This bill amends RCW 46.61.655 and RCW 70A.200.120 to add and clarify requirements for preventing loads and coverings from dropping, sifting, leaking, or otherwise escaping from vehicles on public highways. It requires coverings on vehicles hauling dirt, sand, pebbles, cobbles, gravel, or other aggregate materials on paved public highways to prevent spillage or hazards, with a six-inch freeboard exception applying until January 1, 2028 and a full covering requirement without that freeboard exception beginning January 1, 2028. The bill also requires vehicle operators to remove deposits of mud, rocks, dirt, sand, gravel, or other debris from vehicle bodies, wheels, tires, and undercarriages before operating on paved public highways, and to immediately clean up and pay costs when glass or other objects fall or escape and create an obstruction, injury risk, or danger to travel. The bill assigns enforcement responsibility to the Washington State Patrol (with local law enforcement enforcement as appropriate) and gives the state patrol rulemaking authority to implement the section. It creates criminal penalties for failing to secure a load: failure to secure a load in the first degree is criminal negligence causing substantial bodily harm and is a gross misdemeanor; failure to secure a load in the second degree is criminal negligence causing damage to another’s property and is a misdemeanor; lesser failures are treated as infractions. Penalties do not apply when spilled materials are forage feed crops. The act exempts the department of transportation, counties, cities, public utility districts, and their contractors when responding to or preparing for inclement weather or emergencies requiring immediate work for public safety, when performing maintenance and preservation operations, or when operating within work zones closed to the public. The bill retains the existing requirement that counties or cities with staffed transfer stations or landfills adopt ordinances requiring vehicle operators transporting solid waste to secure or cover waste and to impose a fee for arrivals without covering or secured waste, but it removes a prior statutory exemption that had excluded vehicles transporting sand, dirt, or gravel from those local ordinance requirements. Fees collected under RCW 70A.200.120 must be deposited with the city or county at least quarterly. The act takes effect October 1, 2025. Some statutory context is not included in the extracted text: the full prior statutory language and surrounding provisions are not shown, no specific fine amounts or fee levels are provided, and broader statutory definitions (for example of “public highway” or “work zone”) and how these amendments interact with other laws are not displayed.

If enacted, drivers and companies hauling dirt, sand, gravel and similar aggregate on paved public roads will generally have to keep loads covered to prevent material from spilling, first with a six-inch freeboard option until January 1, 2028 and then without that exception after that date. Vehicle operators must also remove and not carry mud, rocks, or debris on vehicle parts before driving and must immediately clean up and pay cleanup costs when glass or other objects fall from their vehicle and create a travel hazard. The Washington State Patrol will enforce these rules and make implementing rules, with local police helping as needed, and new criminal penalties range from infractions up to misdemeanors and gross misdemeanors for negligent load failures that damage property or cause substantial harm; public agencies and their contractors are exempt while responding to emergencies, doing maintenance, or working in closed work zones. The groups most affected will be commercial haulers, contractors, and any drivers who transport aggregate or deliver to staffed transfer stations or landfills, because they will likely face new costs for coverings or caps, extra time to secure loads and clean vehicles, and potential financial and criminal liability if materials escape. Counties and cities with staffed transfer stations or landfills must keep or adopt ordinances requiring waste to be covered and can charge fees for uncovered arrivals (fees deposited at least quarterly), and a prior explicit exemption for vehicles carrying sand, dirt, or gravel has been removed so local rules can apply to those loads as well. The bill does not specify fine amounts or detailed enforcement procedures, and the excerpt doesn’t show how these changes interact with other existing laws, so some enforcement and penalty details remain unclear.