Agency rules AI analysis

AN ACT Relating to leveraging artificial intelligence to improve 1
Washington's regulatory climate through streamlining language in 2
rules and regulatory guidance documents; amending RCW 34.05.010 and 3
43.42.030; adding a new section to chapter 43.42 RCW; adding new 4
sections to chapter 34.05 RCW; and creating a new section.5
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:6
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds that affordability 7
is an increasing concern of both residents and businesses in 8
Washington. The legislature intends with this act to take advantage 9
of the capabilities of agentic artificial intelligence to streamline 10
and simplify state regulations, identifying areas with disconnects 11
from statutory authority, redundancies, contradictions, or overly 12
complex and unnecessary language. It is the goal of this regulatory 13
reform to make state government more efficient and accountable to 14
residents, ease the affordability crisis facing many in our state, 15
and help unleash our economy in a way that benefits all citizens.16
Sec. 2. RCW 34.05.010 and 2019 c 8 s 701 are each amended to 17
read as follows: 18
The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter 19
unless the context clearly requires otherwise. 20
S-3760.2
SENATE BILL 6254
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2026 Regular Session
By Senators Braun, Boehnke, Gildon, and Wellman
Read first time 01/21/26. Referred to Committee on State Government,
Tribal Affairs & Elections.
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(1) "Adjudicative proceeding" means a proceeding before an agency 1
in which an opportunity for hearing before that agency is required by 2
statute or constitutional right before or after the entry of an order 3
by the agency. Adjudicative proceedings also include all cases of 4
licensing and rate making in which an application for a license or 5
rate change is denied except as limited by RCW 66.08.150, or a 6
license is revoked, suspended, or modified, or in which the granting 7
of an application is contested by a person having standing to contest 8
under the law. 9
(2) "Agency" means any state board, commission, department, 10
institution of higher education, or officer, authorized by law to 11
make rules or to conduct adjudicative proceedings, except those in 12
the legislative or judicial branches, the governor, or the attorney 13
general except to the extent otherwise required by law and any local 14
governmental entity that may request the appointment of an 15
administrative law judge under chapter 42.41 RCW. 16
(3) "Agency action" means licensing, the implementation or 17
enforcement of a statute, the adoption or application of an agency 18
rule or order, the imposition of sanctions, or the granting or 19
withholding of benefits. 20
Agency action does not include an agency decision regarding (a) 21
contracting or procurement of goods, services, public works, and the 22
purchase, lease, or acquisition by any other means, including eminent 23
domain, of real estate, as well as all activities necessarily related 24
to those functions, or (b) determinations as to the sufficiency of a 25
showing of interest filed in support of a representation petition, or 26
mediation or conciliation of labor disputes or arbitration of labor 27
disputes under a collective bargaining law or similar statute, or (c) 28
any sale, lease, contract, or other proprietary decision in the 29
management of public lands or real property interests, or (d) the 30
granting of a license, franchise, or permission for the use of 31
trademarks, symbols, and similar property owned or controlled by the 32
agency. 33
(4) "Agency head" means the individual or body of individuals in 34
whom the ultimate legal authority of the agency is vested by any 35
provision of law. If the agency head is a body of individuals, a 36
majority of those individuals constitutes the agency head.37
(5) "Artificial intelligence" means the use of machine learning 38
and related technologies that use data to train statistical models 39
for the purpose of enabling computer systems to perform tasks 40
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normally associated with human intelligence or perception, such as 1
computer vision, speech or natural language processing, and content 2
generation. 3
(6) "Entry" of an order means the signing of the order by all 4
persons who are to sign the order, as an official act indicating that 5
the order is to be effective. 6
(((6))) (7) "Filing" of a document that is required to be filed 7
with an agency means delivery of the document to a place designated 8
by the agency by rule for receipt of official documents, or in the 9
absence of such designation, at the office of the agency head.10
(((7))) (8) "Institutions of higher education" are the University 11
of Washington, Washington State University, Central Washington 12
University, Eastern Washington University, Western Washington 13
University, The Evergreen State College, the various community 14
colleges, and the governing boards of each of the above, and the 15
various colleges, divisions, departments, or offices authorized by 16
the governing board of the institution involved to act for the 17
institution, all of which are sometimes referred to in this chapter 18
as "institutions." 19
(((8))) (9) "Interpretive statement" means a written expression 20
of the opinion of an agency, entitled an interpretive statement by 21
the agency head or its designee, as to the meaning of a statute or 22
other provision of law, of a court decision, or of an agency order.23
(((9))) (10)(a) "License" means a franchise, permit, 24
certification, approval, registration, charter, or similar form of 25
