Washington State
House of Representatives
Office of Program Research
BILL
ANALYSIS
Transportation Committee
2SSB 5690
Brief Description: Concerning actions of the department of transportation to notify utility owners of projects and seek federal funding for utility relocation costs.
Sponsors: Senate Committee on Transportation (originally sponsored by Senators MacEwen, Chapman, Lovelett and Muzzall).
Brief Summary of Second Substitute Bill
  • Directs the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) to adopt and maintain agency policies that proactively provide utility owners with information about planned state highway fish barrier removal projects.
  • Directs the WSDOT to adopt and maintain agency policies that maximize the amount of federal funding for fish barrier removal projects for which utility relocation costs of the WSDOT or utilities are an eligible use.
Hearing Date: 2/19/26
Staff: Jennifer Harris (786-7143).
Background:

Utility Franchises.

 

The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) may grant a franchise to a utility to place its facilities in or on WSDOT right-of-way if the WSDOT deems it in the public interest.  The utility facility must be made subject to removal when necessary for the construction, alteration, repair, or improvement of the highway at the expense of the franchise holder, except that the state is required to pay the share of the cost of removal the state is entitled to receive in the form of reimbursement from the federal government.

 

Notification for Certain Franchises.

 

The WSDOT is required to adopt and maintain an agency policy that requires the WSDOT to proactively provide broadband facility owners with information about planned state highway projects to enable collaboration between broadband facility owners and the WSDOT to identify opportunities for the installation of broadband facilities during the appropriate phase of projects when possible.

 

"Broadband infrastructure" is defined as networks of deployed telecommunications equipment and technologies necessary to provide high-speed internet access and other advanced telecommunications services to end users.

 

Fish Barrier Removal Projects.

 

In 2013 a United States (US) District Court issued an injunction ordering the state to increase its efforts in removing culverts blocking or impeding fish passage in the Puget Sound and Chehalis River basins in Washington.  The court ordered the state to replace the culverts with the most significant impacts on fish habitat by 2030.  This injunction was upheld by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in 2016 and by an equally divided US Supreme Court in 2018.  The WSDOT had addressed 176 fish barriers as of June 2025.
Summary of Bill:

The WSDOT is directed to adopt and maintain agency policies that:

  1. proactively provide utility owners with information about planned state highway fish barrier removal projects to enable collaboration between utility owners and the WSDOT, with at least one year of advance notice provided whenever feasible; and
  2. maximize the amount of federal funding for fish barrier removal projects for which utility relocation costs of the WSDOT or utilities are an eligible use.

 

The WSDOT is encouraged to:

  • ensure that, if utility relocation costs are an eligible use under federal regulation, any awards received are deposited in the Multimodal Transportation Account; and
  • report to the Legislature and the Office of Financial Management on any recommendations for changes to state law, rules, or policies that would enable the WSDOT or utilities to more efficiently receive competitive federal grant funding or reimbursements for utility relocations.
Appropriation: None.
Fiscal Note: Available.
Effective Date: The bill takes effect 90 days after adjournment of the session in which the bill is passed.