This bill adds a new section to chapter 47.60 RCW directing the Washington State Department of Transportation to contract for "clean diesel" ferry vessels sized to carry between 125 and 140 vehicles and no more than 1,200 passengers, with contracts for at least three vessels and guaranteed delivery on or before December 31, 2032. It authorizes multiple procurement approaches (design-build, design-bid-build, or lease-with-option-to-buy subject to governor and legislative committee approval and available appropriations), requires industry input before issuing RFPs, prohibits limiting the means of transportation for vessel delivery voyages, requires the department to report known delivery issues to the governor and legislative transportation committees within three months of the section’s effective date, and mandates a bid credit equal to 13 percent of the bid price (adjusted for the proportion of in-state construction) for vessels built in Washington. The act amends RCW 47.56.030 and related procurement law to assign the department responsibility for planning, design, construction, operation, and maintenance of toll bridges and other toll facilities including Washington State Ferries while the Transportation Commission sets tolls. It directs statewide toll collection standards and to avoid toll booths where practicable, allows no-bid emergency repair or removal contracts for ferries and single-source dry-docking contracts of up to two years when only one legitimate bidder exists, and modifies procurement procedures to permit competitive sealed proposals (RFPs) with specified evaluation factors. For propulsion systems that include an engine, RFPs must require a life-cycle cost analysis including fuel-efficiency and give life-cycle cost at least equal weight to initial price. The bill also contains broader procurement and oversight changes: except as provided in the act, the department must contract for five or more hybrid diesel-electric ferries up to 160 vehicles under specified procedures; new auto-ferry procurements must follow a three-phase RFP process with an independent owner's representative for the first vessel of a new class; third-party experts must perform project quality oversight and report semiannually to legislative transportation committees and OFM; and contractors must meet apprenticeship, water pollution, federal DBE, and state small-business goals. Certain new ferry contracts are exempted from RCW 47.60.810 through 47.60.824. The act creates a new statutory section and amends existing statutes, making procedural changes to ferry and toll facility procurement and oversight rather than creating new crimes or penalties. The extracted materials show timing provisions: most of the act takes effect immediately, sections 3 and 8 take effect July 1, 2026, and sections 2 and 7 expire July 1, 2026. Some text is incomplete or duplicated in the extracts, and full texts of referenced RCW sections and the bill’s precise effective/expiration and emergency language are not provided here.

If enacted, the Department of Transportation will be pushed to acquire at least three new "clean diesel" ferries sized for 125–140 cars and up to 1,200 passengers with a firm delivery deadline of December 31, 2032, using flexible procurement methods (including design-build, design-bid-build, or a lease-with-option if approved and funded). To speed delivery the department can use multiple contracting approaches, must seek shipyard input before RFPs, may offer incentives for designs that cut crew or life-cycle costs, and must report known delivery risks to the governor and legislative transportation committees within three months; it also gains authority for emergency no-bid repairs and limited single-source dry-docking contracts. The state will favor Washington shipyards by applying a 13 percent in-state bid credit (scaled to the share of work done in-state), require contractors to meet apprenticeship, pollution control, DBE, and small-business goals, and add independent and third-party oversight with semiannual reporting, all of which increases scrutiny and likely raises up-front contracting and oversight costs while shifting more economic benefit and work toward in-state builders. The groups most affected are Washington shipyards (more likely to win work and capture local economic benefits), out-of-state shipyards (less competitive because of the in-state credit and added oversight/transport considerations), the DOT and Washington State Ferries (greater procurement responsibilities, oversight duties, and reporting obligations), and the governor/legislative committees (approval role if lease options are used). Some timing and scope details remain unclear in the excerpts provided—there are duplicated or incomplete amendments to toll-authority language and no precise definition of "clean diesel"—so how those ambiguities affect costs, contract terms, and implementation is uncertain. Sections of the act have different effective and expiration dates (certain parts take effect immediately, sections 3 and 8 take effect July 1, 2026, and sections 2 and 7 expire July 1, 2026), which could limit or time-box some of these changes.