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Committee advances substitute that requires one-time statewide assessment of water and sewer systems by 2027
Summary
A substitute to House Bill 1690, narrowing an original request for an ongoing database to a one-time comprehensive assessment, was reported out of committee unanimously. The substitute directs the Departments of Health and Ecology to submit a report to the governor and legislature by June 30, 2027.
The Local Government committee reported substitute House Bill 1690 out of committee with a due-pass recommendation after adopting a substitute that replaces a requirement for an ongoing database with a one-time comprehensive assessment of water and sewer system maintenance and upgrade needs.
Staff summarized the change: the original bill would have required the Department of Ecology and the Department of Health to jointly produce an ongoing comprehensive assessment. The proposed substitute, H-1505.1 from Representative Dewar, instead requires the two agencies to prepare a comprehensive assessment report to the governor and legislature by June 30, 2027 and allows the report to include a list of systems in need of critical repairs or maintenance rather than establishing a continuing database.
Committee members voiced support for taking action to identify large-system failures and aging infrastructure. Representative Groovy said the bill is necessary to begin addressing regular overflows and the large volumes of untreated sewage that large sewer systems discharge, calling for prioritizing “very large sewer systems” while noting his district also contains many septic systems.
The committee approved the substitute by voice vote; staff then announced seven ayes, zero nays. By that vote substitute House Bill 1690 was reported out of committee with a due-pass recommendation.
The substitute specifies a deadline (June 30, 2027) for submission of a comprehensive assessment report by the Department of Health and the Department of Ecology. Supporters said the change was intended to reduce fiscal impact while still producing an initial statewide needs assessment.
The bill now moves forward with the substitute; staff noted the change was an attempt to reduce the fiscal note while maintaining the core goal of assessing statewide infrastructure needs.
