wa-law.org > bill > 2023-24 > HB 1193 > Original Bill
The legislature intends to reserve its authority to answer major policy questions regarding the future of natural gas infrastructure. Natural gas is a critical component of our electricity grid, the production sector of our economy, and a fuel relied upon by over 1,000,000 households in Washington. Furthermore, Washington state is in a housing affordability crisis, and the legislature needs to consider solutions to that crisis holistically, which may mean evaluating the trade-offs between affordability, employment in the building trades, environmental outcomes, and energy reliability. Therefore, the legislature intends to clarify that nothing in current state law provides authority for the state building code council to restrict natural gas or use greenhouse gas emissions as a factor in rules or actions, and that the state building code council is prohibited from taking such actions or adopting such rules until specific laws on those questions have been passed and signed into law. It is the intent of the legislature that this prohibition applies specifically to the adoption of the 2021 building code.
The purpose of this chapter is to promote the health, safety, and welfare of the occupants or users of buildings and structures and the general public by the provision of building codes throughout the state.
Accordingly, this chapter is designed to effectuate the following purposes, objectives, and standards:
To require minimum performance standards and requirements for construction and construction materials, consistent with accepted standards of engineering, fire, and life safety.
To require standards and requirements in terms of performance and nationally accepted standards.
To permit the use of modern technical methods, devices, and improvements.
To eliminate restrictive, obsolete, conflicting, duplicating, and unnecessary regulations and requirements which could unnecessarily increase construction costs or impede the use of new materials and methods of installation or provide unwarranted preferential treatment to types or classes of materials or products or methods of construction.
To provide for standards and specifications for making buildings and facilities accessible to and usable by individuals with physical disabilities.
To consolidate within each authorized enforcement jurisdiction the administration and enforcement of building codes.
Nothing in this chapter provides authority for the state building code council to consider greenhouse gas emissions as a factor in any decisions about the state building code or the state energy code in chapter 19.27A RCW including, but not limited to, any decisions related to standards, requirements, specifications, and rules.
The state building code council must not restrict the use of natural gas or natural gas appliances in residential construction unless a statute granting explicit authority to the council to authorize such a restriction is enacted.
The state building code council in the department of enterprise services shall adopt rules to be known as the Washington state energy code as part of the state building code.
The council shall follow the legislature's standards set forth in this section to adopt rules to be known as the Washington state energy code. The Washington state energy code shall be designed to:
Construct increasingly energy efficient homes and buildings by the year 2031;
Require new buildings to meet a certain level of energy efficiency, but allow flexibility in building design, construction, and heating equipment efficiencies within that framework; and
Allow space heating equipment efficiency to offset or substitute for building envelope thermal performance.
The Washington state energy code shall take into account regional climatic conditions. One climate zone includes: Adams, Asotin, Benton, Chelan, Columbia, Douglas, Ferry, Franklin, Garfield, Grant, Kittitas, Klickitat, Lincoln, Okanogan, Pend Oreille, Skamania, Spokane, Stevens, Walla Walla, Whitman, and Yakima counties. The other climate zone includes all other counties not listed in this subsection (3). The assignment of a county to a climate zone may not be changed by adoption of a model code or rule. Nothing in this section prohibits the council from adopting the same rules or standards for each climate zone.
The Washington state energy code for residential buildings shall be the 2006 edition of the Washington state energy code, or as amended by rule by the council.
The minimum state energy code for new nonresidential buildings shall be the Washington state energy code, 2006 edition, or as amended by the council by rule.
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Except as provided in (b) of this subsection, the Washington state energy code for residential structures shall preempt the residential energy code of each city, town, and county in the state of Washington.
The state energy code for residential structures does not preempt a city, town, or county's energy code for residential structures which exceeds the requirements of the state energy code and which was adopted by the city, town, or county prior to March 1, 1990. Such cities, towns, or counties may not subsequently amend their energy code for residential structures to exceed the requirements adopted prior to March 1, 1990.
The state building code council shall consult with the department of enterprise services as provided in RCW 34.05.310 prior to publication of proposed rules. The director of the department of enterprise services shall recommend to the state building code council any changes necessary to conform the proposed rules to the requirements of this section.
The state building code council shall evaluate and consider adoption of the international energy conservation code in Washington state in place of the existing state energy code.
The definitions in RCW 19.27A.140 apply throughout this section.
Except as provided in subsection (2) of this section, residential and nonresidential construction permitted under the 2031 state energy code must achieve a 70 percent reduction in annual net energy consumption, using the adopted 2006 Washington state energy code as a baseline. This requirement does not authorize the council to consider greenhouse gas emissions in any decisions in accordance with RCW 19.27.020(2).
The council shall adopt state energy codes from 2013 through 2031 that incrementally move towards achieving the 70 percent reduction in annual net energy consumption as specified in subsection (1) of this section. The council shall report its progress by December 31, 2012, and every three years thereafter. If the council determines that economic, technological, or process factors would significantly impede adoption of or compliance with this subsection, the council may defer the implementation of the proposed energy code update and shall report its findings to the legislature by December 31st of the year prior to the year in which those codes would otherwise be enacted.
(1)(a) The state shall limit anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases to achieve the following emission reductions for Washington state:
The state building code council may not adopt any rules to implement the 2021 Washington state codes that limit the use of natural gas in buildings or that favor the use of electric appliances over natural gas appliances in buildings. The state building code council may only proceed with adopting rules that are consistent with RCW 19.27.020 (3) and (4).
This act is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety, or support of the state government and its existing public institutions, and takes effect immediately.