This bill creates a statewide "habitat restoration permit pathway program" by amending RCW 77.55.480 and establishes an expedited permit pathway, eligibility, review, and approval procedures for specified environmental restoration projects that are funded or covered by listed restoration programs. Projects approved and reviewed under this section are not subject to RCW 43.21C.030(2) and generally are not required to obtain additional local or state permits or fees other than the permit issued under this section, except for permits minimally necessary to participate in a federal program. The amendment sets notice and coordination duties toward local governments, potentially affected federally recognized tribes, and members of a multiagency permitting team; allows the department to exclude projects from expedited review for health, safety, environmental, scope, or complexity concerns; provides appeal rights under RCW 77.55.021(8); and prescribes application, cultural resources review and notification requirements (including a requirement to consult the Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation and provide project area descriptions at least 60 days before filing), procedures for projects requiring Department of Natural Resources authorization, and specific decision timeframes (generally not sooner than 25 days and not later than 45 days after a complete application, with a multiagency review period not to exceed 45 days). The act also amends RCW 43.21C.515 to state that a project that receives a permit pursuant to RCW 77.55.480 is not subject to RCW 43.21C.030(2). It provides a liability limitation for employees in connection with fish recovery stimulus projects permitted under this section, making employees not liable for adverse impacts except upon proof of gross negligence or willful or wanton misconduct. The bill sets an effective date of June 30, 2025, and removes previously stated expiration language that had referred to June 30, 2025. Some material is unclear or missing from the extracted text: the specific identity of "the department" used throughout is not defined here; subsection (6) ends mid-sentence and its remainder is not provided; and the full text and placement of the amendment to RCW 43.21C.515 and any other marked deletions or insertions are not fully included in the provided facts.

If enacted, qualifying habitat restoration projects would be able to use a new single statewide permit pathway that generally replaces separate local and state permits and the specific environmental review requirement in RCW 43.21C.030(2). That would likely speed decisions (department decisions within 25–45 days, with a multiagency review process limited to 45 days) and reduce the number of separate permit fees and approvals sponsors must obtain, but applicants must do pre‑application cultural resource review with the Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation and notify affected tribes at least 60 days before filing and must provide copies of the application to local governments, tribes, and the multiagency team. Projects can be excluded from the expedited pathway if they may harm health, safety, or the environment or if tribes withhold consent, and applicants retain appeal rights; the act takes effect June 30, 2025. The groups most affected are restoration project sponsors and funders (who stand to gain faster, simpler permitting and lower permitting costs but will need to budget for cultural surveys and tribal coordination), local governments and tribes (who must be notified and can request fuller review or hold the application), and the unnamed state department and its employees (who are given liability protection for permitted projects except for gross negligence or willful misconduct). Some operational details are unclear in the provided text — notably which specific agency is the permitting “department” and a portion of a liability clause and other subsections are missing — so how responsibilities and exact timelines are enforced could change once those parts are finalized.