H-0540.3
HOUSE BILL 1643
State of Washington
69th Legislature
2025 Regular Session
By Representative Barkis
Read first time 01/28/25. Referred to Committee on Transportation.
AN ACT Relating to supporting transportation system improvements by addressing utility facility removal and relocation responsibilities; amending RCW 47.44.020 , 36.55.060 , 35A.47.040 , 35.23.251 , 35.27.330 , and 35.99.060 ; and creating a new section.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds that public roadways are increasingly constructed, altered, repaired, and improved in the public interest as part of development agreements. When this is the case, the legislature believes that a governmental entity requiring a project that is in the public interest to be completed as part of a development agreement should be authorized to require utility relocation at the expense of the franchise holder. The legislature recognizes that, at times, it may be expedient for a governmental entity to require a roadway system improvement to be made instead of assessing an impact fee and undertaking the work itself. The legislature believes that whether a utility franchise holder is required to bear the costs of utility relocation should not be determined on the basis of who is undertaking the project, but rather, on the basis of the extent to which the general public will benefit from the project. Therefore, the legislature intends to authorize the Washington state department of transportation, counties, cities, and towns to require utility franchise holders to pay the expense of utility relocation when a public roadway project that is in the public interest is undertaken by a private entity as part of a development agreement.
Sec. 2. RCW 47.44.020 and 2001 c 201 s 6 are each amended to read as follows: