Birds/buildings

AN ACT Relating to the design and operation of buildings to 1
protect birds; amending RCW 39.35D.030 and 43.19.682; reenacting and 2
amending RCW 1.16.050; and creating a new section. 3
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:4
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds that Washington 5
state is home to over 500 bird species that play a critical role in 6
building and maintaining healthy ecosystems through pollination, 7
predation, scavenging, seed dispersal, and habitat engineering. The 8
legislature also finds that light pollution caused by the 9
proliferation of artificial light disrupts natural systems and 10
disorients birds resulting in collisions with buildings, especially 11
during migration. Eliminating or reducing unnecessary lighting can 12
save energy and reduce costs while simultaneously improving bird 13
migration. The legislature further finds that buildings may be 14
designed to incorporate eco-friendly practices such using bird-safe 15
glass and reducing nighttime lighting to help prevent bird 16
collisions. Therefore, the legislature intends that during peak 17
migration in the months of April, May, September, and October, 18
nonessential lighting should be turned off to reduce energy 19
consumption and provide birds safer passage between their nesting and 20
wintering grounds and that incentives should be established within 21
S-3822.2
SENATE BILL 6272
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2026 Regular Session
By Senators Liias, Pedersen, Conway, Shewmake, and Valdez
Read first time 01/22/26. Referred to Committee on State Government,
Tribal Affairs & Elections.
p. 1 SB 6272
Washington's LEED standard to promote eco-friendly building practices 1
that reduce bird collisions. 2
Sec. 2. RCW 1.16.050 and 2025 c 58 s 1001 and 2025 c 30 s 1 are 3
each reenacted and amended to read as follows: 4
(1) The following are state legal holidays: 5
(a) Sunday; 6
(b) The first day of January, commonly called New Year's Day;7
(c) The third Monday of January, celebrated as the anniversary of 8
the birth of Martin Luther King, Jr.; 9
(d) The third Monday of February, to be known as Presidents' Day 10
and celebrated as the anniversary of the births of Abraham Lincoln 11
and George Washington; 12
(e) The last Monday of May, commonly known as Memorial Day;13
(f) The nineteenth day of June, recognized as Juneteenth, a day 14
of remembrance for the day the African slaves learned of their 15
freedom; 16
(g) The fourth day of July, the anniversary of the Declaration of 17
Independence; 18
(h) The first Monday in September, to be known as Labor Day;19
(i) The eleventh day of November, to be known as Veterans Day;20
(j) The fourth Thursday in November, to be known as Thanksgiving 21
Day; 22
(k) The Friday immediately following the fourth Thursday in 23
November, to be known as Native American Heritage Day; and24
(l) The twenty-fifth day of December, commonly called Christmas 25
Day. 26
(2) Employees of the state and its political subdivisions, except 27
employees of school districts and except those nonclassified 28
employees of institutions of higher education who hold appointments 29
or are employed under contracts to perform services for periods of 30
less than twelve consecutive months, are entitled to one paid holiday 31
per calendar year in addition to those specified in this section. 32
Each employee of the state or its political subdivisions may select 33
the day on which the employee desires to take the additional holiday 34
provided for in this section after consultation with the employer 35
pursuant to guidelines to be promulgated by rule of the appropriate 36
personnel authority, or in the case of local government by ordinance 37
or resolution of the legislative authority. 38
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(3) Employees of the state and its political subdivisions, 1
including employees of school districts and those nonclassified 2
employees of institutions of higher education who hold appointments 3
or are employed under contracts to perform services for periods of 4
less than twelve consecutive months, are entitled to two unpaid 5
holidays per calendar year for a reason of faith or conscience or an 6
organized activity conducted under the auspices of a religious 7
denomination, church, or religious organization. This includes 8
employees of public institutions of higher education, including 9
community colleges, technical colleges, and workforce training 10
programs. The employee may select the days on which the employee 11
desires to take the two unpaid holidays after consultation with the 12
