HB 1969 — Concerning the law enforcement aviation support grant program.

H-1823.1H-1250.1 SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 1969 State of Washington 69th Legislature 2025 Regular Session By House Appropriations (originally sponsored by Representatives Burnett, Low, Griffey, Graham, Dent, Ley, Volz, Schmidt, Berg, Schmick, Leavitt, Klicker, Keaton, Eslick, and Barkis)Barkis READRead FIRSTfirst TIMEtime 02/28/25.02/13/25.

Referred to Committee on Technology, Economic Development, & Veterans.

amending RCW 76.04.194 and 76.04.192;

amending 2023 c 457 s 1 (uncodified);

and creatingproviding aexpiration newdates. section.

(3) The department shall equally distribute 50 percent of the amounts appropriated for this program each fiscal year to local law enforcement rotary wing aviation support units recognized pursuant to subsectionp. (2) of this section.

Funding1 providedHB pursuant1969 tosubsection (2) of this p.section.

1Funding SHBprovided 1969pursuant to this subsection must be used to maintain and operate rotary wing aviation support units including, but not limited to, pilot and crew costs, aircraft maintenance, upgrades, acquisition, insurance, fuel, training, and any other reasonable and necessary expense associated with operating an aviation support unit.

NEW SECTION.

IfRCW specific76.04.194 fundingand for2023 thec purposes457 ofs this3 act,are referencingeach thisamended actto byread billas orfollows: chapter number, is not provided by June 30, 2025, in the omnibus appropriations act, this act is null and void.

(1) Subject to the availability of amounts appropriated for this specific purpose, the department must use suppression funding to assist local fire departments and sheriff's offices with aerial fire response capabilities during the critical initial attack phase of fighting a wildland fire.

(2) The department must use suppression funding to assist local fire departments and sheriff's offices with initial attacks that meet the following requirements:

(a) The local fire department or sheriff's office must have entered into a response agreement with the department;

(b) The local fire department or sheriff's office must provide documentation to the department that personnel have received training p.

2 HB 1969 regarding the use of aviation assets in initial attack and criteria to use for determining when to call for aviation assets;

(c) The aviation assets used in initial attack must:

(i) In the case of local fire departments, come from a list of private contractors approved by the department on exclusive use or call-when-needed agreements based upon the annual review of aviation response and aviation needs required in RCW 76.04.192(2);

and (ii) In the case of sheriff's offices, be owned or leased by the sheriff's office;

(d) Local fire departments and sheriff's offices must make direct requests to the appropriate coordination center, including the central Washington interagency coordination center, the northeast Washington interagency coordination center, the Blue Mountain interagency coordination center, or the department of natural resources coordination center, in order to ensure the safe coordination of all aircraft;

and (e) Upon receiving a request for aviation assets under this section, the coordinating agency must notify the director of fire protection or that individual's designee to ensure operational knowledge of a potential future request to invoke the fire service mobilization plan under RCW 43.43.960.

(3) This section expires July 1, 2027.

Sec.

3.

RCW 76.04.192 and 2023 c 457 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) The department shall prepare and submit, consistent with RCW 43.01.036, an appendix on aviation usage by local fire departments and sheriff's offices for initial attack as a part of its annual wildfire report to the standing committees of the legislature with jurisdiction over wildland firefighting.

The department shall submit the report by December 1st of each year.

The report must address, at a minimum, the following topics:

(a) The dollar value of funding utilized by local fire departments and sheriff's offices for initial attack aviation during the year;

(b) The specific local fire departments and sheriff's offices that utilized this funding during the year;

(c) The wildland fires on which suppression funding was utilized to provide local fire departments and sheriff's offices initial attack aviation resources during the year, including names, p.

3 HB 1969 locations, and sizes of fires, and amount of funding utilized on each of the fires;

and (d) A review of lessons learned related to aviation use by local fire departments and sheriff's offices for initial attack based on the preceding fire season, along with recommendations for future improvements to the wildland fire response process based on the lessons learned.

(2) The department shall consult with the state fire defense committee, fire service representatives, and the state fire marshal's office annually to review aviation program performance and determine aviation needs for the following fire year.

(3) This section expires July 1, 2027.

Sec.

4.

2023 c 457 s 1 (uncodified) is amended to read as follows:

(1) Local and tribal fire departments and sheriff's offices in the state of Washington serve as frontline responders to wildland fires.

The fire chief of each local fire department with jurisdiction over wildland fires, and each sheriff's office, is tasked with making rapid decisions, especially during the summer months when weather conditions can cause fires to rapidly enlarge.

Flashy fuels, especially during times of low humidity, can be ignited by a single spark and erupt into a rapidly moving incident that can quickly destroy rangelands, ripe dryland crops, and timberlands.