This bill amends RCW 80.50.060 (as amended by 2023 c 229 s 4) and modifies existing site certification procedures under that chapter. It expands the types of facilities that may elect to be certified (including certain refined biofuel facilities, alternative energy resource facilities, specified electrical transmission lines, clean energy manufacturing, and storage facilities) and extends the council’s authorities and chapter provisions to those facilities. It also changes when transmission facilities trigger the chapter (adding higher-voltage, multi-county or multi-utility-service-area lines and lines in national interest electric transmission corridors), defines “modification” for transmission facilities with a list of excluded minor works, and exempts ordinary maintenance that does not increase capacity or dimensions beyond thresholds in RCW 80.50.020. The bill imposes detailed procedural application requirements. Applicants must file council-prescribed forms and technical studies and provide extensive water-related information, including descriptions of intakes and conveyance, evaluation of air cooling alternatives and costs, water conservation measures, reports identifying relevant water rights or change applications filed with the Department of Ecology (with specific quantity and seasonal detail and Department of Fish and Wildlife comments), proposed water supply mitigation, and consideration of reclaimed water and reuse. For proposals using surface or groundwater the applicant must describe sources and amounts and either submit a water use authorization from a municipal supplier, a Department of Ecology permit or certificate sufficient for needs (with proof a permit issued five or more years earlier remains in good standing or that a certificate has not been relinquished), or show that applications for new withdrawals or changes/transfers have been filed with Ecology before submitting the site certification application. The council chair must notify affected county and city legislative bodies, the Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation (DAHP), and potentially affected federally recognized tribes when an application is received. The council must provide for local government participation in siting review and compliance monitoring, consult with federally recognized tribes (offering government-to-government consultation and including a summary of that process in the report to the governor consistent with RCW 42.56.300), and DAHP is directed to coordinate with tribes and applicants to assess impacts to tribal cultural and archaeological sites. The text provided does not include the specific numeric thresholds from RCW 80.50.020, the statutory name of “the council,” whether other sections are amended, or any effective date; it is therefore unclear whether other provisions or a separate, explicit statutory “proof of adequate water supply” standard appear elsewhere in the bill.

If enacted, the bill brings a wider set of energy projects — including smaller refined biofuel plants, certain clean energy manufacturers and storage sites, additional transmission lines, and other listed facilities — under the state siting review, and it makes detailed water-supply information and steps to secure water rights a required part of the certification application. Project sponsors will need to show specific water sources and amounts, evaluate alternatives like air cooling and reclaimed water, describe conservation and mitigation, and either hold or have applied for the necessary municipal contracts or Department of Ecology permits before or with their application; the council must also notify and work with local governments and consult federally recognized tribes and historic preservation officials during review. The people most affected are developers of the newly covered facilities and owners of large transmission projects, who will likely face higher up-front study, permitting and legal costs, longer lead times, and greater risk of delay if water supplies or rights are not already secured; state agencies, counties, cities, tribes, and the departments of Ecology, Fish and Wildlife, and Archaeology and Historic Preservation will see increased review and consultation duties. Key details needed to judge full impact are missing from the excerpt — the exact numeric thresholds from RCW 80.50.020, whether the application requirements amount to an absolute “proof” standard for water supply, the council’s formal name, and any effective date are not provided.