AN ACT Relating to the electrification of the Washington public vehicle fleet; adding new sections to chapter 43.19 RCW; and creating new sections.

(a) Electric vehicles, battery technology, and grid technology are already sufficiently advanced to transition most of Washington's publicly owned vehicles to electric vehicles;

(b) Washington state has abundant and inexpensive sources of electrical power capable of supplying the energy needed to power the state's fleet of public vehicles;

(c) The transition to an electrically powered fleet of public vehicles would spur jobs and economic development based on new technologies and would stem the outflow of millions of dollars from Washington taxpayers to foreign oil providers and keep those dollars local;

(d) The transition to an electrically powered fleet of public vehicles would save Washington taxpayers millions of dollars in fuel and vehicle maintenance costs each year; and

(e) Exercising a leadership role in the deployment of electric vehicles would benefit Washington's governments, economy, technology centers, financial institutions, and businesses by putting the state in the forefront of transportation technology.

(2) It is the intent of the legislature that the department of enterprise services establish a plan and rules for switching to electric vehicles by all public agencies in the state of Washington including, but not limited to, state agencies, public colleges and universities, counties, cities, and special purpose districts, in a manner that minimizes costs and maximizes benefits for Washington's economy, improves and modernizes Washington's energy infrastructure, and maintains electric system reliability.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. The definitions in the section apply throughout sections 3 through 5 of this act unless the context clearly requires otherwise.

(1) "Electric vehicle" means a vehicle that uses chemical energy stored in rechargeable battery packs, and electric motors and motor controllers instead of internal combustion engines for propulsion. "Electric vehicle" includes hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles, which are vehicles that use a fuel cell, instead of a battery, or in combination with a battery or supercapacitor, to power their on-board electric motor.

(2) "Medium and heavy vehicles" are motor vehicles with a gross vehicle weight in excess of ten thousand pounds.

(3) "Passenger and light duty vehicles" are motor vehicles with a gross vehicle weight rating of up to ten thousand pounds.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. (1) On or before January 1, 2021, the department of enterprise services shall complete a scoping plan for achieving the following:

(a) A requirement that all passenger and light duty vehicles of model year 2023 or later owned or operated by agencies of the state of Washington be electric vehicles.

(b) A requirement that all medium and heavy duty vehicles of model year 2026 or later owned or operated by agencies of the state of Washington be electric vehicles.

(c) A requirement that all passenger and light duty vehicles of model year 2025 or later owned or operated by local governments of the state of Washington be electric vehicles.

(d) A requirement that all medium and heavy duty vehicles of model year 2027 or later owned or operated by local governments of the state of Washington be electric vehicles.

(2) In developing the scoping plan, the department of enterprise services shall consult with state agencies with jurisdiction over public passenger and light duty vehicles, including the department of ecology, the department of licensing, the transportation commission, and the department of transportation, and with the Puget Sound clean air agency.

(3) In developing the scoping plan, the department of enterprise services may assume that the technology available through 2027 is substantially similar to the state of the art of vehicle technology as it exists in the year 2020. In developing its cost-analysis framework, the department of enterprise services may rely on and/or apply reasonable cost assumptions regarding the cost of implementing electric vehicle technology based on anticipated economies of scale, technology learning curves, and other widely accepted cost estimating techniques.

(4) The scoping plan shall assume implementation of the requirements set forth in subsection (1) of this section in addressing the following:

(a) Predicted number of publicly owned electric vehicles and internal combustion engine vehicles registered in Washington during the transition period, broken down by year, vehicle type, state agency, counties, cities, and special purpose districts;

(b) Predicted number, type, year of installation, and location profile of electric vehicle fueling stations needed to provide prompt, efficient, and cost-effective fueling of Washington publicly owned electric vehicles during the transition period, and an estimate of the yearly and aggregate cost to the public in building out said fueling stations;

(c) An analysis of the electrical generation, transmission, and distribution upgrades and build-out required to provide prompt, efficient, and cost-effective fueling of Washington publicly owned electric vehicles during the transition period, and an analysis of the investment required to implement said upgrades.

(d) An estimate of the cost differential between the purchase price of new electric and internal combustion engine fleet vehicles during the transition period;

(e) An estimate of the lifetime cost of ownership of electric and internal combustion engine fleet vehicles during the transition period;

(f) Predicted yearly decrease in gasoline and diesel sales in Washington, the savings to taxpayers therefrom, and the fuel dollars retained in Washington that would have otherwise been expended elsewhere;

(g) Identification of financing mechanisms that could be utilized to finance the transition of publicly owned vehicles to electric vehicles.

(5) The department of enterprise services shall issue recommendations concerning making an exception to the electric vehicle requirement for those classes of vehicles for which no reasonable electric vehicle option exists, potentially including police, fire, and other emergency response vehicles.

(6) In developing said scoping plan, the department of enterprise services shall consult with state and local governments, the Puget Sound clean air agency, and other appropriate entities.

(7) In drafting the scoping plan, the department of enterprise services shall consider relevant information pertaining to vehicle fleet programs in other states, localities, and nations.

(8) The department of enterprise services shall evaluate the total potential costs and total potential economic and noneconomic benefits of the plan for shifting to a public fleet of electric vehicles to Washington's economy, using the best available economic models, emission estimation techniques, and other scientific methods.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. (1) All passenger and light duty vehicles of model year 2023 or later operated by agencies of the state of Washington must be electric vehicles. All medium and heavy duty vehicles of model year 2026 or later operated by agencies of the state of Washington must be electric vehicles, except as provided in subsection (3) of this section.

(2) All passenger and light duty vehicles of model year 2025 or later operated by local governments of the state of Washington must be electric vehicles. All medium and heavy duty vehicles of model year 2027 or later operated by agencies of the state of Washington must be electric vehicles, except as provided in subsection (3) of this section.

(3) Subsections (1) and (2) of this section are exempted for police, fire, emergency response, and other vehicles upon a determination by the department of enterprise services that no adequate electric vehicles are available in the market to meet the specific criteria for those vehicles. This determination must be made annually.

(4) The department of enterprise services shall adopt rules as necessary for the implementation of this section.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. (1) The department of licensing shall not issue an original registration of a publicly owned vehicle pursuant to RCW 46.16A.040 nor a registration renewal for a publicly owned vehicle not purchased in compliance with this section.

(2) The department of licensing shall monitor compliance and enforce this section and any rule adopted by the department of enterprise services pursuant to this section.

(3) Any violation of this section or any rule adopted by the department of enterprise services pursuant to this section may be enjoined by the department of licensing or the office of the attorney general.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. Nothing in this section relieves any person, entity, or public agency of compliance with other applicable federal, state, or local laws or regulations.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 8. If any provision of this act or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the act or the application of the provision to other persons or circumstances is not affected.