These 8 New Washington Laws Tri-Cities Should Know About

Every July new laws come into effect in Washington State and you may have missed these 8 new ones for 2022. You should be aware of how new laws affect the Tri-Cities. These new laws range from gun control to environmental clean energy and transportation.

BAN ON SALE OF HIGH-CAPACITY MAGAZINES The new law SB 5078 bans the new sale of high-capacity magazines but does not ban magazines that already have been sold. The description on the top of SB-5078 reads "AN ACT Relating to establishing firearms-related safety measures to increase public safety by prohibiting the manufacture, importation, distribution, selling, and offering for sale of large capacity magazines, and by providing limited exemptions applicable to licensed firearms manufacturers and dealers for purposes of sale to armed forces branches and law enforcement agencies for purposes of sale or transfer outside the state." The new law would also "make selling a high-capacity magazine, or offering one for sale, a violation of the state's Consumer Protection Act, which would allow the attorney general's office to take legal action against those who violate it" according to reports. Breaking this law will lead to a gross misdemeanor with a possible up to 1 year in prison and a $5,000 fine.

GHOST GUN BAN New law HB-1705 bans ghost guns "including untraceable firearms and untraceable unfinished frames and receivers that can be used to manufacture or assemble untraceable firearms, with exceptions for licensed federal firearm manufacturers, dealers, and importers, and firearms that have been rendered permanently inoperable, are antiques, or were manufactured before 1968." According to the bill, a $1,000 penalty is the maximum under certain circumstances.

DON'T FLUSH DISPOSABLE WIPES New law HB-2565 states that "Do Not Flush" must be on all labels of disposable wipes sold in Washington State. The Legislature found that this bill would help "creating labeling standards for disposable wipes products will protect public health, the environment, water quality, and public infrastructure used for the collection, transport, and treatment of wastewater." The penalty for breaking the law includes "a civil penalty in the amount of up to two thousand dollars for the first violation of this chapter, up to five thousand dollars for the second violation of this chapter, and up to ten thousand dollars for the third and any subsequent violation of this chapter." Don't worry, you can't get fined unless your producing and selling the wipes in Washington State.

MISSING INDIGENOUS PERSON ALERT Now with new law HD-1725, Washington State has created the first ever alert for missing indigenous persons. The alert will be very similar to the Amber and Silver alerts that already exist in Washington. Section 1 states, "The legislature finds that indigenous people experience disproportionate rates of violence in Washington state. Tribes, state leaders, and grassroots activists have done substantial work to identify factors directly affecting the rates of violence and to ensure that addressing the crisis of missing and murdered indigenous people is a priority at every level."

CATALYTIC CONVERTER SALES The Legislature is concerned with catalytic converter theft all over the state. The bill HB-1815 states "The legislature finds that rates of catalytic converter theft have rapidly increased statewide and nationwide, due in part to existing challenges with accurately identifying stolen catalytic converters." They go on "the legislature intends to carefully examine the 20 catalytic converter theft issues in Washington state and conduct a 21 study to make a variety of recommendations to the legislature," and "The legislature further 3 intends to provide funding for a grant program focused on metal theft and unlawfully obtained metal." This also keeps sellers getting paid ONLY by check after 3 days has passed from the sale.

NEW LICENSE PLATE FEES The legislature has decided to increase the license plate fees for the state. Bill SB-5974 increases the cost of license plates "from $10 to $50 for an original plate, $10 to $30 for a replacement plate, $4 to $20 for an original motorcycle plate and $4 to $12 for a replacement motorcycle plate," according to news reports. It also invest $16 billion for multiple projects around the state like to "enhance storm water runoff treatment from existing roads and infrastructure with an emphasis on green infrastructure retrofits. Projects must be prioritized based on benefits to salmon recovery and ecosystem health, reducing toxic pollution, addressing health disparities, and cost effectiveness." Also investing in "transportation alternatives to single occupancy passenger vehicles; reductions in single occupancy passenger vehicle miles traveled; reductions in per mile emissions in vehicles, including through the funding of alternative fuel infrastructure and incentive programs; and emission reduction programs for freight transportation, including motor vehicles and rail, as well as for ferries and other maritime and port activities."

CLEAN ENERGY The last two bills that passed the legislature both have to do with clean energy, HB-1989 and SB-5714. the first bill HB-1989 says in the summery that it "establishes a retail sales and use tax deferral program for certain investment projects in clean technology manufacturing, clean alternative fuels production, and renewable energy storage." and "reduces the amount of state sales and use tax that must be repaid by eligible projects if the recipient complies with specified labor standards." SB-5714 states that it creates "a sales and use tax deferral program for solar canopies placed on large-scale commercial parking lots and other similar areas."