CERTIFICATION OF ENROLLMENT
SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 1012
Chapter 172, Laws of 2024
68th Legislature
2024 Regular Session
EXTREME WEATHER RESPONSE GRANT PROGRAM
EFFECTIVE DATE: June 6, 2024
Passed by the House March 5, 2024 CERTIFICATE
Yeas 70 Nays 25
I, Bernard Dean, Chief Clerk of the
House of Representatives of the
LAURIE JINKINS State of Washington, do hereby
Speaker of the House of certify that the attached is
Representatives SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 1012 as
passed by the House of
Representatives and the Senate on
the dates hereon set forth.
Passed by the Senate March 1, 2024
Yeas 31 Nays 18
BERNARD DEAN
DENNY HECK Chief Clerk
President of the Senate
Approved March 19, 2024 9:35 AM FILED
March 19, 2024
Secretary of State
JAY INSLEE State of Washington
Governor of the State of Washington
 SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 1012
AS AMENDED BY THE SENATE
Passed Legislature - 2024 Regular Session
State of Washington 68th Legislature 2023 Regular Session
By House Appropriations (originally sponsored by Representatives
Leavitt, Robertson, Ryu, Simmons, Reed, Ramel, Lekanoff, Pollet,
Callan, Doglio, Orwall, Macri, Timmons, Donaghy, Reeves, Wylie,
Bronoske, Paul, Springer, and Thai)
READ FIRST TIME 02/17/23.
1 AN ACT Relating to responding to extreme weather events; amending
2 RCW 38.52.105; adding a new section to chapter 38.52 RCW; and
3 creating new sections.
4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
5 NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. This act may be known and cited as the
6 extreme weather protection act.
7 NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. (1) The legislature finds that cold storm
8 patterns in the winter months, dangerous heat waves in the summer,
9 and other major weather events present severe public health
10 challenges for individuals and families in Washington.
11 (2) Moreover, the legislature finds that these challenges are not
12 experienced equally across the population. The elderly, people with
13 disabilities, people with low incomes, farmworkers, people
14 experiencing homelessness, and people who historically were zoned to
15 areas that faced increased environmental impacts during weather
16 events are the most at risk for losing their life or being severely
17 impacted by weather-related ailments.
18 (3) The legislature finds that pets are particularly vulnerable
19 to extreme weather conditions, including increased risk of
20 heatstroke-related illness and death, and the inability for pet
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 1 owners to find pet friendly accommodations is a major barrier to
2 accessing heating and cooling centers and other resources and
3 prevents individuals from evacuating to safety.
4 (4) The legislature finds that during the record heatwave of
5 2021, the deadliest weather-related disaster in Washington on record,
6 over 100 people in Washington and nearly 800 people in the northwest
7 region lost their lives as a result of inability to access cooling
8 centers or resources and hundreds more visited emergency rooms with
9 heat-related illnesses.
10 (5) The legislature acknowledges that according to scientists at
11 the Pacific Northwest national laboratory, it is predicted that these
12 severe weather events will happen more frequently because of the
13 changing climate.
14 (6) The legislature finds that the cost to local governments to
15 provide heating and cooling centers are sometimes insurmountable and
16 intends to provide supplemental resources to local jurisdictions and
17 tribal partners where local resources are not available during
18 extreme weather events.
19 NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. A new section is added to chapter 38.52
20 RCW to read as follows:
21 (1) Subject to the availability of amounts appropriated for this
22 specific purpose, the department shall develop and implement an
23 extreme weather response grant program for the purpose of assisting
24 political subdivisions and federally recognized tribes, in geographic
25 areas where vulnerable populations face combined, multiple
26 environmental harms and health impacts as determined by the
27 department, with the costs of responding to community needs during
28 periods of extremely hot or cold weather or in situations of severe
29 poor air quality from wildfire smoke. The department may adopt rules
30 to administer the extreme weather response grant program.
31 (2)(a) The department may award grants to political subdivisions
32 and federally recognized tribes, in geographic areas where vulnerable
33 populations face combined, multiple environmental harms and health
34 impacts as determined by the department, for reimbursement of costs
35 in accordance with subsection (3) of this section if the costs were
36 incurred by communities that have demonstrated a lack of local
37 resources to address community needs and were incurred for the
38 benefit of vulnerable populations. For the purposes of this section,
39 vulnerability refers to the resilience of communities when confronted
p. 2 SHB 1012.SL
 1 by external stresses on human health, such as natural or human-caused
2 disasters. Vulnerable populations include, but are not limited to,
3 individuals with disabilities, individuals without vehicles, older
4 adults, individuals with low incomes or experiencing homelessness,
5 and individuals with limited English proficiency.
6 (b) The department may utilize grant dollars to purchase
7 temporary, movable shelters, which shall remain in the custody of the
8 department to be loaned out to political subdivisions when requested
9 by the executive head to assist with emergency response to extreme
10 weather events.
11 (3) The costs associated with the following activities are
12 eligible for reimbursement under the extreme weather response grant
13 program:
14 (a) Establishing and operating warming and cooling centers,
15 including rental of equipment, purchase of supplies and water,
16 staffing, and other associated costs;
17 (b) Transporting individuals and their pets to warming and
18 cooling centers;
19 (c) Purchasing fans or other supplies needed for cooling of
20 congregate living settings;
21 (d) Providing emergency temporary housing such as rental of a
22 hotel or convention center;
23 (e) Retrofitting or establishing facilities within warming and
24 cooling centers that are pet friendly in order to permit individuals
25 to evacuate with their pets; and
26 (f) Other related activities necessary for life safety during a
27 period of extremely hot or cold weather or in situations of severe
28 poor air quality from wildfire smoke as determined by the department.
29 (4) The department shall, upon request, provide information to
30 political subdivisions and federally recognized tribes regarding the
31 establishment and operation of warming and cooling centers.
32 (5) Grant funding awarded under this section must be used to
33 supplement, not supplant, other federal, state, and local funding for
34 emergency response.
35 (6) For purposes of this section, "political subdivision" means
36 any county, city, or town that has established a local organization
37 for emergency management or any joint local organization for
38 emergency management established pursuant to RCW 38.52.070.
p. 3 SHB 1012.SL
 1 Sec. 4. RCW 38.52.105 and 2022 c 157 s 10 are each amended to
2 read as follows:
3 The disaster response account is created in the state treasury.
4 Moneys may be placed in the account from legislative appropriations
5 and transfers, federal appropriations, or any other lawful source.
6 Moneys in the account may be spent only after appropriation.
7 Expenditures from the account may be used only for support of state
8 agency and local government disaster response and recovery efforts,
9 including the awarding of grants under section 3 of this act,
10 response by state and local government and federally recognized
11 tribes to the novel coronavirus pursuant to the gubernatorial
12 declaration of emergency of February 29, 2020, and to reimburse the
13 workers' compensation funds and self-insured employers under RCW
14 51.16.220. Expenditures from the disaster response account may be
15 used for military department operations and to support wildland fire
16 suppression preparedness, prevention, and restoration activities by
17 state agencies and local governments. The legislature may direct the
18 treasurer to make transfers of moneys in the disaster response
19 account to the state general fund.
Passed by the House March 5, 2024.
Passed by the Senate March 1, 2024.
Approved by the Governor March 19, 2024.
Filed in Office of Secretary of State March 19, 2024.
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Statutes affected:
Original Bill: 38.52.070
Substitute Bill: 38.52.070
Bill as Passed Legislature: 38.52.070
Session Law: 38.52.070