The bill would add a new section to chapter 69.30 RCW that restricts fee changes for commercial shellfish-related items. It prohibits the department from increasing fees above the amounts established as of June 30, 2025 for commercial shellfish harvest licenses, shellstock shipper licenses, shucker-packer plant licenses, export certificates, biotoxin testing, and paralytic shellfish poisoning monitoring. It also prohibits the department from imposing any additional licensing or use fees for commercial shellfishers, shellstock shippers, and shucker-packer plants through June 30, 2027. This is a new statutory provision imposing a procedural/financial regulatory change (a fee freeze and a temporary ban on new fees) affecting the department (unspecified in the extracted facts) and commercial shellfish industry actors named above. The extracted facts do not provide the specific fee amounts as of June 30, 2025, the exact new RCW section number, whether the prohibitions extend beyond June 30, 2027, or any enforcement mechanisms, exceptions, or interactions with other laws.

If enacted, commercial shellfish harvesters, shellstock shippers, and shucker-packer plants would see their existing fees capped at whatever levels are in place on June 30, 2025, and no new licensing or use fees could be added for those groups through June 30, 2027. That means those businesses probably will not face higher or additional state fees for licenses, export certificates, biotoxin testing, or paralytic shellfish poisoning monitoring during that period, which lowers their short-term costs and preserves current pricing predictability. The unnamed department that administers these fees would have less flexibility to raise revenue from those specific sources for up to two years, which could limit funding available for biotoxin testing and monitoring unless alternative funding is found; the department may therefore need to reallocate budgets, seek other funding, or reduce services. Important details are missing, including which department is meant, the exact fee amounts as of June 30, 2025, and whether the fee limits extend beyond June 30, 2027, so the longer-term fiscal effects are unclear.