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Bill to allow family burial grounds moves through committee hearing with agency concerns
Summary
Substitute House Bill 2,239 would permit landowners to establish family burial grounds with setbacks, recording requirements with county auditors and DAHP within 30 days, and local authority to regulate; sponsors and several rural and tribal witnesses supported the bill while WSDOT and Ecology requested technical clarifications including larger setbacks.
Substitute House Bill 2,239 drew substantial public testimony Feb. 19 as the Law and Justice Committee considered allowing private landowners to designate areas of their property as family burial grounds.
Staff counsel Ryan Giannini told the committee the bill "allows a natural person to designate an area of land that the person owns as a family burial ground" and establishes setback requirements, recording and reporting duties to the Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation (DAHP) and county auditors, and an option for cities and counties to regulate or prohibit the establishment of family burial grounds. The staff briefing also noted that family burial grounds would be grandfathered…
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