Law enf. aviation support

AN ACT Relating to the law enforcement aviation support grant 1
program; amending RCW 76.04.194 and 76.04.192; amending 2023 c 457 s 2
1 (uncodified); adding a new section to chapter 38.52 RCW; and 3
providing expiration dates. 4
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:5
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. A new section is added to chapter 38.52 6
RCW to read as follows: 7
(1) Subject to the amounts appropriated for this specific 8
purpose, the department shall develop and implement a law enforcement 9
aviation support grant program for the purpose of providing financial 10
assistance to law enforcement aviation support units.11
(2) The department shall utilize a statewide association of law 12
enforcement executives to identify and recognize local law 13
enforcement rotary wing aviation support units that offer aviation 14
support to any jurisdiction in the state reachable by their aviation 15
support unit whenever an aircraft is available, without any financial 16
obligation on behalf of the requesting jurisdiction. For purposes of 17
this section, refueling is not considered a financial obligation.18
(3) The department shall equally distribute 50 percent of the 19
amounts appropriated for this program each fiscal year to local law 20
enforcement rotary wing aviation support units recognized pursuant to 21
H-1250.1
HOUSE BILL 1969
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2025 Regular Session
By Representatives Burnett, Low, Griffey, Graham, Dent, Ley, Volz,
Schmidt, Berg, Schmick, Leavitt, Klicker, Keaton, Eslick, and Barkis
Read first time 02/13/25. Referred to Committee on Technology,
Economic Development, & Veterans.
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subsection (2) of this section. Funding provided pursuant to this 1
subsection must be used to maintain and operate rotary wing aviation 2
support units including, but not limited to, pilot and crew costs, 3
aircraft maintenance, upgrades, acquisition, insurance, fuel, 4
training, and any other reasonable and necessary expense associated 5
with operating an aviation support unit. 6
(4) Of the amounts remaining each fiscal year, the department 7
must make available for local law enforcement rotary wing aviation 8
support units recognized pursuant to subsection (2) of this section 9
to submit and be reimbursed for all costs associated with search and 10
rescue missions or search and rescue training missions conducted by 11
the unit, regardless of where the search and rescue mission took 12
place. Reimbursable costs include, but are not limited to, fuel 13
costs, maintenance costs, and pilot and crew costs. Depreciation 14
costs are not reimbursable expenses under this subsection.15
(5) Any amounts remaining at the conclusion of each fiscal year, 16
after local law enforcement rotary wing aviation support units 17
recognized pursuant to subsection (2) of this section have had 18
reasonable opportunity to submit any allowable unreimbursed search 19
and rescue mission costs, must be awarded to the aviation section of 20
the Washington state patrol. 21
(6) Funds awarded pursuant to this section must be used to 22
supplement, not supplant, existing local funding for aviation support 23
units. 24
Sec. 2. RCW 76.04.194 and 2023 c 457 s 3 are each amended to 25
read as follows: 26
(1) Subject to the availability of amounts appropriated for this 27
specific purpose, the department must use suppression funding to 28
assist local fire departments and sheriff's offices with aerial fire 29
response capabilities during the critical initial attack phase of 30
fighting a wildland fire. 31
(2) The department must use suppression funding to assist local 32
fire departments and sheriff's offices with initial attacks that meet 33
the following requirements: 34
(a) The local fire department or sheriff's office must have 35
entered into a response agreement with the department;36
(b) The local fire department or sheriff's office must provide 37
documentation to the department that personnel have received training 38
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regarding the use of aviation assets in initial attack and criteria 1
to use for determining when to call for aviation assets;2
(c) The aviation assets used in initial attack must:3
(i) In the case of local fire departments, come from a list of 4
private contractors approved by the department on exclusive use or 5
call-when-needed agreements based upon the annual review of aviation 6
response and aviation needs required in RCW 76.04.192(2); and7
(ii) In the case of sheriff's offices, be owned or leased by the 8
sheriff's office;9
(d) Local fire departments and sheriff's offices must make direct 10
requests to the appropriate coordination center, including the 11
central Washington interagency coordination center, the northeast 12
Washington interagency coordination center, the Blue Mountain 13
interagency coordination center, or the department of natural 14
resources coordination center, in order to ensure the safe 15
coordination of all aircraft; and 16
(e) Upon receiving a request for aviation assets under this 17
