The bill creates a new county local road program by adding a new chapter to Title 36 RCW. It establishes a county local road trust account in the motor vehicle fund, with moneys to be used for preservation and improvement of county local roads and for board expenses administering the county road local access preservation program. Funds in the account are subject to state allotment procedures and require legislative appropriation. The act is declared an emergency and takes effect July 1, 2025. The county road administration board must adopt rules to allocate trust account funds, set project selection criteria tied to factors such as overburdened communities and access to tribal lands, require proposed projects to be in each county’s six-year program, and include a program status report in its annual legislative report. Allowed project types are listed (including 2-R, 3-R, reconstruction as defined in the WSDOT local agency guidelines manual, certain bridge replacements, removal of fish-passage impediments, and pedestrian facilities). Counties must provide matching funds under rules the board will set after conducting financial studies. After December 31, 2025, counties that divert any portion of the county road levy under RCW 36.33.220 are ineligible for trust funds except counties under 8,000 population, and the board is barred from allocating funds to counties identified by the governor under RCW 36.70A.340. The text directs the board to determine and adjust allocation amounts, permit reserving funds and considering emergent projects by priority, but it does not include the detailed rule content, timelines for the board’s studies or rulemaking, or the full text of referenced RCWs and WSDOT definitions.

If enacted, the state creates a new dedicated funding source for preserving and improving county local roads and for the county road administration board’s program administration, so counties with eligible, planned projects can get state money but will need to include projects in their six-year program, work with nearby cities and WSDOT where projects connect, and provide locally required matching funds. Because the bill makes counties that divert any portion of the county road levy ineligible for this money after December 31, 2025 (with an exemption for counties under 8,000 people), counties face pressure to stop diverting levy revenue or lose access to the new funds, which could shift local budget choices and increase the need to identify matching funds. The board will set allocation and project-selection rules that favor projects serving overburdened communities, improving access to federally recognized Indian reservations, addressing safety and structural needs, and other specified priorities, so projects meeting those criteria are more likely to be funded. Key implementation details are not included here—such as exact match rates, definitions of project types (2-R, 3-R, reconstruction), and timing for the board’s rules and studies—so how much money individual counties receive and when remains uncertain.