HB 2183 — Requiring counties to develop and implement heat response plans.

H-3186.1H-2575.2 SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 2183 State of Washington 69th Legislature 2026 Regular Session By House Local Government (originally sponsored by Representatives Parshley, Hall, Mena, Leavitt, Stearns, Ryu, Doglio, Callan, Ramel, Reed, Cortes, Wylie, Ormsby, Berg, Thai, Macri, Fosse, Pollet, and Salahuddin)Salahuddin READPrefiled FIRST12/22/25. TIME 01/27/26.

Read first time 01/12/26.

Referred to Committee on Local Government.

amending RCW 70.05.060;

(1) By July 1, 2027, each county legislative authority of a county planning under this chapter must create and adopt an extreme heat response plan.

Plans must be developed by the county local board of health or health district in cooperation with the localpublic health jurisdiction,and county emergency managementdepartments department,of andthe othercities local governments within the county.

(a) Include planning for both immediate response during an extreme heat event and for long-term adaptation strategies to mitigate extreme heat events in the future, including particular emphasis on making investments to avoid a brownout or blackout of electricity during an extreme heat event, and ensure that such planning includes adequate cooling strategies beyond the use of cooling centers;

(b) Include planning for mitigating harms to, and prioritizingprioritize the protection of, high-risk populations including, but not limited to, those 65 years of age or older, outdoor workers, medically vulnerable p.

1 SHBHB 2183 vulnerable individuals, pregnant individuals,women, children under six years of age, and households making 80 percent or less of the area median income.income;

When addressing considerations for outdoor workers, counties must refer to heat exposure safety and health rules adopted by the Washington state department of labor and industries;

(f) Recommend adaptation strategies for buildings, including plans for government assistance such as subsidies and incentives for heat pumps, portable cooling units, and passive heat mitigation, as well as recommendations for private individual adaptations;

and (i) ImplementEnsure measuresthat tothe collectheat dataresponse onplans andare tointegrated monitorwithin heat-existing relatedemergency illnesses,response mortality,frameworks; and the effectiveness of interventions to prevent illness and mortality.

and (j) Implement measures to collect data on and to monitor heat- related illnesses, mortality, and the effectiveness of interventions to prevent illness and mortality.

Sec.

2.

RCW 70.05.060 and 1991 c 3 s 308 are each amended to read as follows:

Each local board of health shall have supervision over all matters pertaining to the preservation of the life and health of the people within its jurisdiction and shall:

(1) Enforce through the local health officer or the administrative officer appointed under RCW 70.05.040, if any, the p.

2 HB 2183 public health statutes of the state and rules promulgated by the state board of health and the secretary of health;

(2) Supervise the maintenance of all health and sanitary measures for the protection of the public health within its jurisdiction;

(3) Enact such local rules and regulations as are necessary in order to preserve, promote and improve the public health and provide for the enforcement thereof;

(4) Provide for the control and prevention of any dangerous, contagious or infectious disease within the jurisdiction of the local health department;

(5) Provide for the prevention, control and abatement of nuisances detrimental to the public health;

(6) Make such reports to the state board of health through the local health officer or the administrative officer as the state board of health may require;

((and)) (7) Develop an extreme heat response plan as required in section 1 of this act;

and (8) Establish fee schedules for issuing or renewing licenses or permits or for such other services as are authorized by the law and the rules of the state board of health:

PROVIDED, That such fees for services shall not exceed the actual cost of providing any such services.

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