This bill amends existing law governing automated traffic safety cameras (amending RCW 46.63.220) and establishes new procedural, reporting, revenue, privacy, and enforcement rules for city and county camera programs. Local legislative authorities must adopt ordinances to authorize camera use (pre‑July 24, 2005 users are subject to the restrictions but need not reauthorize), prepare location analyses including equity considerations and demonstrated need before adding or relocating cameras, post signage at least 30 days before activation (with later signs following MUTCD specs), and restrict camera recordings to vehicle and license plate images during an infraction (no driver or passenger faces), with limits on data use, retention, and access by authorized local employees only. Cameras may not be used on on‑ramps to limited access facilities; cities may enforce on state highways classified as city streets and must notify the Department of Transportation; transit vehicles with bus‑stop enforcement cameras must display rear signage. The bill changes procedures and evidentiary rules for infractions: notices must be mailed within 14 days, photographic certificates are prima facie evidence, registered owners are presumptively responsible unless rebutted under referenced RCWs, and rental car businesses have an 18‑day written‑notice process to identify renters or assert a stolen‑vehicle defense. Infractions issued by cameras are not part of a registered owner’s driving record and are processed similarly to parking infractions under specified statutes. The monetary penalty for a camera infraction is capped at $145 (subject to inflation adjustment every five years beginning January 1, 2029) and may be doubled for school speed zone violations. Jurisdictions may adopt online ability‑to‑pay calculators and must grant a 50% penalty reduction to those receiving public assistance under Title 74 RCW or participating in WIC for a first camera violation and for subsequent violations issued within 21 days; Medicaid eligibility is not a qualifying criterion. The bill imposes detailed revenue and audit rules: vendor compensation may not be based on fines or revenues and cities/counties must perform triennial performance audits if contracts lack image quality standards. Program revenue may generally only fund traffic safety activities (including complete streets, speed‑reduction infrastructure, active transportation and disability access improvements) and program administration/processing. For jurisdictions with population 10,000 or more, revenues used for traffic safety activities must include investments in census tracts in the lowest income quartile and areas with above‑average injury crash rates in proportion to the population share; smaller jurisdictions must use the Department of Health’s environmental health disparities map to inform spending. Cameras first placed after June 6, 2024 must deposit 25% of noninterest infraction revenue in excess of program costs into the Cooper Jones active transportation safety account; one provision (subsection (e)) also requires that 50% of all camera infraction revenue be deposited in the state motor vehicle fund, but the relationship between the Cooper Jones deposit and the 50% deposit is unclear from the provided text. Cities/counties must post annual reports (beginning January 1, 2026 reports must include the percentage of revenues used for program costs and explain uses exceeding costs), and the Washington Traffic Safety Commission must begin submitting an aggregated report to the legislature and posting it by July 1, 2026 with specified before/after data where practicable. The provided material is incomplete: later subsections (including subsection (17) referenced for renter identification and additional provisions) and the remainder of subsection (13)(c) are missing from the extracted text, so any provisions contained there are not summarized.

If enacted, cities and counties that use or want to use automated traffic cameras will face new planning, public notice, privacy, reporting, and spending rules that will change how these programs are run and paid for. Local governments must do written location analyses, post signs 30 days before activation, mail timely notices, protect image privacy, and file annual reports (by 2026 reports must show what share of revenue covered program costs). Revenue from camera fines can largely only be spent on traffic safety projects and program administration, and larger jurisdictions must direct a proportionate share of safety investments to the lowest-income, high-injury neighborhoods; vendors cannot be paid based on fine revenue and cities must audit vendors if contracts lack image quality controls. Jurisdictions with camera programs before January 1, 2024 can generally keep their prior revenue rules but may add a limited number of locations. Vehicle owners and businesses will see practical changes: infractions from cameras are capped at $145 (double in school zones), are treated like parking tickets (not on driving records), and some low-income public assistance or WIC recipients can get a 50% penalty reduction for a qualifying first violation. Rental car companies must respond to a written notice within 18 days with driver information or face penalties. Newer camera sites placed after June 6, 2024 must send a portion of net revenues to a state active-transportation account, and half of camera revenue is also directed to the state motor vehicle fund; how those two deposits interact is unclear from the provided text, and key procedural details about identifying renters and other referenced subsections are missing.