This bill creates a new chapter in Title 46 RCW establishing both a voluntary and a mandatory road usage charge program administered by the department (Washington State Department of Licensing). It imposes a per-mile road usage fee set at 2.6 cents per mile for participants in either program, with that rate automatically adjusted based on percentage changes in the motor vehicle fuel tax (chapter 82.38 RCW). The bill also creates a separate road usage assessment equal to 10 percent of total road usage fees after credits and exemptions for vehicles in the mandatory program; the assessment is explicitly not a motor vehicle license fee and its proceeds must be used for multimodal transportation purposes (rail, bicycle, pedestrian, and public transportation) and deposited in a new road usage assessment account. The per-mile fee proceeds are designated as motor vehicle license fees for highway preservation and maintenance and must be deposited in a newly created road usage charge highway account; moneys in both new accounts may be spent only after appropriation and are limited to the statutory purposes described. The bill phases in program eligibility and required enrollment: voluntary enrollment opens to electric and hybrid vehicles July 1, 2027–June 30, 2029 and expands to certain internal combustion vehicles July 1, 2029–June 30, 2031; mandatory enrollment begins July 1, 2029 for electric and hybrid vehicles and then phases in internal combustion vehicles with specified fuel-economy thresholds through July 1, 2035. Road usage fees and the assessment are payable at annual renewal for vehicles enrolled in or required to be enrolled in the applicable program for the prior 12-month period; the department may adopt rules for periodic payment options and fuel-economy determinations. The bill modifies and adds procedures and related laws: it amends registration, renewal, and report-of-sale requirements to require odometer reporting for enrolled vehicles and to require collection of road usage fees/assessments at transfer or renewal when due; it waives certain electric and hybrid vehicle registration and transportation electrification fees for vehicles enrolled in the voluntary program for the prior 12 months and caps voluntary EV payments at no more than the combined amount of those waived fees; it limits collection and disclosure of personally identifying or specific location data in program reporting absent express owner consent and requires privacy and security safeguards; and it creates the road usage charge highway and road usage assessment accounts in state treasury, amends state treasury earnings distribution law, and directs multiple studies, reports, and timelines for department rulemaking and legislative oversight. Important text is missing or truncated in the provided material: the full language of sections referenced (including sections 2, 3, 6, 23, 24, and the new chapter number), the complete description of some account distributions and the road usage assessment’s use and distribution, certain fee distribution details (some fee allocations are cut off), and other procedural rule specifics. Those missing sections are necessary to fully understand implementation details and administrative mechanics.

If enacted, Washington would start charging drivers by the mile: a 2.6¢ per-mile fee for participants in both a voluntary program (starting with electric and hybrid vehicles in 2027 and later expanding) and a staggered mandatory program for high‑fuel‑efficiency internal combustion vehicles through 2035. Vehicle owners who must or choose to enroll will owe the per‑mile fee at renewal (with a 200‑mile annual deduction and a credit for the equivalent motor fuel tax), and owners of electric and hybrid vehicles can avoid certain existing registration and electrification fees if they enrolled in the voluntary program for the prior year; a separate 10% road usage assessment on collected fees will fund rail, bike, pedestrian, and public transit projects. The Department (and county auditors/agents) will have new duties to collect fees, require odometer reporting or approved automated reporting, certify private reporting vendors (whose customer fees the state won’t cover), run outreach and studies, and receive reimbursements for administrative costs from the new accounts, while privacy protections limit collection and use of specific location data unless a vehicle owner consents. Who feels this most: motorists of electric, hybrid, and high‑MPG vehicles will see a new recurring per‑mile charge (and in the mandatory program an added assessment) affecting their annual costs; state agencies (department of licensing functions, treasurer, auditor, county auditors) will take on collection, rulemaking, reporting, and distribution responsibilities and will be reimbursed from the accounts; and transit and active‑transportation providers stand to receive new dedicated assessment funding. Key implementation details are missing from the provided text—such as full account distribution formulas, certain rulemaking specifics, and enforcement mechanics—so the exact timing, payment options, and how credits/deductions are calculated in practice remain uncertain.