System improvement team

AN ACT Relating to eliminating the expiration of the interagency, 1
multijurisdictional system improvement team; reenacting and amending 2
RCW 43.155.150; creating a new section; providing an effective date; 3
and declaring an emergency. 4
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:5
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature recognizes that in the 6
2017 legislative session the public works board and the departments 7
of commerce, ecology, and health were directed to facilitate meetings 8
among state infrastructure programs to identify, implement, and 9
report on system improvements to maximize state investments to 10
benefit communities, minimize overall costs and disturbance to the 11
community, and ensure long-term durability and resilience. The 12
legislature finds that this directive led to an interagency team 13
representing the public works board, the transportation improvement 14
board, and the departments of commerce, ecology, health, and 15
transportation, informally called SYNC, which meets monthly using 16
existing resources to coordinate infrastructure projects and 17
financing to increase efficiencies and reduce costs, helping local 18
governments meet their infrastructure needs. 19
The legislature also recognizes that in the 2021 legislative 20
session, the interagency team's work was extended through June 30, 21
Z-0137.1
HOUSE BILL 1064
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2025 Regular Session
By Representatives Abbarno, Tharinger, Steele, Pollet, Rude, Ryu,
Waters, Hackney, Low, Springer, Callan, Leavitt, Timmons, Wylie, and
Scott; by request of Public Works Board
Prefiled 12/13/24. Read first time 01/13/25. Referred to Committee
on Capital Budget.
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2025. The legislature finds that SYNC's partner agencies are planning 1
the next generation of infrastructure coordination, specifically 2
reaching out to distressed and rural communities across the state 3
that have not yet secured the full benefits of infrastructure 4
assistance and working together on emerging environmental issues 5
facing Washington's communities. The legislature further finds that 6
to maximize the value of state investments across infrastructure 7
programs, it is critical to maintain SYNC's coordination of 8
infrastructure financing, policy, and projects. Therefore, the 9
legislature intends to remove the sunset date of the interagency team 10
and to request a progress report on the work of the team prior to the 11
beginning of each fiscal biennium. 12
Sec. 2. RCW 43.155.150 and 2021 c 332 s 7033 and 2021 c 190 s 1 13
are each reenacted and amended to read as follows:14
(1) An interagency, multijurisdictional system improvement team 15
must identify, implement, and report on system improvements that 16
achieve the designated outcomes, including: 17
(a) Projects that maximize value, minimize overall costs and 18
disturbance to the community, and ensure long-term durability and 19
resilience; 20
(b) Projects that are designed to meet the unique needs of each 21
community, rather than the needs of particular funding programs;22
(c) Project designs that maximize long-term value by fully 23
considering and responding to anticipated long-term environmental, 24
technological, economic and population changes; 25
(d) The flexibility to innovate, including utilizing natural 26
systems, addressing multiple regulatory drivers, and forming regional 27
partnerships; 28
(e) The ability to plan and collaborate across programs and 29
jurisdictions so that different investments are packaged to be 30
complementary, timely, and responsive to economic and community 31
opportunities; 32
(f) The needed capacity for communities, appropriate to their 33
unique financial, planning, and management capacities, so they can 34
design, finance, and build projects that best meet their long-term 35
needs and minimize costs; 36
(g) Optimal use and leveraging of federal and private 37
infrastructure dollars; and 38
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(h) Mechanisms to ensure periodic, systemwide review and ongoing 1
achievement of the designated outcomes. 2
(2) The system improvement team must consist of representatives 3
of state infrastructure programs that provide funding for drinking 4
water, wastewater, stormwater, and broadband programs, including but 5
not limited to representatives from the public works board, 6
department of ecology, department of health, and the department of 7
commerce. The system improvement team may invite representatives of 8
other infrastructure programs, such as transportation, energy, and 9
broadband, as needed in order to achieve efficiency, minimize costs, 10
and maximize value across infrastructure programs. The system 11
improvement team shall also consist of representatives of users of 12
those programs, representatives of infrastructure project builders, 13
and other parties the system improvement team determines would 14
contribute to achieving the desired outcomes, including but not 15
limited to representatives from a state association of cities, a 16
state association of counties, a state association of public utility 17
districts, a state association of water and sewer districts, a state 18
association of general contractors, and a state organization 19
representing building trades. The public works board, a 20
representative from the department of ecology, department of health, 21
and department of commerce shall facilitate the work of the system 22
improvement team. 23
(3) The system improvement team must focus on achieving the 24
designated outcomes within existing program structures and 25
authorities. The system improvement team shall use lean practices to 26
achieve the designated outcomes. 27
(4) The system improvement team shall provide briefings as 28
requested to the public works board on the current state of 29
infrastructure programs to build an understanding of the 30
infrastructure investment program landscape and the interplay of its 31
component parts. 32
(5) If the system improvement team encounters statutory or 33
regulatory barriers to system improvements, the system improvement 34
team must inform the public works board and consult on possible 35
solutions. When achieving the designated outcomes would be best 36
served through changes in program structures or authorities, the 37
system improvement team must report those findings to the public 38
works board. 39
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(6) ((By September 1, 2022 )) Beginning November 1, 2026 , in 1
compliance with RCW 43.01.036, the system improvement team must 2
submit a biennial report to the appropriate committees of the 3
legislature that includes the following: 4
(a) A list of all projects funded by members of the system 5
improvement team; 6
(b) A description of the coordination the system improvement team 7
has completed with other grant programs and funds leveraged; and8
(c) A description of regional planning that has occurred.9
(((7) This section expires June 30, 2025.))10
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. This act is necessary for the immediate 11
preservation of the public peace, health, or safety, or support of 12
the state government and its existing public institutions, and takes 13
effect June 30, 2025.14
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