wa-law.org > bill > 2025-26 > SB 6335 > Substitute Bill
The commission shall have the following functions, powers, and duties:
To propose policies to be adopted by the governor and the legislature designed to assure the development and maintenance of a comprehensive and balanced statewide transportation system that will meet the needs of the people of this state for safe and efficient transportation services. Wherever appropriate, the policies shall provide for the use of integrated, intermodal transportation systems. The policies must be aligned with the goals established in RCW 47.04.280;
To provide for public involvement designed to elicit the public's views with respect to statewide transportation system needs and to provide a summary report of the public's views to the transportation committees of the legislature by January 1st of each year;
To propose to the governor and the legislature prior to the convening of each regular session held in an odd-numbered year a recommended budget for the operations of the commission as required by RCW 47.01.061;
To adopt such rules as may be necessary to carry out reasonably and properly those functions expressly vested in the commission by statute;
To contract with the office of financial management or other appropriate state agencies for administrative support, accounting services, computer services, and other support services necessary to carry out its other statutory duties;
To conduct transportation-related studies and policy analysis to the extent directed by the legislature or governor in the biennial transportation appropriations act, or as otherwise provided in law, and subject to the availability of amounts appropriated for this specific purpose; and
To exercise such other specific powers and duties as may be vested in the commission by this or any other provision of law.
There is hereby created a transportation commission, which shall consist of seven voting members appointed by the governor, with the consent of the senate. The present five members of the highway commission shall serve as five initial members of the transportation commission until their terms of office as highway commission members would have expired. The additional two members provided herein for the transportation commission shall be appointed for initial terms to expire on June 30, 1982, and June 30, 1983. Thereafter all terms shall be for six years. No elective state official, state officer, or state employee shall be a member of the commission. At the time of appointment or thereafter during their respective terms of office, four members of the commission shall reside in the western part of the state and three members shall reside in the eastern part of the state as divided north and south by the summit of the Cascade mountains. No more than two members of the commission shall reside in the same county; however, the governor, or his or her designee, shall serve as a nonvoting member of the commission. Commission appointments should reflect both a wide range of transportation interests and a balanced statewide geographic representation. Commissioners may be removed from office by the governor before the expiration of their terms for cause. No member shall be appointed for more than two consecutive terms.
The commission shall also consist of the following nonvoting members:
One representative of cities, appointed by the association of Washington cities;
One representative of counties, appointed by the Washington state association of counties;
One representative of port districts, appointed by the Washington public ports association;
One member of the freight mobility strategic investment board, appointed by the board;
One member of the county road administration board, appointed by the board;
One member of the transportation improvement board, appointed by the board;
One representative of transit agencies, appointed by the Washington state transit association;
One representative of the local programs division of the department, appointed by the secretary; and
It is the intent of the legislature to establish policy goals for the planning, operation, performance of, and investment in, the state's transportation system. Public investments in transportation should support achievement of these policy goals:
Preservation: To maintain, preserve, and extend the life and utility of prior investments in transportation systems and services, including the state ferry system;
Safety: To provide for and improve the safety and security of transportation customers and the transportation system;
Stewardship: To continuously improve the quality, effectiveness, resilience, and efficiency of the transportation system;
Mobility: To improve the predictable movement of goods and people throughout Washington state, including congestion relief and improved freight mobility;
Economic vitality: To promote and develop transportation systems that stimulate, support, and enhance the movement of people and goods to ensure a prosperous economy; and
Environment: To enhance Washington's quality of life through transportation investments that promote energy conservation, enhance healthy communities, and protect the environment.
The powers, duties, and functions of state transportation agencies must be performed in a manner consistent with the policy goals set forth in subsection (1) of this section with preservation and safety being priorities.
These policy goals are intended to be the basis for establishing detailed and measurable objectives and related performance measures.
It is the intent of the legislature that the office of financial management establish objectives and performance measures for the department and other state agencies with transportation-related responsibilities to ensure transportation system performance at local, regional, and state government levels progresses toward the attainment of the policy goals set forth in subsection (1) of this section. The office of financial management shall submit objectives and performance measures to the legislature for its review during each regular session of the legislature during an even-numbered year thereafter.