authorization required by law, but does not include (i) a license 26
required solely for revenue purposes, or (ii) a certification of an 27
exclusive bargaining representative, or similar status, under a 28
collective bargaining law or similar statute, or (iii) a license, 29
franchise, or permission for use of trademarks, symbols, and similar 30
property owned or controlled by the agency. 31
(b) "Licensing" includes the agency process respecting the 32
issuance, denial, revocation, suspension, or modification of a 33
license. 34
(((10))) (11) "Machine learning" means the process by which 35
artificial intelligence is developed using data and algorithms to 36
draw inferences therefrom to automatically adapt or improve its 37
accuracy without explicit programming.38
(12) "Mail" or "send," for purposes of any notice relating to 39
rule making or policy or interpretive statements, means regular mail 40
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or electronic distribution, as provided in RCW 34.05.260. "Electronic 1
distribution" or "electronically" means distribution by email or fax.2
(((11))) (13)(a) "Order," without further qualification, means a 3
written statement of particular applicability that finally determines 4
the legal rights, duties, privileges, immunities, or other legal 5
interests of a specific person or persons. 6
(b) "Order of adoption" means the official written statement by 7
which an agency adopts, amends, or repeals a rule. 8
(((12))) (14) "Party to agency proceedings," or "party" in a 9
context so indicating, means: 10
(a) A person to whom the agency action is specifically directed; 11
or 12
(b) A person named as a party to the agency proceeding or allowed 13
to intervene or participate as a party in the agency proceeding.14
(((13))) (15) "Party to judicial review or civil enforcement 15
proceedings," or "party" in a context so indicating, means:16
(a) A person who files a petition for a judicial review or civil 17
enforcement proceeding; or 18
(b) A person named as a party in a judicial review or civil 19
enforcement proceeding, or allowed to participate as a party in a 20
judicial review or civil enforcement proceeding. 21
(((14))) (16) "Person" means any individual, partnership, 22
corporation, association, governmental subdivision or unit thereof, 23
or public or private organization or entity of any character, and 24
includes another agency. 25
(((15))) (17) "Policy statement" means a written description of 26
the current approach of an agency, entitled a policy statement by the 27
agency head or its designee, to implementation of a statute or other 28
provision of law, of a court decision, or of an agency order, 29
including where appropriate the agency's current practice, procedure, 30
or method of action based upon that approach. 31
(((16))) (18) "Rule" means any agency order, directive, or 32
regulation of general applicability (a) the violation of which 33
subjects a person to a penalty or administrative sanction; (b) which 34
establishes, alters, or revokes any procedure, practice, or 35
requirement relating to agency hearings; (c) which establishes, 36
alters, or revokes any qualification or requirement relating to the 37
enjoyment of benefits or privileges conferred by law; (d) which 38
establishes, alters, or revokes any qualifications or standards for 39
the issuance, suspension, or revocation of licenses to pursue any 40
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commercial activity, trade, or profession; or (e) which establishes, 1
alters, or revokes any mandatory standards for any product or 2
material which must be met before distribution or sale. The term 3
includes the amendment or repeal of a prior rule, but does not 4
include (i) statements concerning only the internal management of an 5
agency and not affecting private rights or procedures available to 6
the public, (ii) declaratory rulings issued pursuant to RCW 7
34.05.240, (iii) traffic restrictions for motor vehicles, bicyclists, 8
and pedestrians established by the secretary of transportation or his 9
or her designee where notice of such restrictions is given by 10
official traffic control devices, or (iv) rules of institutions of 11
higher education involving standards of admission, academic 12
advancement, academic credit, graduation and the granting of degrees, 13
employment relationships, or fiscal processes. 14
(((17))) (19) "Rules review committee" or "committee" means the 15
joint administrative rules review committee created pursuant to RCW 16
34.05.610 for the purpose of selectively reviewing existing and 17
proposed rules of state agencies. 18
(((18))) (20) "Rule making" means the process for formulation and 19
adoption of a rule. 20
(((19))) (21) "Service," except as otherwise provided in this 21
chapter, means posting in the United States mail, properly addressed, 22
postage prepaid, or personal or electronic service. Service by mail 23
is complete upon deposit in the United States mail. Agencies may, by 24
rule, authorize service by electronic transmission, or by commercial 25
parcel delivery company. 26
Sec. 3. RCW 43.42.030 and 2009 c 97 s 3 are each amended to read 27
as follows: 28
The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter 29
unless the context clearly requires otherwise. 30
(1) "Artificial intelligence" means the use of machine learning 31
and related technologies that use data to train statistical models 32
for the purpose of enabling computer systems to perform tasks 33
normally associated with human intelligence or perception, such as 34
computer vision, speech or natural language processing, and content 35
generation.36
(2) "Director" means the director of the office of regulatory 37
assistance. 38
