AN ACT Relating to access to express toll lanes on Interstate 405 for certain persons undergoing medical treatment; and adding a new section to chapter 47.56 RCW.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1.  A new section is added to chapter 47.56 RCW to read as follows:

(1) The department must offer an exemption from toll payments for a person with a chronic medical condition that uses the express toll lanes on Interstate 405 while traveling to and from numerous weekly medical appointments at hospitals in King or Snohomish counties that satisfy the criteria in this section.

(2) The department must provide a form for a person to apply for the exemption in this section that requires the person's name, address, vehicle license plate number, name and address of the hospital, the start and end date of the exemption, and any other additional information required by the department.

(3) The person applying for the exemption must provide the department with a signed written document on business letterhead from a licensed health care practitioner or hospital administrative personnel indicating that the person applying for the exemption will be traveling to the specified hospital or medical facility multiple times a week for treatments, tests, or appointments for a period lasting more than thirty days. The document may be written on tamper-resistant prescription paper, as defined in RCW 18.64.500, if legibly signed by a person with prescriptive authority.

(4) The exemption in this section must be valid for the time period of expected treatments or one year, whichever occurs first. A person may apply to renew the exemption.

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