I-5 bridge contract approval

AN ACT Relating to requiring approval by the joint Oregon-1
Washington legislative action committee of certain contracts 2
regarding the interstate bridge replacement project replacing the 3
Interstate 5 bridge over the Columbia river; amending RCW 47.01.505; 4
and declaring an emergency. 5
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:6
Sec. 1. RCW 47.01.505 and 2022 c 186 s 704 are each amended to 7
read as follows: 8
(1) On behalf of the state, the legislature of the state of 9
Washington invites the legislature of the state of Oregon to 10
participate in a joint legislative action committee regarding the 11
construction of a new Interstate 5 bridge spanning the Columbia river 12
that achieves the following purposes: 13
(a) Works with both states' departments of transportation and 14
transportation commissions and stakeholders to begin a process toward 15
project development. It is assumed that the appropriate local and 16
bistate entities already tasked with related work will also be 17
included when the legislative and interagency agreements are ready to 18
move forward. The legislative action committee must convene its first 19
meeting by December 15, 2017; 20
H-3190.2
HOUSE BILL 2710
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2026 Regular Session
By Representatives Ley, Orcutt, and Chase
Read first time 01/30/26. Referred to Committee on Transportation.
p. 1 HB 2710
(b) Reviews and confirms lead roles related to permitting, 1
construction, operation, and maintenance of a future Interstate 5 2
bridge project; 3
(c) Establishes a process to seek public comment on the 4
Interstate 5 bridge project development plan selected and presents 5
final recommendations for the process and financing to both states;6
(d) Works to ensure that there are sufficient resources available 7
to both states' departments of transportation to inventory and 8
utilize existing data and any prior relevant work to allow for 9
nonduplicative and efficient decision making regarding a new project;10
(e) Examines all of the potential mass transit options available 11
for a future Interstate 5 bridge project; 12
(f) Utilizes design-build procurement, or an equivalent or better 13
innovation delivery method, and determines the least costly, most 14
efficient project management and best practices tools consistent with 15
work already completed including, but not limited to, height, 16
navigation needs, transparency, economic development, and other 17
critical elements, while minimizing the impacts of congestion during 18
construction; 19
(g) Considers the creation of a Columbia river bridge authority 20
to review bridge needs for possible repair, maintenance, or new 21
construction, prioritizing those needs and making recommendations to 22
both states with regard to financing specific projects, timing, 23
authorities, and operations; and 24
(h) Provides a report to the legislatures of each state that 25
details the findings and recommendations of the legislative action 26
committee by December 15, 2018. The report must also contain a 27
recommendation as to whether the Interstate 5 project should be 28
designated by the legislature of the state of Washington as a project 29
of statewide significance and by the state of Oregon with an 30
equivalent designation. 31
(2)(a) The joint Oregon-Washington legislative action committee 32
is established, with ((sixteen)) 16 members as provided in this 33
subsection: 34
(i) The speaker and minority leader of the house of 35
representatives of each state shall jointly appoint four members, two 36
from each of the two largest caucuses of their state's house of 37
representatives. 38
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(ii) The majority leader and minority leader of the senate of 1
each state shall jointly appoint four members, two from each of the 2
two largest caucuses of their state's senate. 3
(b) The legislative action committee shall choose its cochairs 4
from among its membership, one each from the senate and the house of 5
representatives of both states. 6
(c) Executive agencies, including the departments of 7
transportation and the transportation commissions, shall cooperate 8
with the committee and provide information and other assistance as 9
the cochairs may reasonably request. 10
(d) Staff support for the legislative action committee must be 11
provided by the Washington house of representatives office of program 12
research, Washington senate committee services, and, contingent upon 13
the acceptance by the legislature of the state of Oregon of the 14
invitation in subsection (1) of this section to participate in the 15
legislative action committee, the Oregon legislative policy and 16
research office. 17
(e) Legislative members of the legislative action committee are 18
reimbursed for travel expenses. For Washington legislative members, 19
this reimbursement must be in accordance with RCW 44.04.120.20
(f) The expenses of the legislative action committee must be paid 21
jointly by both states' senate and house of representatives. In 22
Washington, committee expenditures are subject to approval by the 23
senate facilities and operations committee and the house of 24
representatives executive rules committee, or their successor 25
committees. 26
(g) Each meeting of the legislative action committee must allow 27
an opportunity for public comment. Legislative action committee 28
meetings must be scheduled and conducted in accordance with the 29
requirements of both the senate and the house of representatives of 30
both states. 31
(h) The Washington members of the joint Oregon-Washington 32
legislative action committee shall report back to the Washington 33
state legislature, by August 1, 2022, regarding the progress of the 34
committee and its work to advance the project to build a new 35
Interstate 5 bridge spanning the Columbia river. The report must 36
include a description of the locally preferred alternative ultimately 37
identified as part of the interstate bridge replacement project.38
(3) Prior to entering into any new contracts or modifying any 39
existing contracts with the existing general engineering consultant 40
p. 3 HB 2710
to increase the amount of payments or delay delivery dates regarding 1
the interstate bridge replacement project, the department must 2
disclose the proposed contract amount and modifications and receive 3
approval of the new contract or modification of the existing contract 4
by an affirmative vote of the majority of the present members of the 5
joint Oregon-Washington legislative action committee during a meeting 6
of the committee. 7
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. This act is necessary for the immediate 8
preservation of the public peace, health, or safety, or support of 9
the state government and its existing public institutions, and takes 10
effect immediately.11
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p. 4 HB 2710