This act creates a Washington wildfire prevention and protection council and a wildfire prevention and protection fund, and it amends and reenacts provisions governing state treasury earnings. The council is given authority to oversee the fund, select and direct a fund administrator, set and collect a one-time contribution from electrical companies to seed the fund, and set annual contributions (a wildfire surcharge) for participating electric utilities. Investor-owned electrical companies are required to participate and pay the one-time contribution; consumer‑owned utilities may elect to participate. Participating utilities must comply with approved wildfire mitigation plans, maintain commercially reasonable wildfire insurance, and may recover their annual contributions from customers through a surcharge, with low‑income customers eligible for discounted treatment under RCW 80.28.068. The fund and its administration are established as a treasury account to reimburse participating utilities for third‑party damages from a "covered wildfire" caused by utility negligence, but only for wildfire losses that occurred after July 1, 2021 and only for amounts exceeding a damages threshold established by the council. Payment of claims is conditional on available funds and is not an entitlement; administrative expenses require appropriation but claim payments do not. The administrator (a state employee whose salary is set by the council) manages receipts and payments, may buy insurance or hire services to maximize claims‑paying resources, and may require repayment of disbursed funds if a final court finding shows gross negligence, willfulness, or intentionality. The statute states the state has no obligation to pay claims beyond funds available and limits liability for the council and state actors for actions taken under the chapter. Investment earnings of the fund are to be transferred at least annually to the wildfire response, forest restoration, and community resilience account (RCW 76.04.511). The act also reenacts and amends RCW 43.84.092 to establish a treasury income account that receives earnings from investing surplus treasury balances, prescribes monthly distribution procedures, and prioritizes transfers required by the federal Cash Management Improvement Act and payments for purchased banking services before earnings distribution; a long list of state accounts (including the new wildfire prevention and protection account) will receive proportionate shares of those earnings. RCW 76.04.185 is amended to require the (unnamed) department, in consultation with Commerce’s Energy Resilience and Emergency Management Office, to produce a recommended wildfire mitigation plan format and elements with stakeholder review and deadlines; RCW 80.28.445 is amended to require investor‑owned electrical companies to file or update wildfire mitigation plans after July 27, 2025 (and at least every three years), with the utilities and transportation commission required to hold public workshops/hearings and approve, reject, or condition plans within set timeframes. Important operational details are not present in the extracted text: the full definition and calculation of the damages threshold, the identity of the entity referred to as "the commission" that selects the administrator, and many specific procedures for administrator selection, claim submission, contribution calculations, and the complete lists or subsections referenced are incomplete or truncated in the provided excerpts.

If enacted, the law creates a new Washington wildfire prevention and protection council and a state-managed fund that reimburses participating electric utilities for third‑party damages from wildfires caused by a utility’s negligence that occur after July 1, 2021, but only for losses above a council‑set damages threshold and only to the extent money is available. Investor‑owned electrical companies must join and pay a one‑time contribution plus annual contributions set by the council; consumer‑owned utilities may opt in and can face lower rates. Participating utilities must follow approved wildfire mitigation plans and keep commercially reasonable insurance to stay eligible for reimbursements, may recover their annual payments through a customer surcharge (with low‑income discounts required), and can be required to repay fund disbursements if a court later finds gross negligence. The practical impacts fall heaviest on investor‑owned utilities—new up‑front and recurring costs, new plan filing and compliance duties, and tighter risk of repayment or loss of coverage if they fail mitigation or insurance requirements—but they can pass much of the annual cost to customers subject to discount rules. Consumer‑owned utilities gain an option to access reimbursements under conditions set by the council. The Department of Natural Resources will take on secretarial and records custody duties for the council, and the state treasurer and OFM will manage new treasury income and wildfire accounts and related monthly or annual transfers. Key operational details that would determine exact costs and eligibility—how the council calculates the one‑time and annual contributions, the damages thresholds, the administrator selection process, and precise claim procedures—are not provided in the extracted text, so the size of charges, timing of reimbursements, and practical coverage limits remain uncertain.