This bill amends RCW 36.70A.130 to require continuing legislative review and evaluation of comprehensive land use plans and development regulations by counties and cities, and it defines "legislative action" for that review. It requires reviews to consider critical area ordinances and, for jurisdictions planning under RCW 36.70A.040, analysis of population allocations from the Office of Financial Management. Jurisdictions must maintain a public participation program that limits consideration of plan updates to no more than once per year except for specified exceptions (for example initial subarea plans with environmental review, shoreline master program actions, certain capital facilities amendments, and planned-action adoptions). Very small cities may opt out of a full review if they meet four specified criteria (including population under 500, growth limits, distance from large cities, and notice to the department), but must still update critical areas, capital facilities, and transportation elements. The amendment establishes specific initial and ongoing review deadlines for groups of counties and the cities within them (initial deadlines between June 30, 2015 and June 30, 2018; ongoing periodic deadlines between December 31, 2024 and June 30, 2027 with ten-year cycles thereafter for most counties). It also allows certain small jurisdictions additional time to comply: a county with population under 50,000 and limited recent growth may comply within 24 months after the deadline, and a city with population no more than 5,000 and limited recent growth may likewise comply within 24 months after the applicable deadline. The department must review population growth at least three years before periodic update dates and notify cities of eligibility for partial review. The bill ties financial assistance and grant preferences to compliance: only counties and cities that meet the section’s deadlines or demonstrate substantial progress (including jurisdictions fewer than 12 months out of compliance) may receive certain grants, loans, or loan preferences. State agencies are encouraged to provide technical assistance. Certain jurisdictions must submit an implementation progress report five years after their review; the department will adopt guidelines for those reports. If a report shows required actions were not implemented, the jurisdiction must identify needed actions, adopt a work plan, and complete implementation within two years. A climate change and resiliency element must be incorporated into the transportation element and comprehensive plan in specified jurisdictions if funds are appropriated and distributed by December 31, 2027, per referenced provisions. The amendment also sets detailed conditions under which a county may revise urban growth area boundaries without increasing total UGA area (for example no increase in total surface area, exclusions of long-term resource lands, limits on critical areas added, suitability and provisioned facilities, contiguous boundaries, and ensuring removed areas are not urban). It limits when counties that made the election under RCW 36.70A.710(1) may change regulations affecting agricultural activities in participating watersheds to five specific circumstances and requires review beginning ten years after funding receipt, subject to watershed benchmark outcomes. The extracted text does not name "the department," omits parts of subsection (6) (ending mid-sentence), and does not include the full content of subsections (8) and (10), so those specific provisions and any additional details they contain are uncertain from the provided material.

If enacted, local governments will face required, periodic reviews of comprehensive plans and development regulations on a county-by-county schedule, with earlier or later deadlines depending on the county group; very small towns that meet narrow population and growth tests can avoid a full review but still must update critical area rules and capital facilities and transportation elements. The law will tie state grant and loan eligibility and grant preference to meeting the deadlines or showing substantial progress, require implementation progress reports five years after plan updates (covering housing, permit timelines, and greenhouse-gas/vehicle miles traveled actions), and force jurisdictions that have not implemented required actions to adopt a work plan and finish the work within two years. Those most affected are county and city governments (including those that designate urban growth areas), local watershed groups where special rules apply, and anyone on notice lists for plan updates; affected jurisdictions will likely need more staff time, legal and environmental review costs, and possible capital planning or funding commitments, while facing the risk of losing state grants or loan preferences if they don’t comply. The text provided leaves key details unclear — the specific agency named as “the department” is not identified here, and portions referenced in subsections (6), (8), and (10) and the end of one sentence are missing, so some deadlines, exceptions, and conditions cannot be fully determined from these excerpts.