A local or regional agency engaging in transportation planning may voluntarily establish objectives and performance measures to demonstrate progress toward the attainment of the policy goals set forth in subsection (1) of this section or any other transportation policy goals established by the local or regional agency. A local or regional agency engaging in transportation planning is encouraged to provide local and regional objectives and performance measures to be included with the objectives and performance measures submitted to the legislature pursuant to subsection (4) of this section.
This section does not create a private right of action.
The specific role of the department in transportation planning must be, consistent with the policy goals described under RCW 47.04.280: (1) Ongoing coordination and development of statewide transportation policies that guide all Washington transportation providers; (2) ongoing development of a statewide multimodal transportation plan that includes both state-owned and state-interest facilities and services; (3) coordinating the state high capacity transportation planning and regional transportation planning programs; and (4) conducting special transportation planning studies that impact state transportation facilities or relate to transportation facilities and services of statewide significance. Specific requirements for each of these state transportation planning components are described in this chapter.
Each county having within its boundaries an urban area and cities and towns shall prepare and submit to the transportation improvement board arterial inventory data required to determine the long-range arterial construction needs. The counties, cities, and towns shall revise the arterial inventory data every four years to show the current arterial construction needs through the advanced planning period, and as revised shall submit them to the transportation improvement board during the first week of January every four years beginning in 1996. The inventory data shall be prepared pursuant to guidelines established by the transportation improvement board.
In order to develop fully integrated, balanced, and coordinated transportation plans, programs, and budgets the chief of the Washington state patrol, the director of the traffic safety commission, the executive director of the county road administration board, and the director of licensing shall consult with the secretary of transportation on the matter of relative priorities during the development of their respective agencies' plans, programs, and budgets as they pertain to transportation activities.
For the purpose of environmental mitigation of transportation projects, the department may acquire or develop, or both acquire and develop, environmental mitigation sites in advance of the construction of programmed projects. The term "advanced environmental mitigation" means mitigation of adverse impacts upon the environment from transportation projects before their design and construction. Advanced environmental mitigation consists of the acquisition of property; the acquisition of property, water, or air rights; the development of property for the purposes of improved environmental management; engineering costs necessary for such purchase and development; and the use of advanced environmental mitigation sites to fulfill project environmental permit requirements. Advanced environmental mitigation must be conducted in a manner that is consistent with the definition of mitigation found in the council of environmental quality regulations (40 C.F.R. Sec. 1508.20) and the governor's executive order on wetlands (EO 90-04). Advanced environmental mitigation is for projects included in the state highway system plan. Advanced environmental mitigation must give consideration to activities related to fish passage, fish habitat, wetlands, and flood management. Advanced environmental mitigation may also be conducted in partnership with federal, state, or local government agencies, tribal governments, interest groups, or private parties. Partnership arrangements may include joint acquisition and development of mitigation sites, purchasing and selling mitigation bank credits among participants, and transfer of mitigation site title from one party to another. Specific conditions of partnership arrangements will be developed in written agreements for each applicable environmental mitigation site.
The department shall develop a statewide multimodal transportation plan , that functions as a comprehensive and balanced statewide transportation plan, in conformance with federal requirements, to ensure the continued mobility of people and goods within regions and across the state in a safe, cost-effective manner. The department may consult with the transportation commission as it develops the plan. The department shall periodically update the plan every four years, or as frequently as practicable consistent with federal requirements. The statewide multimodal transportation plan shall consist of:
A state-owned facilities component, which shall guide state investment for state highways including bicycle and pedestrian facilities, and state ferries; and
A state-interest component, which shall define the state interest in aviation, marine ports and navigation, freight rail, intercity passenger rail, bicycle transportation and pedestrian walkways, and public transportation, and recommend actions in coordination with appropriate public and private transportation providers to ensure that the state interest in these transportation modes is met.
The plans developed under each component must be consistent with each other, reflect public involvement, be consistent with regional transportation planning, high capacity transportation planning, and local comprehensive plans prepared under chapter 36.70A RCW, and include analysis of intermodal connections and choices. A primary emphasis for these plans shall be the relief of congestion, the preservation of existing investments and downtowns, ability to attract or accommodate planned population, and employment growth, the improvement of traveler safety, the efficient movement of freight and goods, and the improvement and integration of all transportation modes to create a seamless intermodal transportation system for people and goods.
