This bill amends RCW 17.10.080 and adds a new section with a legislative finding. It requires the State Noxious Weed Control Board to adopt a state noxious weed list at least annually (or more often) after a hearing, to adopt guidelines by rule for placing plants on the state list, and to include in the rulemaking record written findings for the inclusion of each plant that must be available on request. The guidelines must include criteria for reconsidering proposed new species, including requirements for additional scientific data on invasive or noxious qualities and information about existing positive economic benefits. The guidelines must restrict listing agricultural crops as noxious weeds until the Department of Agriculture convenes a work group as needed that includes affected agricultural producers and at least one board member and the board has received that work group’s recommendations. The bill also permits exceptions in listings, allows any person during a board-established comment period to request inclusion, deletion, or designation changes for any plant, and requires the board to send the state list to county noxious weed control boards, weed districts, and county legislative authorities in counties with inactive boards. This is a procedural change to the existing noxious weed listing law rather than the creation of a new criminal offense or change to penalties. It modifies the board’s rulemaking and listing procedures and imposes participation requirements for a work group before agricultural crops may be listed as noxious. The text identifies affected entities (State Noxious Weed Control Board, Department of Agriculture, county noxious weed boards, weed districts, county legislative authorities, and agricultural producers). The document does not specify definitions for key terms (for example, “affected agricultural producers”), timelines or deadlines for convening the work group or for how long the board must wait for its recommendations, the duration or timing of the public comment period, the detailed content or adoption process for the required rules, or an effective date.

If enacted, the board that makes the state noxious weed list will have to follow new steps that make it harder and slower to put agricultural crops on that list: it must hold hearings, adopt written criteria and findings, and wait for recommendations from a work group that includes affected farmers before listing crops as noxious. For farm operators this likely reduces the short-term risk of having a crop labeled noxious and facing related economic or market impacts, because producers get a formal role in the review process and extra data must be considered. State and local agencies will face more administrative work and likely higher costs or staff time to run hearings, write findings, adopt rules, convene work groups through the Department of Agriculture, and send updated lists to county boards and officials; the public comment period also creates a route for more requests to change listings. Important details are missing from the text provided—there is no timeline for convening the work group, no definition of “affected agricultural producers,” and no effective date—so how long delays will be and exactly who must be included or fund the changes is unclear.