2024 Regular Session

ByRepresentatives Donaghy, Ryu, Ramel, and Timmons

Read first time 01/10/24.Referred to Committee on Innovation, Community & Economic Development, & Veterans.

AN ACT Relating to conducting a study of functional recovery building code standards; and creating new sections.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature notes that Washington has the second highest earthquake risk in the United States. The 700 mile long Cascadia subduction zone represents an extreme threat to the Pacific Northwest, capable of generating a 9.0 or higher earthquake and tsunami. The most recent studies estimate tens of thousands of fatalities and direct economic losses of more than $80,000,000,000 combined for Washington and Oregon. Crustal fault zones along the Puget Sound also pose a major risk to infrastructure and life safety. The legislature finds that preparing the state for such impending natural disasters will significantly mitigate the damage that they can cause to the people, property, and economy of the state. Important to this preparation effort is the concept of functional recovery of buildings and infrastructure, which relates to a building's or structure's ability to support its intended use or occupancy directly following an earthquake. Functional recovery ensures that in the event of seismic disaster, emergency crews will be able to immediately respond to crises, critical facilities will be immediately functional, and people will have a place to seek shelter and refuge.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. (1) Subject to the availability of amounts appropriated for this specific purpose, the military department must conduct a study regarding statewide building code and construction standards pertaining to earthquake and tsunami resilience as well as recommendations for functional recovery of buildings and critical infrastructure directly following an earthquake.

(2) The study conducted by the military department must, at a minimum, include an assessment of:

(a) Functional recovery building code standards that are being developed at the federal level or have been proposed or adopted in other countries, states, or local jurisdictions with a high risk of earthquakes or by public or private organizations with expertise in earthquake performance standards and safety;

(b) The levels of functional recovery supported by current state and local building and construction codes;

(c) The objectives, feasibility, necessary measures, and estimated costs of adopting and implementing statewide functional recovery building code standards, and how this assessment is impacted by whether the standards:

(i) Are mandatory or voluntary;

(ii) Apply to only certain types of structures and infrastructure or prioritize certain types of structures and infrastructure;

(iii) Apply to existing structures and infrastructure in addition to new construction;

(iv) Are intended to apply to only specific seismic hazard levels; or

(v) Include nonstructural components as well as structural systems;

(d) How statewide standards for functional recovery would fit into an all hazards approach for state emergency response and recovery;

(e) Funding opportunities that provide for the coordination of state and federal funds for the purposes of improving the state's preparedness for functional recovery following a significant earthquake or tsunami; and

(f) Equity considerations for the development of statewide building code standards for functional recovery.

(3) In conducting the study pursuant to this section, the military department must request input from the state building code council and representatives of appropriate public and private sector entities.

(4) The military department must submit a preliminary report on the outcomes of the completed study to the appropriate committees of the legislature by December 1, 2025, and a final report must be submitted by May 1, 2026. The report must also include policy recommendations relating to statewide building code standards for functional recovery.

(5) The military department may contract for all or a portion of the study required in this section.