This bill amends existing law (RCW 43.131.900; 43.131.051; 76.04.516; and 44.28.083) and extends the expiration date for RCW 43.131.010 through 43.131.150 to June 30, 2045, unless further extended. It changes procedural and oversight requirements for the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Committee (JLARC) and the legislative auditor by requiring JLARC to complete program and fiscal reviews of entities scheduled for termination, prepare preliminary reports the calendar year before termination, transmit reports to specified recipients, and accept final-report responses from affected entities and the Office of Financial Management within 60 days. The legislative auditor must develop criteria to ensure review staff resources and costs are proportionate to program budget size and complexity. The bill also revises JLARC’s performance audit planning process, requiring a biennial work plan timed to odd-numbered year sessions, limiting activities to appropriated funds, specifying factors to consider when setting priorities, and authorizing consultation with certain legislative and state executive officials. The bill imposes new reporting and technical review requirements related to forestry and sustainable harvest calculations. It requires the department referenced in RCW 76.04.516 to report to the governor and legislature by December 1 of each even-numbered year on expenditures, unexpended funds, progress on wildfire and forest health strategic plans, and market development for forest residuals and biomass. Before determining the 2025–2034 sustainable harvest calculation, the department must hire independent contractors to increase the intensity of forest inventory sample plots on all department forestlands over the next two biennia and to review forest growth and yield modeling, with involvement from the department’s sustainable harvest calculation technical advisory committee. JLARC must oversee and independently review the methodologies and data used in the department’s sustainable harvest calculation, be a member of the technical advisory committee (along with a JLARC-selected contractor), retain expert contractors for the review, and submit its completed review to the Board of Natural Resources and the legislature before the department’s determination; the Board must decide whether modifications to the sustainable harvest calculation are necessary before approving harvest levels. The bill defines “forest inventory” for purposes of RCW 76.04.516(4) as collection of sample data to estimate forest attributes including standing volume, stored carbon, habitat attributes, age classes, species, growth rates, and carbon sequestration. Affected entities named in the bill include JLARC, the legislative auditor, the Office of Financial Management, the referenced department, the department’s technical advisory committee, the Board of Natural Resources, the governor, the legislature, the state library, local districts (for disbursement recommendations), contractors retained by JLARC and the department, the state auditor, and the director of financial management. The text provided does not explicitly name which state department is referenced in RCW 76.04.516, does not identify the specific entities or termination dates covered by the termination-review provisions, does not specify which biennia are meant by “the next two biennia,” and does not include the full sustainable harvest calculation procedures in RCW 79.10.320. It also notes a prior parenthetical limiting condition related to litigation has been deleted but the surrounding prior text is not included, so the full context of that deletion is unclear.

If enacted, the bill will make the joint legislative audit and review committee (JLARC) and the legislative auditor take on more formal review work and oversight before state programs are terminated and before the department referenced in RCW 76.04.516 sets sustainable harvest levels. That department must hire outside contractors to intensify forest sampling and to review growth and yield models over the next two biennia, produce a biennial report on wildfire and forest health spending by December 1 of even-numbered years, and pause its 2025–2034 harvest calculation until JLARC completes an independent technical review; JLARC must also hire experts, join the department’s technical advisory committee, and deliver its report before the Board of Natural Resources approves any harvest changes. Directly affected parties are JLARC, the legislative auditor, the Office of Financial Management, the department named in RCW 76.04.516, the Board of Natural Resources, contractors, and entities facing statutory termination. The department will likely see increased near-term costs and workloads for contractors and expanded forest inventory work, JLARC will need funding to hire technical reviewers (though audits are limited to appropriated funds), and OFM and affected entities must respond to JLARC reports within 60 days, which may speed or constrain decision timelines. It’s unclear from the provided text which specific department is meant and which entities or exact biennia are targeted, so the timing and full fiscal impacts are uncertain.