorizes cities and counties to require that standardized reports are available to potential homebuyers of most types of housing so they can make informed decisions about energy usage prior to purchasing a home. Failed to get a floor vote in the House.
Reducing Embodied Carbon in Building Construction – HB 1458
Failed in House Appropriations Committee
Community Solar – HB 1804
Failed to get a vote in the House Environment & Energy Committee.
Legalizing Neighborhood Stores and Cafes – HB 1175
Requires cities to allow neighborhood stores and cafes in residential zones (think corner stores, mini markets, small neighborhood cafes)
Transportation
Transportation
Safe Streets for Active Transportation – SB 5581
Allows funding for multi-modal projects using the gas tax, and requires bike and pedestrian facilities be incorporated into the design of state highways. Passed the Senate on a party line vote, but failed to get a vote on the House floor.
One good way to follow along on climate bills during the Session, and also to give your input and help the bills get passed is to join 350 Washington's Civic Action Team, which sends out bi-weekly action alerts during the session.
Thanks to the Urbanist, Dept. of Commerce for use of images; and to Henrywingra, Andrew Kvalheim, Siera Wild and 4300streetcar for images under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
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