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(((2))) (3) "Fully coordinated permit process" means a 1
comprehensive coordinated permitting assistance approach supported by 2
a written agreement between the project proponent, the office of 3
regulatory assistance, and the agencies participating in the fully 4
coordinated permit process. 5
(((3))) (4) "General coordination services" means services that 6
bring interested parties together to explore opportunities for 7
cooperation and to resolve conflicts. General coordination services 8
may be provided as a stand-alone event or as an element of broader 9
project assistance, nonproject-related interagency coordination, or 10
policy and planning teamwork. 11
(((4))) (5) "Machine learning" means the process by which 12
artificial intelligence is developed using data and algorithms to 13
draw inferences therefrom to automatically adapt or improve its 14
accuracy without explicit programming.15
(6) "Office" means the office of regulatory assistance 16
established in RCW 43.42.010. 17
(((5))) (7) "Permit" means any permit, license, certificate, use 18
authorization, or other form of governmental review or approval 19
required in order to construct, expand, or operate a project in the 20
state of Washington. 21
(((6))) (8) "Permit agency" means any state, local, or federal 22
agency authorized by law to issue permits. 23
(((7))) (9) "Project" means any activity, the conduct of which 24
requires a permit or permits from one or more permit agencies.25
(((8))) (10) "Project proponent" means a citizen, business, or 26
any entity applying for or seeking a permit or permits in the state 27
of Washington. 28
(((9))) (11) "Project scoping" means the identification of 29
relevant issues and information needs of a project proponent and the 30
permitting agencies, and reaching a common understanding regarding 31
the process, timing, and sequencing for obtaining applicable permits.32
NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. A new section is added to chapter 43.42 33
RCW to read as follows: 34
(1) By December 31, 2026, the office shall produce a third-party, 35
artificial intelligence-generated analysis of all rules and guidance 36
documents issued by state agencies in the form of a regulatory 37
reduction report. This report shall identify unnecessary regulatory 38
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requirements and highlight language in rules and guidance documents 1
that can be streamlined. 2
(2) Each agency shall report to the office on its intended 3
actions no later than four weeks from the day it receives the 4
regulatory reduction report. 5
(3) Each agency shall then initiate the regulatory actions 6
supported by the regulatory report's findings and provide the office 7
with its future review schedule as required by section 6 of this act 8
within four weeks from the date it communicates its intended actions 9
to the office under subsection (2) of this section.10
NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. A new section is added to chapter 34.05 11
RCW to read as follows: 12
(1) By December 31, 2026, and every four years thereafter, each 13
agency shall seek to leverage artificial intelligence for analysis of 14
each rule to determine the following: 15
(a) The extent to which each requirement in the rule is mandated 16
by state statute, federal statute, or regulation, or another source 17
of binding law; 18
(b) The extent to which each requirement in the rule may be 19
redundant of or in conflict with other provisions of state or federal 20
law; 21
(c) The extent to which nearby states, including, but not limited 22
to, Oregon, Idaho, California, and Alaska, impose similar 23
requirements; and 24
(d) The extent to which the text of the rule might be streamlined 25
to eliminate excess verbiage while accomplishing the same purpose and 26
goals. 27
(2) Upon final legal review of the analysis, but no later than 28
June 30, 2027, each agency shall: 29
(a) Eliminate any rules or requirements that conflict with 30
binding law or that duplicate existing regulations or statutes. When 31
possible, each agency shall use the expedited rule-making process in 32
RCW 34.05.353 to eliminate any such duplicative or conflicting rules 33
or requirements; 34
(b) Compare Washington's regulatory burdens with those in 35
surrounding states; and 36
(c) Assess opportunities to reduce regulatory burden while 37
maintaining public health and safety protections. 38
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NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. A new section is added to chapter 34.05 1
RCW to read as follows: 2
(1) By December 31, 2026, each agency shall establish a schedule 3
to review all guidance documents and seek to leverage artificial 4
intelligence and human review at least once every four years. During 5
this review, each agency must analyze each guidance document for:6
(a) Requirements exceeding those in state or federal statute, 7
regulations, or other binding authority; 8
(b) Consistency with state and federal statutes, regulations, and 9
other binding authority; and 10
(c) Opportunities to streamline text while preserving the 11
required information accomplishing the same purpose and goals.12
(2) Upon final legal review of the analysis results, but no later 13
than six months after the review conducted pursuant to subsection (1) 14
of this section, each agency shall: 15
(a) Remove provisions creating new binding legal requirements not 16
already established in existing statutes or regulations; and17
(b) Ensure each guidance document accurately reflects all 18
relevant legal provisions and minimizes word count while maintaining 19
clarity and completeness. 20
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