CERTIFICATION OF ENROLLMENT
SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 1703
Chapter 203, Laws of 2022
67th Legislature
2022 Regular Session
911 EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM—VARIOUS PROVISIONS
EFFECTIVE DATE: June 9, 2022
Passed by the House March 7, 2022 CERTIFICATE
Yeas 97 Nays 1
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 1703 as
passed by the House of
Representatives and the Senate on
the dates hereon set forth.
Passed by the Senate February 25,
2022
Yeas 49 Nays 0 BERNARD DEAN
Chief Clerk
DENNY HECK
President of the Senate
Approved March 30, 2022 2:21 PM FILED
March 31, 2022
Secretary of State
JAY INSLEE State of Washington
Governor of the State of Washington
 SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 1703
AS AMENDED BY THE SENATE
Passed Legislature - 2022 Regular Session
State of Washington 67th Legislature 2022 Regular Session
By House Appropriations (originally sponsored by Representatives
Orwall, Boehnke, Ryu, Paul, Dolan, Graham, Goodman, Griffey, Leavitt,
Harris-Talley, and Frame; by request of Military Department)
READ FIRST TIME 02/01/22.
1 AN ACT Relating to the modernization of the statewide 911
2 emergency communications system; amending RCW 38.52.030, 38.52.440,
3 38.52.500, 38.52.501, 38.52.505, 38.52.510, 38.52.520, 38.52.525,
4 38.52.532, 38.52.535, 38.52.540, 38.52.545, 38.52.550, 38.52.561,
5 38.52.575, 82.14B.010, 82.14B.020, 82.14B.030, 82.14B.040,
6 82.14B.042, 82.14B.050, 82.14B.060, 82.14B.061, 82.14B.063,
7 82.14B.065, 82.14B.150, 82.14B.200, and 82.14B.210; reenacting and
8 amending RCW 38.52.010; adding a new section to chapter 38.52 RCW;
9 creating a new section; and repealing RCW 38.52.530.
10 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
11 NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The ongoing modernization of the statewide
12 911 emergency communications system is essential to public safety.
13 Implementing new technologies with the modernization to next
14 generation 911 requires clarifying changes to update requirements and
15 definitions currently in statute.
16 Sec. 2. RCW 38.52.010 and 2019 c 471 s 2 and 2019 c 207 s 1 are
17 each reenacted and amended to read as follows:
18 As used in this chapter:
19 (1) "911 emergency communications system" means a public 911
20 communications system consisting of a network, database, and on-
p. 1 SHB 1703.SL
 1 premises equipment that is accessed by dialing or accessing 911 and
2 that enables reporting police, fire, medical, or other emergency
3 situations to a public safety answering point. The system includes
4 the capability to selectively route incoming 911 voice and data to
5 the appropriate public safety answering point that operates in a
6 defined 911 service area and the capability to automatically display
7 the name, location, and telephone number of incoming 911 voice and
8 data at the appropriate public safety answering point.
9 (2) "Automatic location identification" means information about a
10 caller's location that is part of or associated with an enhanced or
11 next generation 911 emergency communications system as defined in
12 this section and RCW 82.14B.020 and intended for the purpose of
13 display at a public safety answering point with incoming 911 voice or
14 data, or both.
15 (3) "Automatic number identification" means a method for uniquely
16 associating a communication device that has accessed 911 with the
17 incoming 911 voice or data, or both, and intended for the purpose of
18 display at a public safety answering point.
19 (4) "Baseline level of 911 service" means access to 911 dialing
20 from all communication devices with service from a telecommunications
21 provider within a county's jurisdiction so that incoming 911 voice
22 and data communication is answered, received, and displayed on 911
23 equipment at a public safety answering point designated by the
24 county.
25 (5) "Broadcaster" means a person or entity that holds a license
26 issued by the federal communications commission under 47 C.F.R. Part
27 73, 74, 76, or 78.
28 (((2))) (6)(a) "Catastrophic incident" means any natural or
29 human-caused incident, including terrorism and enemy attack, that
30 results in extraordinary levels of mass casualties, damage, or
31 disruption severely affecting the population, infrastructure,
32 environment, economy, or government functions.
33 (b) "Catastrophic incident" does not include an event resulting
34 from individuals exercising their rights, under the first amendment,
35 of freedom of speech, and of the people to peaceably assemble.
36 (((3))) (7) "Communication plan," as used in RCW 38.52.070, means
37 a section in a local comprehensive emergency management plan that
38 addresses emergency notification of life safety information.
