House Bill 1324 (H-0421.1), read in 2025, amends chapter 70A.65 RCW and adds a new section to require that revenues derived under the Climate Commitment Act be used for major highway and bridge projects. The bill names specific projects (replacement of the Interstate 5 bridge over the Columbia River, completion of the US 395 North Spokane corridor, completion of the State Route 520 bridge, and the Gateway freight project connecting SR 509 and SR 167 to ports in Pierce and King counties) and states a legislative intent to redirect auction revenues for those transportation projects. The bill modifies auction procedures and participant rules in RCW 70A.65.100. It requires registration and departmental approval for participants (named types include covered entities, opt‑in entities, and general market participants), allows the department to require bid guarantees, sets purchase and holding limits (no more than 25% of an auction for covered or opt‑in entities; no more than 4% of an auction for general market participants and an aggregate 10% annual ownership cap for general market participants until linkage with another jurisdiction), and makes certain bidding information confidential. The department must notify the environmental justice council at least 60 days before auctions, provide post‑auction reports within 60 days, adopt rules to prevent collusion and market manipulation, may cancel or restrict auction participation (permanently or temporarily) in addition to other legal remedies, and must design auctions to enable linkage and joint auctions with other jurisdictions. The bill changes how auction proceeds are allocated across fiscal years and creates or amends related treasury accounts. It directs specific first deposits to the carbon emissions reduction account for FY2023–FY2025 and a set annual amount for FY2026–FY2037, instructs the Office of Financial Management to determine obligated proceeds and, after each auction, directs the State Treasurer to transfer 50% of any additional proceeds in certain years into the multimodal transportation account. Beginning FY2038, 50% of auction proceeds go to the carbon emissions reduction account with the remainder to the climate investment and air quality and health disparities improvement accounts. The bill also describes the climate investment account and carbon emissions reduction account uses and limits (including a 5% cap for administration and required labor standards for funded projects), directs annual distributions from the climate investment account (75% to the climate commitment account and 25% to the natural climate solutions account beginning July 1, 2023), and makes the act effective July 1, 2025 with an emergency declaration. Some important specifics are not included in the provided text: the excerpt does not identify the named “department,” the full amended statutory language for RCW 70A.65.240 and .250 is not shown, formal statutory definitions for participant types are absent, and a confidentiality subsection is truncated. These gaps prevent a complete description of all statutory definitions, exact account amendments, and the full list of confidential records.

If enacted, the bill would steer a large and specific share of Washington’s climate commitment act auction revenue toward major road and bridge work — explicitly naming replacement of the I‑5 Columbia River bridge, completion of the US‑395 North Spokane corridor, finishing the SR‑520 bridge, and the Gateway freight connection — by creating a carbon emissions reduction account with dedicated transportation uses and by directing set dollar amounts and percentages from auctions into that account and the multimodal transportation account over FY2023–2037 and beyond. That means those named transportation projects and other highway, bridge, transit, active transportation, ferry, and rail projects are likely to see new, predictable state funding streams while the climate investment account and other climate accounts will be subject to new distribution rules, labor standards on funded projects, and a 75/25 split mechanism for some funds, changing how much money is available for other climate programs and natural climate solutions. The practical consequences affect a few groups: transportation agencies and project sponsors would gain more funding options and a clearer revenue source for big projects; the unnamed department that runs auctions, the Office of Financial Management, and the State Treasurer would take on new administrative duties to run auctions, track and transfer funds, report to the environmental justice council, and police bidder conduct, creating added staffing and compliance costs and legal exposure for auction participants; and market participants would face registration, bid guarantees, purchase/holding limits, confidentiality obligations, and the risk that the department can restrict or cancel participation. Important details are missing from the provided text — notably which specific state department will administer the auctions and the complete amended language for the affected accounts — so the exact magnitude and timing of transfers and downstream effects on other climate programs remain uncertain.