This bill amends RCW 9A.76.020 to replace the phrase "law enforcement officer" with a new, broader definition of "emergency responder" and makes obstructing an emergency responder a gross misdemeanor. It adds a legislative finding and intent and creates multiple new statutory sections applying to city/town agencies, counties, and incident command systems that generally prohibit use of agency or incident command resources to investigate, enforce, or assist federal registration or surveillance programs or other laws or policies that target emergency responders solely on the basis of race, religion, immigration or citizenship status, or national or ethnic origin, with specified exceptions. The bill authorizes the governor and local executives to designate "emergency operation zones" for ongoing emergencies or disasters, limits such designations to 30 days (subject to modification or renewal), and requires public notice on the designating authority’s website. Law enforcement entering or remaining in an emergency operation zone to target an emergency responder must visibly display agency and individual identification linkable to a legal name, disclose the nature and scope of intended activities to the designating authority before entry, obtain and provide copies of judicial warrants when a warrant is required, and refrain from disrupting emergency operations unless acting under a warrant authorizing the disruption. The bill also establishes a statutory affirmative defense that a person was experiencing a mental health crisis at the time of unlawful conduct, to be proved by a preponderance of the evidence. The bill makes certain violations not criminal or civil offenses but subject to reporting to the Washington attorney general, who may notify federal and state officials, publish reports, and notify affected persons and organizations; for reported federal officer violations that disrupted emergency response or resulted in detention or arrest, the attorney general must notify the U.S. Attorney General and the DOJ Office of the Inspector General. The act includes severability and a federal-funds compliance clause. Important text is missing from the provided extract: one exception provision (Sec. 6(3)(c)) is cut off mid-sentence, subsection (1) of a referenced section is not included, the county section’s effective date (if any) is unclear, and other earlier subsections and possible penalty or enforcement details may be omitted.

If enacted, cities, counties, incident command systems, and law enforcement will have to change how they interact with people and with one another during declared emergency operation zones: governors and local executives can set 30‑day zones (renewable) and must post public notice, and officers who enter those zones to target an emergency responder must visibly display agency and an ID number, tell the designating authority what they intend to do beforehand, provide warrants when required, and avoid disrupting emergency response unless acting under a warrant. The bill also broadens who counts as an “emergency responder,” makes obstructing an emergency responder a gross misdemeanor, and creates an affirmative defense for defendants who were in a mental health crisis, so frontline agencies will likely need new policies, training, and administrative steps to comply and to avoid interference with emergency operations. The move away from civil or criminal remedies for many violations toward mandatory reporting to the attorney general and possible federal notifications shifts enforcement toward oversight, public reporting, and reputational consequences rather than routine prosecutions; agencies facing reported violations could see federal investigators or congressional notification. Practical costs and risks include updating policies, training, and monitoring compliance, possible limits on cooperating with certain federal registration or surveillance activities (subject to narrow exceptions and a grandfathering date for preexisting requirements), and legal uncertainty where the bill’s county applicability and some exceptions are truncated in the available text; conflicts with federal funding rules could render parts inoperative for affected agencies.