S-0924.1

SENATE BILL 5557

BySenators Liias, Hunt, Van De Wege, Das, Kuderer, and Takko

AN ACT Relating to seismic hazard risk reduction; adding new sections to chapter 70.86 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 84.36 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 19.27 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 38.52 RCW; creating new sections; and providing expiration dates.

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

To that end, the legislature finds that important to this preparation effort is the concept of functional recovery: A building's ability to support its intended use and occupancy, following a seismic event. Therefore, it is the intent of the legislature to convene a task force to develop criteria and implementation measures necessary for the adoption of a functional recovery standard to apply to all emergency services and state-owned buildings. The criteria developed by this task force will ensure that in the event of seismic disaster, emergency crews will be able to respond immediately to crisis and people will have a place to seek shelter and refuge. Furthermore, the legislature intends to create a position dedicated to seismic hazard works within the state military department, provide a tax preference to encourage functional recovery construction, establish a grant program for unreinforced masonry buildings, and authorize local governments to incentivize functional recovery in order to mitigate earthquake disaster. These measures are essential to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the people of the state of Washington.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2. A new section is added to chapter 70.86 RCW to read as follows:

The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter unless the context clearly requires otherwise.

(1) "Emergency services building" means any building, including buildings designed and constructed, for public agencies used, or designed to be used, or any building a portion of which is used, or designed to be used, as a fire station, police station, emergency operations center, Washington state patrol office, sheriff's office, emergency communication dispatch center, or emergency shelter.

(2) "Functional recovery standard" means a set of enforceable building code provisions and regulations that provide specific design and construction requirements intended to result in a building for which postearthquake structural and nonstructural capacity are maintained or can be restored to support the basic intended functions of the building's preearthquake use and occupancy within a maximum acceptable time, where the maximum acceptable time might differ for various uses or occupancies.

(3) "Unreinforced masonry building" means a building with one or more bearing walls made of plain clay brick or clay tile masonry that provide the primary support for vertical loads from floors or roofs.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3. A new section is added to chapter 70.86 RCW to read as follows:

(1) The functional recovery task force is established to determine criteria and implementation measures necessary for the adoption of a functional recovery standard for all emergency services buildings and state-owned buildings.

(2) Implementation measures must include:

(a) Integration of infrastructure necessary to support functional recovery, including but not limited to water availability, electrical power, transportation, communications, fuel, and other services;

(b) Practical means for implementing a functional recovery standard, including:

(i) Amendments to the state building code;

(ii) Estimated costs for compliance;

(iii) Practical financial incentives and programs, including public-private partnerships to cover costs; and

(iv) Education and outreach.

(3) The work of the task force must be prioritized as follows:

(a) Determination of criteria and implementation measures for the adoption of a functional recovery standard for all new emergency services buildings and state-owned buildings;

(b) Identification of practical means for the seismic retrofitting of all existing emergency services buildings and state-owned buildings; and

(c) Defining and establishing criteria and implementation measures for an immediate occupancy standard as considered in the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Special Publication 1224: Research Needs to Support Immediate Occupancy Building Performance Objective Following Natural Hazard Events.

(4) In order to determine criteria for a functional recovery standard, the task force may examine:

(a) The NIST report referenced in subsection (3)(c) of this section;

(b) California Administrative Code, Part 1, Chapter 4, Administrative Regulations for the Division of the State Architect, Structural Safety; and

(c) Any other relevant reports, industry and government standards, best practices, or academic research.

(5) The task force must consist of:

(a) Two members from the house of representatives, with one member appointed from each of the two major caucuses of the house of representatives by the speaker of the house of representatives and the minority leader of the house of representatives;

(b) Two members from the senate, with one member appointed from each of the two major caucuses of the senate by the majority leader and minority leader of the senate; and

(c) Appropriate representatives from public and private sector entities, including but not limited to the:

(i) State building code council;

(ii) State military department;

(iii) Office of the insurance commissioner;

(iv) Department of enterprise services;

(v) Department of natural resources;

(vi) Department of ecology;

(vii) Local governments;

(viii) Department of commerce;

(ix) State board for architects;

(x) Building officials;

(xi) State fire marshal;

(xii) Structural and civil engineers;

(xiii) Insurance industry;

(xiv) Construction industry;

(xv) Washington geological survey;

(xvi) International code council; and

(xvii) First responders.

(6) Staff support for the task force must be provided by the senate committee services and the house of representatives office of program research.

(7) Legislative members of the task force are reimbursed for travel expenses in accordance with RCW 44.04.120. Nonlegislative members are entitled to be reimbursed for travel expenses if they are elected officials or are participating on behalf of an employer, governmental entity, or other organization. Any reimbursement for other nonlegislative members is subject to chapter 43.03 RCW.

