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SB 5303

Creating the public works assistance revolving account.

2023-2024 Regular Session Introduced by Matt Boehnke and 6 co-sponsors

Extends the Yakima River Basin Integrated Plan water-supply milestone to 2035, providing more time to secure permits, funding, and planning.

Senate Rules "X" file.
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Bill Summary · SB 5303

SB 5303 — Creating the public works assistance revolving account / Extending Yakima Integrated Plan milestone to 2035

Status: Chapter 285, 2025 Laws — Governor signed 05/15/2025. Effective date (emergency): 06/30/2025.
Origin: Introduced 01/16/2025; passed both chambers (Senate concurred in House amendments 04/17/2025).

Purpose

Primarily, SB 5303 extends key statutory milestones tied to the Yakima River Basin Integrated Water Resource Management Plan (the “Integrated Plan”) from 2025 to 2035 to allow additional time to secure permits and funding for water supply facilities. The bill also preserves and clarifies related planning, review, and Teanaway Community Forest trust provisions.

Key provisions

  • Milestone extension
    • Changes the statutory “water supply facility permit and funding milestone” deadline from June 30, 2025, to June 30, 2035. The milestone requires permits and funding to begin construction on one or more facilities designed to provide at least 214,000 acre-feet of water for instream and out-of-stream uses.
  • Cost‑benefit review requirement
    • Extends to July 1, 2035, the requirement that the Washington Water Research Center review and comment on cost‑benefit analyses before state appropriations for Integrated Plan water supply projects costing more than $100 million. (Section expires July 1, 2035.)
  • Finance and planning
    • Continues statutory direction for the Department of Ecology, with assistance from the Office of the State Treasurer (OST), to prepare and periodically update a comprehensive cost estimate and financing plan for the Integrated Plan, including analysis of state, local, federal, and private financing options and contingencies for cost overruns.
  • Teanaway Community Forest / Common School Trust
    • Maintains authority (from prior statute) allowing Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to hold lands in the community forest trust for basin protection and prescribes loan/interest terms when Common School Trust funds are used. A House amendment removed language that would have expired the annual interest payment; the annual interest payment requirement remains in effect for the life of the loan (9% annual interest: 6% to Common School Construction Account; 3% to Real Property Replacement Account).
  • Effective/expiration clauses
    • Contains an emergency clause (effective 06/30/2025) and includes statutory expiration for certain review provisions (July 1, 2035).

Who is affected

  • Yakima Basin stakeholders: Yakama Nation, irrigation districts, municipalities, fisheries and environmental groups, and local project beneficiaries.
  • State agencies: Department of Ecology, Department of Natural Resources, Office of the State Treasurer, Washington Water Research Center.
  • Common School Trust: retains ongoing interest payments tied to investments in the Teanaway purchase.

Procedural / timeline notes

  • No direct appropriation in the bill; fiscal note available.
  • Legislature extended key deadlines by 10 years to provide additional time for permitting/financing.
  • The bill reflects compromise language keeping Teanaway protections while preserving long‑term trust payment obligations.

Policy context and debate

Supporters argued permitting and financing require more time and that continued collaboration is needed to implement the Integrated Plan. Opponents raised concerns about fiscal risk to the Common School Trust, the cost-effectiveness of proposed storage projects, and whether extending the milestone perpetuates a costly/unrealistic project timeline.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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