section, the coordinating agency must notify the director of fire 18
protection or that individual's designee to ensure operational 19
knowledge of a potential future request to invoke the fire service 20
mobilization plan under RCW 43.43.960. 21
(3) This section expires July 1, 2027.22
Sec. 3. RCW 76.04.192 and 2023 c 457 s 2 are each amended to 23
read as follows: 24
(1) The department shall prepare and submit, consistent with RCW 25
43.01.036, an appendix on aviation usage by local fire departments 26
and sheriff's offices for initial attack as a part of its annual 27
wildfire report to the standing committees of the legislature with 28
jurisdiction over wildland firefighting. The department shall submit 29
the report by December 1st of each year. The report must address, at 30
a minimum, the following topics: 31
(a) The dollar value of funding utilized by local fire 32
departments and sheriff's offices for initial attack aviation during 33
the year; 34
(b) The specific local fire departments and sheriff's offices 35
that utilized this funding during the year; 36
(c) The wildland fires on which suppression funding was utilized 37
to provide local fire departments and sheriff's offices initial 38
attack aviation resources during the year, including names, 39
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locations, and sizes of fires, and amount of funding utilized on each 1
of the fires; and 2
(d) A review of lessons learned related to aviation use by local 3
fire departments and sheriff's offices for initial attack based on 4
the preceding fire season, along with recommendations for future 5
improvements to the wildland fire response process based on the 6
lessons learned. 7
(2) The department shall consult with the state fire defense 8
committee, fire service representatives, and the state fire marshal's 9
office annually to review aviation program performance and determine 10
aviation needs for the following fire year. 11
(3) This section expires July 1, 2027.12
Sec. 4. 2023 c 457 s 1 (uncodified) is amended to read as 13
follows: 14
(1) Local and tribal fire departments and sheriff's offices in 15
the state of Washington serve as frontline responders to wildland 16
fires. The fire chief of each local fire department with jurisdiction 17
over wildland fires, and each sheriff's office, is tasked with making 18
rapid decisions, especially during the summer months when weather 19
conditions can cause fires to rapidly enlarge. Flashy fuels, 20
especially during times of low humidity, can be ignited by a single 21
spark and erupt into a rapidly moving incident that can quickly 22
destroy rangelands, ripe dryland crops, and timberlands.23
(2) Local fire departments need immediate access to local 24
aviation resources that are certified to , and some sheriff's offices 25
have aircraft capable to, fly and drop fire retardants and water to 26
suppress or extinguish wildland fires quickly. The use of aviation 27
assets has proven to be a valuable tool to prevent many wildland 28
fires from growing large and requiring the response of state 29
mobilization and prevent the deployment of state and federal fire 30
agencies and their mobilization partner agencies. 31
(3) Further, the strategic use of aviation assets in initial 32
attack, or at times when conditions on the ground may warrant 33
additional air support, can prevent fires from becoming 34
uncontrollable. Local fire departments and sheriff's offices that use 35
aviation assets on initial attack can prevent most fires from 36
requiring a state mobilization. Providing financial assurances for 37
local fire departments and sheriff's offices to deploy aviation 38
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assets will provide greater protection to our state's natural 1
resources, air quality, and communities. 2
(4) The legislature intends to provide suppression funding to the 3
department of natural resources to support local fire departments and 4
sheriff's offices in the use of aviation resources certified and 5
trained to operate in wildland fires and drop fire retardant or water 6
to suppress or extinguish fires as an initial attack strategy. 7
Deployment and air operations command will be conducted at the 8
direction of trained air operations commanders. 9
(5) The legislature intends to authorize the department of 10
natural resources to provide aviation resources to local fire 11
departments and sheriff's offices statewide for use during the 12
initial attack of wildland fires in order to provide assurance that 13
local fire departments and sheriff's offices will have sufficient 14
financial capacity to effectively control wildland fires throughout 15
the length of the fire season. Having assurance that local fire 16
departments and sheriff's offices can afford to use aircraft under 17
conditions that would warrant their use and at the discretion of the 18
local fire department chief or sheriff will incentivize the use of 19
aircraft more quickly in order to rapidly suppress the fire and 20
minimize damage to lands, resources, and structures, while protecting 21
regional air quality. 22
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