wa-law.org > bill > 2025-26 > HB 2183 > Original Bill
By July 1, 2027, each county planning under this chapter must create and adopt an extreme heat response plan. Plans must be developed by the county local board of health or health district in cooperation with the public health and emergency departments of the cities within the county.
Each extreme heat response plan must, at a minimum:
Include planning for both immediate response during an extreme heat event and for long-term adaptation strategies to mitigate extreme heat events in the future, and ensure that such planning includes adequate cooling strategies beyond the use of cooling centers;
Include planning for mitigating harms to, and prioritize the protection of, high-risk populations including, but not limited to, those 65 years of age or older, outdoor workers, medically vulnerable individuals, pregnant women, children under six years of age, and households making 80 percent or less of the area median income;
Identify any actions necessary to establish partnerships with federally recognized Indian tribes and urban Indian health organizations within the county in planning and responding to extreme heat events;
Implement outreach programs to educate county residents about extreme heat risks and mitigation measures;
Implement community engagement strategies for early warning systems and public messaging before heat events;
Recommend adaptation strategies for buildings, including plans for government assistance such as subsidies and incentives for heat pumps, portable cooling units, and passive heat mitigation, as well as recommendations for private individual adaptations;
Develop protocols for heat-related medical emergencies, including crisis management of care in coordination with health care providers and emergency responders;
Ensure that the county acknowledges the limitations of cooling centers and has adequate cooling strategies beyond such centers;
Implement measures to collect data on and to monitor heat-related illnesses, mortality, and the effectiveness of interventions to prevent illness and mortality.
Counties that have, prior to the effective date of this section, adopted extreme heat response plans that substantially comply with the requirements of this section are not subject to the adoption deadline in subsection (1) of this section.
After adoption of an extreme heat response plan, each county must review and, if necessary, revise its heat response plan at the time of its comprehensive plan update required under RCW 36.70A.130.
Each local board of health shall have supervision over all matters pertaining to the preservation of the life and health of the people within its jurisdiction and shall:
Enforce through the local health officer or the administrative officer appointed under RCW 70.05.040, if any, the public health statutes of the state and rules promulgated by the state board of health and the secretary of health;
Supervise the maintenance of all health and sanitary measures for the protection of the public health within its jurisdiction;
Enact such local rules and regulations as are necessary in order to preserve, promote and improve the public health and provide for the enforcement thereof;
Provide for the control and prevention of any dangerous, contagious or infectious disease within the jurisdiction of the local health department;
Provide for the prevention, control and abatement of nuisances detrimental to the public health;
Make such reports to the state board of health through the local health officer or the administrative officer as the state board of health may require;
Develop an extreme heat response plan as required in section 1 of this act; and
Establish fee schedules for issuing or renewing licenses or permits or for such other services as are authorized by the law and the rules of the state board of health: PROVIDED, That such fees for services shall not exceed the actual cost of providing any such services.