In the development of the statewide multimodal transportation plan, the department shall identify and document potential affected environmental resources including, but not limited to, wetlands, stormwater runoff, flooding, air quality, fish passage, and wildlife habitat. The department shall conduct its environmental identification and documentation in coordination with all relevant environmental regulatory authorities including, but not limited to, local governments. The department shall give the relevant environmental regulatory authorities an opportunity to review the department's environmental plans. The relevant environmental regulatory authorities shall provide comments on the department's environmental plans in a timely manner. Environmental identification and documentation as provided for in RCW 47.01.300 and this section is not intended to create a private right of action or require an environmental impact statement as provided in chapter 43.21C RCW.
Comprehensive plans of cities that have a marine container port with annual operating revenues in excess of $60,000,000 within their jurisdiction must include a container port element.
Comprehensive plans of cities that include all or part of a port district with annual operating revenues in excess of $20,000,000 may include a marine industrial port element. Prior to adopting a marine industrial port element under this subsection (2), the commission of the applicable port district must adopt a resolution in support of the proposed element.
Port elements adopted under subsections (1) and (2) of this section must be developed collaboratively between the city, the applicable port, and the applicable tribe, which shall comply with RCW 36.70A.040(8), and must establish policies and programs that:
Define and protect the core areas of port and port-related industrial uses within the city;
Provide reasonably efficient access to the core area through freight corridors within the city limits; and
Identify and resolve key land use conflicts along the edge of the core area, and minimize and mitigate, to the extent practicable, incompatible uses along the edge of the core area.
Port elements adopted under subsections (1) and (2) of this section must be:
Completed and approved by the city according to the schedule specified in RCW 36.70A.130; and
Consistent with the economic development, transportation, and land use elements of the city's comprehensive plan, and consistent with the city's capital facilities plan.
In adopting port elements under subsections (1) and (2) of this section, cities and ports must: Ensure that there is consistency between the port elements and the port comprehensive scheme required under chapters 53.20 and 53.25 RCW; and retain sufficient planning flexibility to secure emerging economic opportunities.
In developing port elements under subsections (1) and (2) of this section, a city may utilize one or more of the following approaches:
Creation of a port overlay district that protects container port uses;
Use of industrial land banks;
Use of buffers and transition zones between incompatible uses;
Use of joint transportation funding agreements;
Use of policies to encourage the retention of valuable warehouse and storage facilities;
Use of limitations on the location or size, or both, of nonindustrial uses in the core area and surrounding areas; and
Use of other approaches by agreement between the city and the port.
The department of commerce must provide matching grant funds to cities meeting the requirements of subsection (1) of this section to support development of the required container port element.
Any planned improvements identified in port elements adopted under subsections (1) and (2) of this section must be transmitted by the city to the department of transportation for consideration of inclusion in the statewide multimodal transportation plan required under RCW 47.06.040.
The office of financial management shall propose a comprehensive 10-year investment program for the preservation and improvement programs defined in this section, consistent with the policy goals described under RCW 47.04.280. The proposed 10-year investment program must be forwarded as a recommendation by the office of financial management to the legislature, and must be based upon the needs identified in the statewide multimodal transportation plan established under RCW 47.06.040.
The preservation program consists of those investments necessary to preserve the existing state highway system and to restore existing safety features, giving consideration to lowest life-cycle costing.
The improvement program consists of investments needed to address identified deficiencies on the state highway system to meet the goals established in RCW 47.04.280.
In order to ensure statewide consistency in the regional transportation planning process, the state department of transportation, in conformance with chapter 34.05 RCW, shall:
In cooperation with regional transportation planning organizations, establish minimum standards for development of a regional transportation plan;
Facilitate coordination between regional transportation planning organizations; and
Through the regional transportation planning process, and through state planning efforts as required by RCW 47.06.040, identify and jointly plan improvements and strategies within those corridors important to moving people and goods on a regional or statewide basis.