Conference committee approves SB 66, creates optional expedited permit path and shifts approval responsibility to architects

The Joint House and Senate Conference Committee voted to pass Senate Bill 66 (CD1) on April 24 in Conference Room 224. The CD1 creates an optional expedited permit track for single-family and multifamily housing projects and sets an explicit timeline and insurance/indemnity framework for that track, conferees said during the committee presentation.

Under the CD1 described to the committee, permitting agencies must act on complete permit applications within 60 days. If the county has not acted after the applicable review period, an applicant may request an optional expedited processing path. Under that optional path, the CD1 shifts approval responsibility to the project architect under an indemnification agreement; the county would issue a permit on the architect's certification. The CD1 requires design professionals and contractors to carry $2,000,000 in insurance naming the state and county as additional insureds and to indemnify the state and county. Owner-builder projects are treated differently: they must execute a liability waiver rather than the architect indemnity structure.

The CD1 includes eligibility and limit conditions: the measure incorporates HD3's historic and flood criteria, limits the expedited track to projects no taller than two stories and not sited on shoreline or erosion-prone parcels, and excludes certain parcels described in the CD1. The committee record also states the CD1 sets an effective date of July 1, 2026 and includes a sunset provision in the mid-2030s (transcript language read "sunset 6 32030," recorded on the floor; committee discussion clarified the intended sunset date as June 30, 2030). The committee described options for counties to define what constitutes a 60-day period and to set fees for expedited permits; counties may still perform inspections and retain some oversight under the architect certification system.

Committee members asked clarifying procedural questions during the overview, including whether the 60-day timing references calendar days or business days; the transcript contains both references (the CD1 overview mentions "60 days" in several places and also refers to "60 business days" later in the description). The committee record indicates conferees discussed that counties could adopt tolling mechanisms through rulemaking, and the CD1 text as described removed a "deemed approval" mechanism and instead required a delegation agreement to an architect who must carry insurance.

The managers recommended passage with amendments and the committee recorded the roll call. On the Senate side, Chair Chang and Co-chair Gabbard voted aye; Sen. Fevella was excused. On the House side, co-chairs Esselin, Lamasau and Tarnas and conferees Miyake and Pierrick voted aye. No "no" or abstain votes were recorded in the committee transcript. The committee adopted the CD1 and reported the bill out with the amendments described.

The conference committee recorded no instructions to staff beyond the adoption of the CD1 during the April 24 session; related measures and outstanding technical releases were discussed earlier in the morning and were rolled to subsequent sessions where noted.