S-3843.1
SENATE BILL 6088
State of Washington
69th Legislature
2026 Regular Session
By Senators Braun, Boehnke, Dozier, Saldaña, Warnick, and J. Wilson
Read first time 01/13/26. Referred to Committee on Agriculture & Natural Resources.
AN ACT Relating to protecting the public from water quality impacts of publicly owned or operated game farms; adding a new section to chapter 77.12 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 90.48 RCW; and creating a new section.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. (1)(a) The legislature finds that protecting public health and the safety of drinking water supplies is a fundamental responsibility of the state. In 2024 and 2025, groundwater monitoring conducted by Lewis county, the city of Centralia, and the department of fish and wildlife identified nitrate concentrations in multiple private drinking water wells in the Fords Prairie area that exceeded the federal maximum contaminant level for nitrates. Subsequent investigations, including the Bob Oke game farm groundwater investigation completed in November 2025, determined that multiple sources contribute nitrates to the aquifer, and confirmed that manure generated by pheasants at the Bob Oke game farm is a contributing source of nitrate loading to groundwater.
(b) The legislature further finds that, although the department of ecology administers a concentrated animal feeding operation permit program to prevent manure and nutrient pollution from animal feeding operations, the current rule-based thresholds do not expressly include state-operated game farms or other facilities raising pheasants or similar game birds. As a result, these facilities are not required to obtain concentrated animal feeding operation permits, even when the number of birds, site characteristics, or manure management practices present risks to groundwater quality that are comparable to operations currently regulated under the concentrated animal feeding operation program.