WA lumber mills/public works

AN ACT Relating to prioritizing lumber procured from Washington 1
state lumber mills for the purpose of public works projects; adding a 2
new section to chapter 39.04 RCW; and creating a new section.3
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:4
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. A new section is added to chapter 39.04 5
RCW to read as follows: 6
(1) The state, a school district, or a municipality entering into 7
a contract for the construction, reconstruction, alteration, repair, 8
improvement, or maintenance of a public building or other public 9
works project where (a) the project receives more than $500,000 of 10
state funds in the state capital budget or financed through a 11
financing contract as defined in RCW 39.94.020, and (b) the state 12
funds over one-half of the cost of the project, must require that 13
lumber used or supplied in the performance of the contract or any 14
subcontract be procured, in descending order of priority, from 15
Washington, Oregon, and the United States, unless otherwise exempted 16
under this section. 17
(2)(a) The requirements of subsection (1) of this section may be 18
waived by the director of the office of financial management on 19
behalf of the state, a school district superintendent on behalf of a 20
H-0829.3
HOUSE BILL 1726
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2025 Regular Session
By Representatives Waters, Couture, Simmons, Springer, Kloba, Reed,
Ormsby, Hill, and Scott
Read first time 01/30/25. Referred to Committee on Capital Budget.
p. 1 HB 1726
school district, or the executive head of a municipality on behalf of 1
a municipality, if the person determines that: 2
(i) Meeting the requirements would be inconsistent with the 3
public interest; 4
(ii) Lumber is not available in the priority locations in 5
sufficient or reasonably available quantities and of satisfactory 6
quality; or 7
(iii) Meeting the requirement would increase the cost of milled 8
wood products by 10 percent. 9
(b)(i) Before issuing a waiver under this subsection (2), the 10
director, superintendent, or executive head must provide public 11
notice on the agency website of the proposed waiver and an 12
opportunity for public comment on the proposal for at least 30 days 13
before making a final determination. The public notice must include 14
information used in making the decision to propose a waiver and the 15
public must be given the opportunity to provide comments 16
electronically. 17
(ii) The director, superintendent, or executive head must publish 18
on the agency website a detailed justification of the decision made 19
that addresses the public comments received. The publication must 20
take place before the waiver taking effect. 21
(3) This section applies to public works projects advertised for 22
bids after the effective date of this section. 23
(4) For the purposes of this section, "municipality" means every 24
city, county, town, port district, district, or other public agency 25
authorized by law to require the execution of public work.26
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. If any part of this act is found to be in 27
conflict with federal requirements that are a prescribed condition to 28
the allocation of federal funds to the state, the conflicting part of 29
this act is inoperative solely to the extent of the conflict and with 30
respect to the agencies directly affected, and this finding does not 31
affect the operation of the remainder of this act in its application 32
to the agencies concerned. Rules adopted under this act must meet 33
federal requirements that are a necessary condition to the receipt of 34
federal funds by the state.35
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p. 2 HB 1726