SB 6120 — Concerning the Wildland Urban Interface Code.

S-3863.1ENGROSSED SENATE BILL 6120 State of Washington 68th Legislature 2024 Regular Session By Senators Van De Wege, Braun, and Short Read first time 01/10/24.

amending RCW 19.27.031, 19.27.074, 19.27.560, and 19.27.560;43.30.580;

(3) The International Fire Code, published by the International Code Council, Inc., including those standards of the National Fire Protection Association specifically referenced in the International Firep. Code:

PROVIDED,1 That,ESB notwithstanding6120 anyFire wordingCode: in this code, p.

1PROVIDED, SBThat, 6120notwithstanding any wording in this code, participants in religious ceremonies shall not be precluded from carrying handheld candles;

(4) ((Portions)) Only those portions of the International Wildland Urban Interface Code, published by the International Code Council Inc., as ((set forth)) specifically referenced in RCW 19.27.560;19.27.560(1), or the model International Wildland Urban Interface Code specifically referenced in RCW 19.27.560(2);

In maintaining these codes, the council shall regularly review updated versions of the codes referred to in RCW 19.27.031 and other pertinent information and shall amend the codes as deemed appropriate by the council, provided, thatp. Wildland Urban Interface Codes must be consistent with RCW 19.27.560;

p.2 ESB 6120 that Wildland Urban Interface Codes must be consistent with RCW 19.27.560;

2 SB 6120 (b) Approve or deny all county or city amendments to any code referred to in RCW 19.27.031 to the degree the amendments apply to single-family or multifamily residential buildings;

3 SBESB 6120 Sec.

(1) In addition to the provisions of RCW 19.27.031, the state building code shall, upon the completion of a statewide ((mapping of wildland urban interface areas))areas mapconsist of areasthe atfollowing greatestparts)) wildfire hazard map and a base-level wildfire risk frommap wildlandfor fire,each county of the state, per RCW 43.30.580, consist of chapter 1 and the following partstechnical provisions of the 2018((2018)) International Wildland Urban Interface Code, published by the International Code Council, Inc., which are hereby adopted by reference:

(D)p. Fire retardant-treated wood on the exterior side.

The4 fireESB retardant-treated6120 wood(D) shallFire beretardant-treated labeledwood foron exterior use and meet the p.exterior side.

4The SBfire 6120retardant-treated wood shall be labeled for exterior use and meet the requirements of ((section 2303.2 of)) the International Building Code;

(2) All counties, cities, and towns may adopt the International Wildland Urban Interface Code, published by the International Code Council, Inc., in whole or any portion thereof.

(3) In adopting and maintaining the code enumerated in subsectionssubsection((s)) (1) and((and (2)(2))) of this section, any amendment to the code as adopted under subsectionssubsection((s)) (1) and((and (2)(2))) of this section may not result in an International Wildland Urban Interface Code that is more than p.

5 SBESB 6120 may not result in an International Wildland Urban Interface Code that is more than the minimum performance standards and requirements contained in the((the published model code.code)) subsection (1) of this section.

(4) All counties, cities, and towns may complete their own mapwildfire ofhazard areasand atbase-level greatestwildfire risk frommap wildfire for use in applying the code enumerated in subsections (1) and (2) of this section.

AnyCounties, mapcities, adoptedand bytowns counties,may cities,continue andto townsuse mustlocally utilizeadopted thewildfire samerisk ormaps substantiallyuntil similarcompletion criteriaof asa thestatewide wildfire hazard map requiredand bybase-level subsectionwildfire (1)risk map for each county of thisthe section.state per RCW 43.30.580.

(5)Six Allmonths counties,after cities,the andstatewide townswildfire issuinghazard commercialmap and residentialbase-level buildingwildfire permits for parcels in areas identified as high risk andmap veryis highcomplete, riskany on the map requiredadopted by subsectioncounties, (1)cities, ofand thistowns sectionmust orutilize adoptedthe accordingsame toor subsectionsubstantially (4)similar ofcriteria thisas section shall apply the codemap enumeratedrequired inby subsectionssubsection (1) and (2) of this section.

NEW(5) SECTION.All counties, cities, and towns issuing commercial and residential building permits for parcels in areas identified as high hazard and very high hazard on the map required by subsection (1) of this section or adopted according to subsection (4) of this section shall apply the code enumerated in subsections (1) or (2) of this section.

RCW 43.30.580 and 2018 c 189 s 3 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) The department shall, to the extent practical within existing resources, establish a program of technical assistance to counties, cities, and towns for the development of findings of fact and maps establishing the wildland urban interface areas of jurisdictions in accordance with the requirements of the International Wildland Urban Interface Code as adopted by reference in RCW 19.27.560.

(2) The department shall develop and administer a grant program, subject to funding provided for this purpose, to provide direct financial assistance to counties, cities, and towns for the development of findings of fact and maps establishing wildland urban interface areas.

Applications for grant funds must be submitted by counties, cities, and towns in accordance with regulations adopted by the department.

The department is authorized to make and administer grants on the basis of applications, within appropriations authorized by the legislature, to any county, city, or town for the purpose of p.

6 ESB 6120 developing findings of fact and maps establishing wildland urban interface areas.

(3) The department shall establish and maintain a statewide wildfire hazard map and a base-level wildfire risk map for each county of the state based upon criteria established in coordination with the state fire marshal office.

The hazard map shall be made available on the department's website and shall designate areas as low, moderate, high, and very high wildfire hazard.

The risk map shall be made available on the department's website and designate vulnerable resources or assets based on their exposure and susceptibility to a wildfire hazard.

The department shall establish a method by which local governments may update the wildfire risk map based on local assessments and approved by the jurisdiction's fire marshal.

The department shall make publicly available the criteria and analysis utilized in assessing the wildfire hazard and risk.

NEW SECTION.

Sec.

5.

67 SBESB 6120