County local roads

AN ACT Relating to improving county local roads by creating a new 1
county local road program; adding a new chapter to Title 36 RCW; 2
providing an effective date; and declaring an emergency.3
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:4
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The definitions in this section apply 5
throughout this chapter unless the context clearly requires 6
otherwise.7
(1) "Board" means the county road administration board created in 8
RCW 36.78.030. 9
(2) "Community facility" means a publicly owned facility or 10
building that is primarily intended to serve the recreational, 11
educational, cultural, public health and safety, administrative, or 12
entertainment needs of the community as a whole. 13
(3) "County local road project" means improvement projects on 14
those county roads not federally classified as an arterial or 15
collector. 16
(4) "LAG manual" means the Washington state department of 17
transportation's local agency guidelines manual or its successor 18
document. 19
(5) "Overburdened community" is as defined in RCW 70A.02.010.20
H-0133.1
HOUSE BILL 1008
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2025 Regular Session
By Representatives Low, Barkis, and Eslick
Prefiled 12/03/24. Read first time 01/13/25. Referred to Committee
on Local Government.
p. 1 HB 1008
(6) "Pedestrian facility" is a facility designed to meet the 1
needs of pedestrians in accordance with county and Americans with 2
disabilities act requirements. 3
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. There is created in the motor vehicle fund 4
the county local road trust account. All moneys deposited in the 5
motor vehicle fund to be credited to the county local road trust 6
account must be expended for (1) the preservation and improvement of 7
county local roads and (2) those expenses of the board associated 8
with the administration of the county road local access preservation 9
program. The account is subject to allotment procedures under chapter 10
43.88 RCW, and an appropriation is required for expenditures.11
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. The board shall:12
(1) Adopt rules necessary to implement the provisions of this 13
chapter relating to the allocation of funds in the county local road 14
trust account to counties; and 15
(2) Include a program status report in the board's annual report 16
to the legislature as provided in RCW 36.78.070. 17
NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. (1) The board shall adopt rules to select 18
projects taking into consideration, at a minimum, the following 19
criteria:20
(a) Investment in overburdened communities; 21
(b) Environmental health disparities as identified in the 22
environmental health disparities map specified in RCW 43.70.815;23
(c) Location on or providing direct access to a federally 24
recognized Indian reservation; 25
(d) Sustaining the structural, safety, and operational integrity 26
of the road; 27
(e) Vehicle and pedestrian collision experience;28
(f) Access improvements to a community facility; and29
(g) Identified need in a state, regional, county, or community 30
plan. 31
(2) Proposed projects must be included in the respective county's 32
six-year program as provided in RCW 36.81.121 before board approval 33
of the project. 34
NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. The following project types are allowed 35
under the county local road program created in this chapter:36
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(1) 2-R as defined in the LAG manual; 1
(2) 3-R as defined in the LAG manual; 2
(3) Reconstruction as defined in the LAG manual;3
(4) Replacement of any bridge on the national bridge inventory;4
(5) Removal of human-made or caused impediments to anadromous 5
fish passage; 6
(6) Pedestrian facilities. 7
NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. Whenever a proposed county local road 8
project is adjacent to a city or town, the appropriate city or town 9
and county officials shall jointly plan and include the improvement 10
in their respective long-range plans. Whenever a county local road 11
project connects with and will be substantially affected by a 12
programmed construction project on a state highway, the proper county 13
officials shall jointly plan the development of such project with the 14
department of transportation district administrator.15
NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. Counties receiving funds from the county 16
local road trust account shall provide such matching funds as 17
established by rules adopted by the board. Matching requirements must 18
be established after appropriate studies by the board, taking into 19
account financial resources available to counties.20
NEW SECTION. Sec. 8. (1) After December 31, 2025, counties 21
which divert any portion of the county road levy as authorized by RCW 22
36.33.220 are not eligible to receive funds from the county local 23
road trust account. Counties under 8,000 in population are exempt 24
from this eligibility restriction.25
(2) The board shall authorize county local road trust account 26
funds for the construction project portion of a project previously 27
authorized for a preliminary proposal in the sequence in which the 28
preliminary proposal has been completed and the construction project 29
is to be placed under contract. At such time the board may reserve 30
county local road trust account funds for expenditure in future years 31
as may be necessary for completion of preliminary proposals and 32
construction projects to be commenced in the ensuing biennium.33
(3) The board may, within the constraints of available county 34
local road trust account funds, consider additional projects for 35
authorization upon a clear and conclusive showing by the submitting 36
county that the proposed project is of an emergent nature and that 37
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its need was unable to be anticipated at the time the six-year 1
program of the county was developed. The proposed projects must be 2
evaluated on the basis of the priority rating factors specified in 3
section 4 of this act. 4
NEW SECTION. Sec. 9. (1) Whenever the board approves a county 5
local road project it shall determine the amount of county local road 6
trust account funds to be allocated for such project. The allocation 7
must be based upon information submitted by the county seeking 8
approval of the project and upon such further investigation as the 9
board deems necessary. The board shall adopt reasonable rules 10
pursuant to which county local road trust account funds allocated to 11
a project may be increased upon a subsequent application of the 12
county constructing the project. The rules adopted by the board must 13
take into account, but are not limited to, the following factors:14
(a) The financial effect of increasing the original allocation 15
for the project upon other county local road projects either approved 16
or requested; 17
(b) Whether the project for which an additional allocation is 18
requested can be reduced in scope while retaining a usable segment;19
(c) Whether the original cost of the project shown in the 20
applicant's original submittal was based upon reasonable engineering 21
estimates; and 22
(d) Whether the requested additional allocation is to pay for an 23
expansion in the scope of work originally approved.24
(2) The board shall not allocate funds, nor make payments under 25
RCW 36.79.120, to any county identified by the governor under RCW 26
36.70A.340. 27
NEW SECTION. Sec. 10. This act is necessary for the immediate 28
preservation of the public peace, health, or safety, or support of 29
the state government and its existing public institutions, and takes 30
effect July 1, 2025.31
NEW SECTION. Sec. 11. Sections 1 through 10 of this act 32
constitute a new chapter in Title 36 RCW.33
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