employer pursuant to guidelines to be promulgated by rule of the 13
appropriate personnel authority, or in the case of local government 14
by ordinance or resolution of the legislative authority. If an 15
employee prefers to take the two unpaid holidays on specific days for 16
a reason of faith or conscience, or an organized activity conducted 17
under the auspices of a religious denomination, church, or religious 18
organization, the employer must allow the employee to do so unless 19
the employee's absence would impose an undue hardship on the employer 20
or the employee is necessary to maintain public safety. Undue 21
hardship shall have the meaning established in rule by the office of 22
financial management under RCW 43.41.109. 23
(4) If any of the state legal holidays specified in this section 24
are also federal legal holidays but observed on different dates, only 25
the state legal holidays are recognized as a paid legal holiday for 26
employees of the state and its political subdivisions. However, for 27
port districts and the law enforcement and public transit employees 28
of municipal corporations, either the federal or the state legal 29
holiday is recognized as a paid legal holiday, but in no case may 30
both holidays be recognized as a paid legal holiday for employees.31
(5) Whenever any state legal holiday: 32
(a) Other than Sunday, falls upon a Sunday, the following Monday 33
is the legal holiday; or 34
(b) Falls upon a Saturday, the preceding Friday is the legal 35
holiday. 36
(6) Nothing in this section may be construed to have the effect 37
of adding or deleting the number of paid holidays provided for in an 38
agreement between employees and employers of political subdivisions 39
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of the state or as established by ordinance or resolution of the 1
local government legislative authority. 2
(7) The legislature declares that the following days and months 3
are recognized as provided in this subsection, but may not be 4
considered legal holidays for any purpose: 5
(a) The eleventh day of January, recognized as human trafficking 6
awareness day; 7
(b) The thirteenth day of January, recognized as Korean American 8
day; 9
(c) The date corresponding with the second new moon following the 10
winter solstice, or the third new moon following the winter solstice 11
should an intercalary month intervene, recognized as the lunar new 12
year; 13
(d) The twenty-sixth day of January, recognized as Washington 14
army and air national guard day; 15
(e) The nineteenth day of February, recognized as civil liberties 16
day of remembrance; 17
(f) The ninth day of March, recognized as Billy Frank Jr. day;18
(g) The thirtieth day of March, recognized as welcome home 19
Vietnam veterans day; 20
(h) The thirty-first day of March, recognized as Cesar Chavez 21
day; 22
(i) The ninth day of April, recognized as former prisoner of war 23
recognition day; 24
(j) The tenth day of April, recognized as Dolores Huerta day;25
(k) The sixteenth day of April, recognized as Mother Joseph day;26
(l) The fifteenth day of May, recognized as water safety day;27
(m) The twenty-seventh day of July, recognized as national Korean 28
war veterans armistice day; 29
(n) The seventh day of August, recognized as purple heart 30
recipient recognition day; 31
(o) The fourth day of September, recognized as Marcus Whitman 32
day; 33
(p) The fourth Saturday of September, recognized as public lands 34
day; 35
(q) The second Sunday in October, recognized as Washington state 36
children's day; 37
(r) The twelfth day of October, recognized as Columbus day;38
(s) The seventh day of December, recognized as Pearl Harbor 39
remembrance day; 40
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(t) The eighteenth day of December, recognized as blood donor 1
day; 2
(u) The first day of the tenth month of the Islamic calendar, 3
which is lunar-cycle based and shifts by approximately 10 to 11 days 4
each year, commonly called Eid al-Fitr; ((and))5
(v) The tenth day of the twelfth month of the Islamic calendar, 6
which is lunar-cycle based and shifts by approximately 10 to 11 days 7
each year, commonly called Eid al-Adha; and8
(w) The months of April, May, September, and October, recognized 9
as lights out for birds. 10
Sec. 3. RCW 39.35D.030 and 2025 c 414 s 8031 are each amended to 11
read as follows: 12
(1) All major facility projects of public agencies receiving any 13
funding in a state capital budget, or projects financed through a 14
financing contract as defined in RCW 39.94.020, must be designed, 15
constructed, and certified to at least the LEED silver standard. This 16
