2018 was a good session for cities with a long-awaited public works infrastructure loan list finally being funded, and good policies finding their way into law.

The session started off fast and furiously with the Legislature passing their 2017 capital budget (remember, the 2017 Legislature failed to adopt a capital budget). With its passage came the funding of the Public Works Trust Fund (PWTF), also known as the Public Works Assistance Account (PWAA), loan list for the first time since a series of continuous and devastating revenue diversions began in 2013. The $97 million loan list funds critical infrastructure projects for Washington’s cities and towns, and represents a significant step in efforts to revitalize the PWAA.

The capital budget’s passage was contingent on a compromise solution to the state’s Hirst and Foster water dilemmas. AWC worked tirelessly all last session, throughout the interim, and into this session to help secure a hard-fought bipartisan compromise on this complicated and emotional issue. The compromise bill, ESSB 6091 will allow rural housing development to continue across the state in a way that protects the state’s critical fish resources (the Hirst issue). In addition, the bill includes a significant first step to ensuring a viable path for cities to access water rights into the future (the Foster issue).

The final deal provides needed clarification of the cities’ responsibilities under the Growth Management Act, and with building permit and subdivision approvals when it comes to availability of water. In addition, the bill sets in motion a process to fix the Foster case that left cities needing new water rights with no viable path forward. It was a constant challenge to keep this Foster issue on the table as the Legislature was more focused on the more emotional and contentious rural well issues from the Hirst case. Without the steadfast support of the two Republican caucuses, several key Democratic lawmakers who understood the importance of addressing this issue, and the unwavering support of our friends in the counties and the development community, we would not have been able to make this progress.

ESSB 6091 authorizes three cities (Yelm, Port Orchard, and Sumner) to receive new water permits that utilize alternative mitigation methods that were lost because of the Foster decision. The experience of those communities will inform a legislative task force that is charged with developing a comprehensive solution.

For all the technical details on ESSB 6091 see this post from MRSC.

Additionally, the biennial capital budget finally completed the restoration of a series of stormwater projects that were authorized in previous budgets, but delayed as the revenues from the Model Toxics Control Account (MTCA) plummeted because of the reduction in oil prices. AWC advocated along with individual cities that it was a priority to make good on the promise of those previous commitments, and we are thankful to have that work completed by this budget. Moving forward we will continue to advocate for the importance of stable and steady funding for the stormwater work that cities undertake to protect the quality of the waterways in our communities.

Another important victory on infrastructure was a $35 million commitment to the Centennial Clean Water program following the strong advocacy of our small-town mayors and AWC for this program that helps small- and fiscally-challenged communities fund much-needed infrastructure projects. This was a great example of a group of our members working with AWC and their legislators to focus attention on a critical issue.

The supplemental capital budget contains $19.7 million for what we hope will be a long-term program for local governments aimed at addressing local fish passage barriers – primarily culverts. AWC has been working since 2014 to develop and fund investment in fixes for the most critical fish-blocking culverts owned by private parties and local governments. When the state spends potentially billions of dollars fixing their own culverts, we want to ensure that the fish don’t run into another blockage just upstream. In 2014 we supported funding for the Fish Barrier Removal Board and we have spent the last three years working as part of that board to develop a strategic plan and to vet hundreds of barrier correction projects to identify those with the greatest benefit for endangered salmon and steelhead. This budget funds the first $20 million of those projects and honors the hard work of getting this program off the ground.

Finally, AWC held off several public works bills that would have negatively affected city policies or created burdensome and costly reporting requirements. We were also successful in securing legislation that allows cities to utilize unit-priced contracts for public works projects.

AWC’s next steps

AWC will continue to engage with the work on implementing the Hirst water legislation, and monitoring the pilot work done in the cities of Yelm, Port Orchard, and Sumner allowing them to mitigate water withdrawals as in response to the Foster court decision. We’ll also be monitoring various grant and loan programs funded in this year’s budgets and helping cities consider sources of funds for projects that might be funded in next biennium’s budgets.