This bill amends RCW 64.16.005 and adds new sections to chapter 64.16 RCW to prohibit any person or entity designated as a "foreign adversary" (as defined by reference to 15 C.F.R. §7.4) from acquiring any interest in agricultural land in Washington on or after July 1, 2025. Acquisitions that violate the prohibition are declared void and title to the land vests in the state as of the date of the purported acquisition without payment by the state; the foreign adversary may not seek restitution of purchase price or other payments. The bill also specifies that liens that attached during the foreign adversary’s purported acquisition or ownership remain valid against the interest while held by the state but may not be foreclosed during state ownership and the state is not bound by the underlying agreement creating the lien. If a foreign adversary later transfers the interest to a nonforeign-adversary purchaser, title vests in that subsequent purchaser and is valid as if the prior acquisition had not occurred. The act creates new civil property and procedural rules (not a criminal offense): it establishes a new ownership prohibition, a rule voiding improper transfers and vesting title in the state, limitations on restitution and lien enforcement, and procedures allowing counties, cities, local attorneys, the state attorney general, or any nonforeign-adversary party to the void transaction or subsequent holder to file superior-court actions in the county where the property is located to eject the foreign adversary, quiet title, or seek other relief. The bill requires the Washington Department of Agriculture to compile and publish an annual report, using federal AFIDA reports (7 U.S.C. §3501 et seq.) and other information it deems appropriate, with an inaugural report due by July 1, 2025 and subsequent reports each July 1. The prohibition must be applied consistently with any applicable U.S. treaty, and the act takes effect immediately as an emergency measure. Definitions in the bill include a detailed definition of "agricultural land" (including forestry production and specified farming and timber uses, with certain small land exceptions), "department" (Washington Department of Agriculture), "foreign adversary" (by federal Commerce designation), and "interest in agricultural land" (covering direct and indirect rights but excluding interests that do not permit possession or control of operations). The text references the standard industrial classification manual (1987) and excludes specific industry numbers, but that manual and the excluded entries are not reproduced here. The chunk does not include legislative history, implementing rules or procedures the department or courts must use, nor the process the department will follow to obtain or verify discretionary information for its reports.

If enacted, the law would remove the ability of any person or government labeled a "foreign adversary" by the U.S. Commerce Department to hold or acquire agricultural land in Washington after July 1, 2025, and any such transactions would be treated as if they never gave the buyer title — title would instead vest in the state without payment. That means sellers who transferred land to a designated foreign adversary risk losing both the land and any purchase price recovery, lenders could be left with liens that remain attached but cannot be foreclosed while the state holds the property, and a later sale from a foreign adversary to a nonforeign buyer would validate the nonforeign purchaser’s title as if the foreign ownership had not occurred. The Washington Department of Agriculture will have to produce yearly reports on foreign-held agricultural land by July 1, 2025, and each July 1 after, which will require staff time and may lead to policy recommendations; counties, cities, local attorneys and the state Attorney General are given standing to sue to eject foreign adversaries or quiet title, generating potential legal work and costs for local governments and the courts. Key practical details are left open in the text — for example, how the state will identify affected parcels in practice, how it will manage or sell land it acquires, and how the Department will verify discretionary information for its reports — so implementation procedures and fiscal impacts are uncertain.