39 (((4))) (8) "Continuity of government planning" means the
40 internal effort of all levels and branches of government to provide
p. 2 SHB 1703.SL
 1 that the capability exists to continue essential functions and
2 services following a catastrophic incident. These efforts include,
3 but are not limited to, providing for: (a) Orderly succession and
4 appropriate changes of leadership whether appointed or elected; (b)
5 filling vacancies; (c) interoperability communications; and (d)
6 processes and procedures to reconvene government following periods of
7 disruption that may be caused by a catastrophic incident. Continuity
8 of government planning is intended to preserve the constitutional and
9 statutory authority of elected officials at the state and local level
10 and provide for the continued performance of essential functions and
11 services by each level and branch of government.
12 (((5))) (9) "Continuity of operations planning" means the
13 internal effort of an organization to provide that the capability
14 exists to continue essential functions and services in response to a
15 comprehensive array of potential emergencies or disasters.
16 (((6))) (10) "Department" means the state military department.
17 (((7))) (11) "Director" means the adjutant general.
18 (((8))) (12) "Emergency management" or "comprehensive emergency
19 management" means the preparation for and the carrying out of all
20 emergency functions, other than functions for which the military
21 forces are primarily responsible, to mitigate, prepare for, respond
22 to, and recover from emergencies and disasters, and to aid victims
23 suffering from injury or damage, resulting from disasters caused by
24 all hazards, whether natural, technological, or human caused, and to
25 provide support for search and rescue operations for persons and
26 property in distress. However, "emergency management" or
27 "comprehensive emergency management" does not mean preparation for
28 emergency evacuation or relocation of residents in anticipation of
29 nuclear attack.
30 (((9))) (13)(a) "Emergency or disaster" as used in all sections
31 of this chapter except RCW 38.52.430 means an event or set of
32 circumstances which: (i) Demands immediate action to preserve public
33 health, protect life, protect public property, or to provide relief
34 to any stricken community overtaken by such occurrences; or (ii)
35 reaches such a dimension or degree of destructiveness as to warrant
36 the governor proclaiming a state of emergency pursuant to RCW
37 43.06.010.
38 (b) "Emergency" as used in RCW 38.52.430 means an incident that
39 requires a normal police, coroner, fire, rescue, emergency medical
p. 3 SHB 1703.SL
 1 services, or utility response as a result of a violation of one of
2 the statutes enumerated in RCW 38.52.430.
3 (((10))) (14) "Emergency response" as used in RCW 38.52.430 means
4 a public agency's use of emergency services during an emergency or
5 disaster as defined in subsection (((9))) (13)(b) of this section.
6 (((11))) (15) "Emergency services communication system" means a
7 multicounty or countywide communications network, including an
8 enhanced or next generation 911 emergency communications system,
9 which provides rapid public access for coordinated dispatching of
10 services, personnel, equipment, and facilities for police, fire,
11 medical, or other emergency services.
12 (16) "Emergency services communications system data" includes
13 voice or audio; multimedia, including pictures and video; text
14 messages; telematics or telemetrics; or other information that is
15 received or displayed, or both, at a public safety answering point in
16 association with a 911 access.
17 (17) "Emergency worker" means any person who is registered with a
18 local emergency management organization or the department and holds
19 an identification card issued by the local emergency management
20 director or the department for the purpose of engaging in authorized
21 emergency management activities or is an employee of the state of
22 Washington or any political subdivision thereof who is called upon to
23 perform emergency management activities.
24 (((12))) (18) "Executive head" and "executive heads" means the
25 county executive in those charter counties with an elective office of
26 county executive, however designated, and, in the case of other
27 counties, the county legislative authority. In the case of cities and
28 towns, it means the mayor in those cities and towns with mayor-
29 council or commission forms of government, where the mayor is
30 directly elected, and it means the city manager in those cities and
31 towns with council manager forms of government. Cities and towns may
32 also designate an executive head for the purposes of this chapter by
33 ordinance.
34 (((13))) (19) "Expense of an emergency response" as used in RCW
35 38.52.430 means reasonable costs incurred by a public agency in
36 reasonably making an appropriate emergency response to the incident,
37 but shall only include those costs directly arising from the response
38 to the particular incident. Reasonable costs shall include the costs
39 of providing police, coroner, firefighting, rescue, emergency medical
p. 4 SHB 1703.SL
 1 services, or utility response at the scene of the incident, as well
2 as the salaries of the personnel responding to the incident.
3 (((14))) (20) "First informer broadcaster" means an individual
4 who:
5 (a) Is employed by, or acting pursuant to a contract under the
6 direction of, a broadcaster; and
7 (b)(i) Maintains, including repairing or resupplying,
8 transmitters, generators, or other essential equipment at a broadcast
9 station or facility; or (ii) provides technical support services to
10 broadcasters needed during a period of proclaimed emergency.
