This bill creates a new statutory framework in Title 68 RCW for privately owned "family burial grounds" by adding a new chapter (shown as chapter 68.--RCW in the extracts) and by adding and amending multiple existing RCW sections. It defines "family burial ground" and "interment," allows a natural person to designate land they own for interment of human remains (with required written consent of all co-owners if co-owned by two or more natural persons and an explicit prohibition on establishing a family burial ground on property co-owned by a mix of natural persons and legal entities), and exempts such family burial grounds from certain cemetery statutes. The bill sets site limitations (setbacks from parcel boundaries, critical areas, rights-of-way, wells and springs, and a maximum size of 10% of the parcel), requires construction and permitting standards for mausoleums and columbaria (class A fireproof construction and local permits/public health compliance), and prohibits owners from selling plots or charging fees for interment. The bill creates new procedural duties and enforcement rules. Property owners must report each interment to the Washington State Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation and record it with the county auditor within 30 days. Unlawful construction of a mausoleum or columbarium on a family burial ground is made a civil infraction with a $500 monetary penalty and may be enforced by local law enforcement or local public health officials; local governments must prescribe procedures to ensure owners remediate violations at their own expense. It prescribes procedures for relocating human remains from family burial grounds, requiring a written consent order among surviving relatives in a specified priority or, if consent cannot be obtained, a petition to superior court; the owner must obtain a disinterment/reinterment permit from the department and bear all costs. Cities and counties may enact ordinances to regulate or prohibit establishment or extension of family burial grounds and may empower local planning commissions to review proposals. The bill also amends several statutes: it amends definitions for mausoleum and columbarium (RCW 68.04.060, 68.04.080), exempts family burial grounds from chapters RCW 68.05.400 and 68.20.010/140 and adds an exemption in chapter 68.28 for mausoleums/columbaria on family burial grounds, clarifies that disposition of human remains outside a cemetery or family burial ground is a misdemeanor while also allowing certain disposition methods on private property with owner consent or on public lands with agency approval (RCW 68.50.130), and removes family burial grounds from the tax exemption for public burying grounds (RCW 84.36.020). The seller disclosure statute (RCW 64.06.020) is reenacted and amended to require delivery of a disclosure statement (generally within five business days after mutual acceptance unless agreed otherwise), give buyers three business days to rescind after delivery, and to include questions about family burial grounds among other property condition topics (water, sewer, structural, systems, environmental, HOAs). The Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation must adopt rules to issue permits for disinterment and reinterment. Section 20 of the act is shown to take effect January 1, 2027. Several important details are not present in the provided extracts: the actual new chapter number in Title 68 (the text repeatedly shows 68.--RCW), the full text of the new chapter created in section 22, the complete content of some amended RCW sections (for example section 12 amending RCW 68.04.100 is cut off), and any other effective dates or provisions outside the extracted sections.

If enacted, the bill makes it possible for private landowners to set aside part of their property as a family burial ground but adds real-world limits and new chores: the burial area must meet specific setbacks, be no more than 10% of the parcel, cannot be used to sell plots or charge for interments, and any mausoleum or columbarium must meet fireproof construction standards and local permitting. Property owners who use land this way would have to report each interment to the state archaeology and historic preservation department and record it with the county auditor within 30 days, pay for any removals, and face a $500 civil penalty if they build prohibited interment structures without following the rules; county coroners, sheriffs, local health officials, and law enforcement will have new verification, permitting, and enforcement roles. The practical impacts fall mostly on private landowners who want family burials, nearby home buyers and sellers (sellers must disclose the burial ground and buyers have a three-business-day rescission right), the Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation (must adopt rules and issue disinterment/reinterment permits), county auditors (must record interments), and local governments (can further regulate or ban family burial grounds and must set remediation procedures). The bill also removes eligibility for a cemetery tax exemption for these family grounds. Important implementation details are missing from the extracted text—most notably the full new chapter text and timing/standards for the department’s rulemaking—so the scope of some duties and any administrative costs or timelines remain uncertain.