The bill adds two new sections (labeled Sec. 1 and Sec. 2) to chapter 43.21A RCW and creates a new procedural requirement for a joint, comprehensive statewide assessment of current maintenance and upgrade needs for water and sewer systems. The assessment must be done by "the department" together with the department of health, and its stated purposes are to prevent pollution, protect public health, and support communities and the economy. The assessment may include a list of systems needing critical upgrades or maintenance, an analysis of the costs to upgrade and maintain those systems, and options for program design and potential funding strategies. The departments are authorized to consult with and solicit data from state agencies, boards and commissions, cities, counties, local boards of health, public and private water and sewer utilities, and conservation districts, and may review relevant projects from other states (the text cites the mid-county sewer project in Multnomah County as an example). The results must be reported to the governor and the "appropriate committees" by June 30, 2027. The bill was read for the first time on 02/21/25 during the 2025 Regular Session. The text does not identify which specific agency "the department" denotes, does not name the "appropriate committees" that will receive the report, and includes no funding, appropriation, or staffing details for carrying out the assessment.

If enacted, the bill will require the department of health and another state "department" (not specified in the text) to jointly do a statewide assessment of which water and sewer systems need critical maintenance or upgrades, how much those upgrades would cost, and what program and funding options could address the needs. The agencies can ask for information from state boards, cities, counties, local health boards, public and private utilities, and conservation districts, may look at projects in other states for ideas, and must deliver their findings to the governor and appropriate legislative committees by June 30, 2027. The groups most affected are the two state agencies charged with the assessment and the local governments and utilities that will likely be asked to supply data; those state agencies will need to allocate staff time and effort to complete the work, and local entities may face additional information requests. The bill does not provide funding, name the unspecified department, or identify which legislative committees will get the report, so the scale, timeline risk, and whether the assessment will be fully resourced or lead to concrete funding changes remain unclear.