11 (((15))) (21) "Incident command system" means: (a) An all-
12 hazards, on-scene functional management system that establishes
13 common standards in organization, terminology, and procedures;
14 provides a means (unified command) for the establishment of a common
15 set of incident objectives and strategies during multiagency/
16 multijurisdiction operations while maintaining individual agency/
17 jurisdiction authority, responsibility, and accountability; and is a
18 component of the national interagency incident management system; or
19 (b) an equivalent and compatible all-hazards, on-scene functional
20 management system.
21 (((16))) (22) "Injury" as used in this chapter shall mean and
22 include accidental injuries and/or occupational diseases arising out
23 of emergency management activities.
24 (((17))) (23) "Interconnected voice over internet protocol
25 service provider" means a provider of interconnected voice over
26 internet protocol service as defined by the federal communications
27 commission in 47 C.F.R. Sec. 9.3 on January 1, 2009, or a subsequent
28 date determined by the department.
29 (24) "Life safety information" means information provided to
30 people during a response to a life-threatening emergency or disaster
31 informing them of actions they can take to preserve their safety.
32 Such information may include, but is not limited to, information
33 regarding evacuation, sheltering, sheltering-in-place, facility
34 lockdown, and where to obtain food and water.
35 (((18))) (25) "Local director" means the director of a local
36 organization of emergency management or emergency services.
37 (((19))) (26) "Local organization for emergency services or
38 management" means an organization created in accordance with the
39 provisions of this chapter by state or local authority to perform
40 local emergency management functions.
p. 5 SHB 1703.SL
 1 (((20))) (27) "Next generation 911" means an internet protocol-
2 based system comprised of managed emergency services internet
3 protocol networks, functional elements (applications), and databases
4 that replicate enhanced 911 features and functions as defined in RCW
5 82.14B.020(4) that provide additional capabilities designed to
6 provide access to emergency services from all connected
7 communications sources and provide multimedia data capabilities for
8 public safety answering points.
9 (28) "Next generation 911 demarcation point" means the location
10 and equipment that separates the next generation 911 network from:
11 (a) A telecommunications provider's network, known as the ingress
12 next generation 911 demarcation point; and
13 (b) A public safety answering point, known as the egress next
14 generation 911 demarcation point.
15 (29) "Next generation 911 emergency communications system" means
16 a public communications system consisting of networks, databases, and
17 public safety answering point 911 hardware, software, and technology
18 that is accessed by the public in the state through 911. The system
19 includes the capability to: Route incoming 911 voice and data to the
20 appropriate public safety answering point that operates in a defined
21 911 service area; answer incoming 911 voice and data; and receive and
22 display incoming 911 voice and data, including automatic location
23 identification and automatic number identification, at a public
24 safety answering point. "Next generation 911 emergency communications
25 system" includes future modernizations to the 911 system.
26 (30) "Next generation 911 emergency services internet protocol
27 network" means a managed internet protocol network used for 911
28 emergency services communications that is managed and maintained,
29 including security and credentialing functions, by the state 911
30 coordination office to provide next generation 911 emergency
31 communications from the ingress next generation 911 demarcation point
32 to the egress next generation 911 demarcation point. It provides the
33 internet protocol transport infrastructure upon which application
34 platforms and core services are necessary for providing next
35 generation 911 services. Next generation 911 emergency services
36 internet protocol networks may be constructed from a mix of dedicated
37 and shared facilities and may be interconnected at local, regional,
38 state, federal, national, and international levels to form an
39 internet protocol-based inter-network (network of networks).
p. 6 SHB 1703.SL
 1 (31) "Next generation 911 service" means public access to the
2 next generation 911 emergency communications system and its
3 capabilities by accessing 911 from communication devices to report
4 police, fire, medical, or other emergency situations to a public
5 safety answering point.
6 (32) "Political subdivision" means any county, city or town.
7 (((21))) (33) "Public agency" means the state, and a city,
8 county, municipal corporation, district, town, or public authority
9 located, in whole or in part, within this state which provides or may
10 provide firefighting, police, ambulance, medical, or other emergency
11 services.
12 (((22))) (34) "Public safety answering point" means the public
13 safety location that receives and answers 911 voice and data
14 originating in a given area as designated by the county. Public
15 safety answering points must be equipped with 911 hardware, software,
16 and technology that is accessed through 911 and is capable of
17 answering incoming 911 calls and receiving and displaying incoming
18 911 data.
19 (a) "Primary public safety answering point" means a public safety
20 answering point, as designated by the count