The bill creates a new, temporary statutory section establishing the "vessel bridge collision work group." This is a procedural/organizational change (a new advisory work group), not a change to criminal penalties. Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) is specified to chair the work group and, together with the Washington Emergency Management Division, to provide staff support and technical assistance. Membership is specified to include state and federal agencies, pilot organizations, and a local government emergency planning representative; consultants may be hired at the work group's direction and as resources allow. The work group must review the impact resistance of Washington bridges that might be vulnerable to collisions by "large commercial vessels" (defined as vessels carrying cargo or passengers for a fee and either over 1,300 international gross tons or over 200 feet in overall length) and provide recommendations to reduce collisions and lessen impacts. Recommendations must include near-, medium-, and long-term actions with estimated costs. The work group must submit a report with relevant recommendations to the Legislature's transportation committees by July 1, 2026. The section expires December 31, 2026. The bill specifies that nonlegislative members who are elected officials or who participate on behalf of an employer, governmental entity, or other organization are not entitled to travel expense reimbursement; reimbursement for other nonlegislative members is governed by chapter 43.03 RCW. Affected entities named include WSDOT, Oregon DOT, Columbia River and Puget Sound pilots, the Washington State Board of Pilotage Commissioners, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the Washington Emergency Management Division. The text provided does not assign an RCW citation to the new section and is silent on member selection or appointment procedures, terms, voting or quorum rules, meeting frequency, precise definitions or timeframes for "near/medium/long-term," budget or funding sources for staff or consultants, conflict-of-interest or alternate-member rules, and detailed report format or broader distribution.

If enacted, the bill creates a temporary, state-chaired work group that must review which Washington bridges might be hurt by collisions with large commercial vessels and deliver near-, medium-, and long-term recommendations with cost estimates to the Legislature by July 1, 2026; the group is staffed by WSDOT and the Washington Emergency Management Division, may hire consultants as resources allow, and sunsets December 31, 2026. Practically, WSDOT will take on chairing and coordination duties and both WSDOT and Emergency Management will need to assign staff time and possibly budget for consultants, while pilots, the Coast Guard, Army Corps, local emergency planners and other listed agencies will be expected to provide expertise and participate. Those agencies and nonlegislative members will face new responsibilities and likely short-term costs for participation and any technical work, but the bill does not identify funding sources or how members are appointed, how meetings are run, or specific timing for the recommended actions, so agencies may have to reallocate existing resources and planners will face uncertainty about scale and scheduling until further implementation details are set.