Substitute House Bill 1302 changes municipal utility law to allow municipal utilities and city or town utility systems to waive one-time connection charges for certain properties. Eligible properties include those owned or developed by nonprofits, public development authorities, housing authorities, and local agencies that provide emergency shelter, transitional housing, permanent supportive housing, or affordable housing (including certain limited partnerships and LLCs referenced in other law), and properties used by public or private organizations for industrial symbiosis. The bill requires that any waived connection charges be funded from general funds, grant dollars, or another identified revenue stream, and it requires cities and towns that waive or delay tap-in, connection, or hookup fees to implement the waiver or delay through a program established by ordinance. The bill also amends and adds statutory language and definitions related to municipal utility waivers, including definitions for "connection charges," "emergency shelter," and "industrial symbiosis," and it cites and amends RCW 35.92.385 and RCW 35.92.380 while referencing other RCWs for certain housing definitions. If a property that received a waiver no longer meets eligibility requirements, any previously waived charges become immediately due and payable as a condition of continued utility service. This is a statutory amendment and procedural change governing fee waivers and their funding and repayment; it does not create a new criminal offense or change criminal penalties. Affected entities identified include municipal utilities under chapter 35.92 RCW, cities and towns operating utilities, eligible housing providers and organizations performing industrial symbiosis, and low-income persons or classes of low-income persons insofar as fee waivers or delays may apply. The document shows House passage on January 15, 2026, and Senate passage on March 6, 2026. It is unclear from the provided facts whether the bill creates a newly numbered statutory section, and no effective date or full implementation timeline is included in the extracted material.

If enacted, cities and municipal utilities could eliminate the one-time hookup or tap-in fees for properties used for emergency, transitional, permanent supportive, or affordable housing, and for properties used for industrial symbiosis. That will lower upfront costs and make it easier for nonprofits, housing authorities, public development authorities, and qualifying private partners to start or expand those projects. The cost of those waived fees would not disappear — utilities or cities must pay them from general funds, grants, or other identified revenue, so local budgets would absorb the lost fee revenue and officials would need to set up an ordinance-based program to decide who gets waivers and how they are funded. Key practical uncertainties remain because the extracted text does not show an effective date, the full definitions referenced in other laws, or the detailed ordinance requirements; those local implementation choices will determine how many projects benefit and how much pressure is placed on city and utility budgets. Additionally, if a property later stops meeting eligibility, any waived fees become immediately due as a condition of continued service, which creates a repayment risk owners and operators will need to manage.