(8) The expenses of the task force must be paid jointly by the senate and the house of representatives. Task force expenditures are subject to approval by the senate facilities and operations committee and the house of representatives executive rules committee, or their successor committees.

(9) The task force must provide periodic progress reports after the completion of each priority listed in this section to the governor and the appropriate committees of the legislature. The progress reports must include findings, successes, challenges, and any recommendations to the legislature to assist the task force in its work.

(10) By December 1, 2021, and in compliance with RCW 43.01.036, the task force must report its final set of findings and recommendations to the governor and the appropriate committees of the legislature.

(11) This section expires December 31, 2021.

(2) The legislature categorizes this tax preference as one intended to induce certain designated behavior by taxpayers, as indicated in RCW 82.32.808(2)(a).

(3) It is the legislature's specific public policy objective to incentivize property owners to seismically retrofit or construct new buildings to meet a functional recovery standard as defined in section 2 of this act. It is the legislature's intent to provide a property tax exemption that may be used to offset the costs of construction and seismic retrofitting that meet a functional recovery standard.

(4) If the joint legislative audit and review committee finds that the property tax exemption has led to a significant increase in the amount of buildings that meet a functional recovery standard in the ten years following enactment of this tax preference, then the legislature intends to extend the expiration date of the tax preference.

(5) In order to obtain the data necessary to perform the review in subsection (4) of this section, the joint legislative audit and review committee may refer to tax exemption data available from the department of revenue.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 5. A new section is added to chapter 84.36 RCW to read as follows:

(1) Beginning July 1, 2026, property owners who meet the requirements of this section may apply to the assessor of the county in which the property is located for a property tax exemption for the costs of new construction or seismic retrofitting that meets the criteria of a functional recovery standard as determined pursuant to subsection (2) of this section. This application must be made upon forms prescribed by the department of revenue and supplied by the county assessor.

(2) By July 1, 2025, the department of commerce, in consultation with the work of the task force established in section 3 of this act, the state building code council, and interested stakeholders, must determine criteria for the types and quality of construction that meet a functional recovery standard.

(3) If the costs of new construction or seismic retrofitting exceed the annual property tax due for a property owner, the property owner may apply the balance of costs towards an exemption for property tax due in the succeeding year and the following years until the full costs of new construction or seismic retrofitting are recovered.

(4) The department of commerce and the department of revenue must promulgate rules and regulations necessary to administer the provisions of this section.

(5) This section expires July 1, 2036.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 6. A new section is added to chapter 70.86 RCW to read as follows:

Cities, towns, and counties are authorized to enact programs and incentives to encourage new construction or seismic retrofitting that meet a functional recovery standard, including but not limited to:

(1) Grant or loan programs;

(2) Tax exemptions, credits, or rebates;

(3) Architectural fee reimbursement; and

(4) Fee waivers, zoning modifications, transfer of development rights, and on-site parking exemptions.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 7. A new section is added to chapter 70.86 RCW to read as follows:

(1) To protect residents from the dangers posed by unreinforced masonry buildings in the event of an earthquake, a state grant program is established for improving the earthquake safety of unreinforced masonry buildings.

(2) The department of commerce must develop and administer the program. The department may develop rules to administer the program.

(3) The department may consult with task force members as referenced in section 3(5)(c) of this act and other interested stakeholders in developing the program.

(4) Property owners may apply to the department for a grant to be used for the seismic retrofit costs of unreinforced masonry buildings.

(5) Grant awards must be determined through a competitive process. The department must develop award criteria, including but not limited to the development of the relative weight to be assigned to the following criteria:

(a) The seismic retrofit's contribution towards public safety;

(b) The historic and cultural character of the building; and

(c) Avoidance of building demolition or vacancy.

(6) All grant awards must be matched by a one-to-one private-to-state match.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 8. A new section is added to chapter 19.27 RCW to read as follows:

By December 31, 2025, in addition to the provisions of RCW 19.27.031, the state building code must consist of Appendix A of the 2018 International Existing Building Code, published by the International Code Council, Inc., which provides guidelines for the seismic retrofit of existing buildings.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 9. A new section is added to chapter 38.52 RCW to read as follows:

(1) The military department emergency management division must synchronize catastrophic planning and preparedness activities for seismic hazards across all levels of government. The division will develop strategies to address the resilience for key lifeline critical infrastructure such as critical transportation, emergency communications, power, water, wastewater, and fuel.

(2) In addition, the military department emergency management division must partner with local government jurisdictions, nongovernmental associations, state agencies, and other relevant organizations to improve seismic risk reduction in Washington. Activities may include, but are not limited to: Synchronizing catastrophic planning and preparedness activities; catastrophic incident response planning; alert and warning; a recovery framework that establishes standards for recovery; and other initiatives as determined by the functional recovery task force established in section 3 of this act.

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