The bill adds a new section to chapter 70A.30 RCW that authorizes the Washington State Department of Ecology to adopt California’s emission standards for ocean-going vessels at berth, as found in Titles 13 and 17 of the California Code of Regulations. It requires any rules adopted under this authority to remain consistent with those California standards and with 42 U.S.C. §7507 (Clean Air Act section 177). The statute sets procedural limits: rules may not take effect earlier than January 1, 2028, and the Department may extend the compliance timeline by no more than three years. The bill also includes a severability clause and a clarification that adopting these standards does not alter a vessel’s obligations to maintain required crewing levels or comply with other state or federal public health or environmental requirements. This is a new statutory authorization for rulemaking (a procedural change), not the creation of a new crime or a change to criminal penalties. It gives Ecology discretion to adopt an existing out-of-state regulatory regime for vessels at berth, subject to federal consistency, and it establishes timing constraints for when adopted rules can take effect. The extracted text does not include the actual California regulatory provisions being adopted, does not specify which vessels would be covered, and does not describe enforcement, penalties, monitoring, or detailed compliance requirements beyond the earliest effective date and the maximum three-year extension. Legislative findings about ports, emissions, health impacts, funding, and jobs are included but the underlying data sources and precise figures are not provided in the extracted facts.

If enacted, the Department of Ecology would gain clear authority to copy California’s cruiseand cargo-vessel-at-berth emission limits into Washington rules, which makes it likely that ports and ship operators in Washington—especially the Northwest Seaport Alliance and the Ports of Seattle and Tacoma—would face new requirements to reduce emissions while ships are at berth. That would probably increase near-term costs for ports and carriers for shore-power hookups, vessel retrofits, or cleaner fuels, while creating a definite regulatory timeline (no rules in effect before January 1, 2028, with Ecology allowed to push compliance out up to three more years). The bill also preserves that vessels must still meet existing crewing and other public health or environmental obligations while using shore power. Who is most affected: the Department of Ecology (responsible for writing and aligning rules with California and federal section 177), port authorities, and ocean-going vessel operators who would need to change operations or invest in equipment. The legislative findings note some state funding has been allocated for shore power and project benefits, which may reduce net costs, but the text does not say how much, which specific vessels would be covered, or how compliance, enforcement, and penalties would work, so those practical details and exact financial impacts remain unclear.