subsection applies to major facility projects that have not entered 17
the design phase prior to July 24, 2005, and to the extent 18
appropriate LEED silver standards exist for that type of building or 19
facility. 20
(2) All major facility projects of any entity other than a public 21
agency or public school district receiving any funding in a state 22
capital budget must be designed, constructed, and certified to at 23
least the LEED silver standard. This subsection applies to major 24
facility projects that have not entered the grant application process 25
prior to July 24, 2005, and to the extent appropriate LEED silver 26
standards exist for that type of building or facility.27
(3)(a) Public agencies, under this section, shall monitor and 28
document ongoing operating savings resulting from major facility 29
projects designed, constructed, and certified as required under this 30
section. 31
(b) Public agencies, under this section, shall report annually to 32
the department on major facility projects and operating savings.33
(4) The department shall consolidate the reports required in 34
subsection (3) of this section into one report and report to the 35
governor and legislature by September 1st of each even-numbered year 36
beginning in 2006 and ending in 2016. In its report, the department 37
shall also report on the implementation of this chapter, including 38
reasons why the LEED standard was not used as required by RCW 39
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39.35D.020(5)(b). The department shall make recommendations regarding 1
the ongoing implementation of this chapter, including a discussion of 2
incentives and disincentives related to implementing this chapter.3
(5) For the purposes of determining compliance with the 4
requirement for a project to be designed, constructed, and certified 5
to at least the LEED silver standard, the department must credit one 6
additional point for a project that uses wood products with a 7
credible third-party sustainable forest certification or from forests 8
regulated under chapter 76.09 RCW, the Washington forest practices 9
act. For projects that qualify for this additional point, and for 10
which an additional point would have resulted in formal certification 11
under the LEED silver standard, the project must be deemed to meet 12
the standard under this section. 13
(6) For the purposes of determining compliance with the 14
requirement for a project to be designed, constructed, and certified 15
to at least the LEED silver standard, the department must credit one 16
additional point for a project that uses bird-safe materials and one 17
additional point for a project that employs strategies that reduce 18
nighttime lighting to prevent disorienting migratory birds. For 19
projects that qualify for these additional points, and for which 20
additional points would have resulted in formal certification under 21
the LEED silver standard, the project must be deemed to meet the 22
standard under this section.23
(7) During the 2023-2025 and 2025-2027 fiscal biennia, an 24
alternative high-performance building certification, as determined by 25
the legislature, may be used instead of the LEED silver building 26
design, construction, and certification standard required by this 27
section. 28
Sec. 4. RCW 43.19.682 and 2015 c 225 s 68 are each amended to 29
read as follows: 30
(1) The director of the department of enterprise services shall 31
seek to further energy conservation objectives among other landscape 32
objectives in planting and maintaining trees upon grounds 33
administered by the department. 34
(2)(a) The director of the department of enterprise services 35
shall seek to further energy conservation objectives and promote bird 36
collision deterrence at state facilities by turning off nonessential 37
outdoor lighting at state facilities between the hours of 10:00 p.m. 38
and 6:00 a.m. and require the following measures in state buildings 39
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where new building construction, renovation, or maintenance 1
activities are needed including: (i) Down-shield exterior lighting to 2
eliminate horizontal glare and upward light; (ii) installing 3
automatic motion sensors and controls when possible; and (iii) when 4
converting to new lighting, assess quality and quantity of light 5
needed to avoid over-lighting with newer, brighter, short wavelength 6
technology. 7
(b) For the purposes of this section, "nonessential outdoor 8
lighting" means lighting that has not been deemed essential for 9
either safety or functionality, as determined by a state agency head.10
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