RCW 70.94.527 Transportation demand management—Requirements for counties and cities.

(1) Each county containing an urban growth area, designated pursuant to RCW 36.70A.110, and each city within an urban growth area with a state highway segment exceeding the one hundred person hours of delay threshold calculated by the department of transportation, as well as those counties and cities located in any contiguous urban growth areas, shall adopt a commute trip reduction plan and ordinance for major employers in the affected urban growth area by a date specified by the commute trip reduction board. Jurisdictions located within an urban growth area with a population greater than seventy thousand that adopted a commute trip reduction ordinance before the year 2000, as well as any jurisdiction within contiguous urban growth areas, shall also adopt a commute trip reduction plan and ordinance for major employers in the affected urban growth area by a date specified by the commute trip reduction board. Jurisdictions containing a major employment installation in a county with an affected growth area, designated pursuant to RCW 36.70A.110, shall adopt a commute trip reduction plan and ordinance for major employers in the major employment installation by a date specified by the commute trip reduction board. The ordinance shall establish the requirements for major employers and provide an appeals process by which major employers, who as a result of special characteristics of their business or its locations would be unable to meet the requirements of the ordinance, may obtain waiver or modification of those requirements. The plan shall be designed to achieve reductions in the proportion of single-occupant vehicle commute trips and be consistent with the rules established by the department of transportation. The county, city, or town shall submit its adopted plan to the regional transportation planning organization. The county, city, or town plan shall be included in the regional commute trip reduction plan for regional transportation planning purposes, consistent with the rules established by the department of transportation in RCW 70.94.537.

(2) All other counties, cities, and towns may adopt and implement a commute trip reduction plan consistent with department of transportation rules established under RCW 70.94.537. Tribal governments are encouraged to adopt a commute trip reduction plan for their lands. State investment in voluntary commute trip reduction plans shall be limited to those areas that meet criteria developed by the commute trip reduction board.

(3) The department of ecology may, after consultation with the department of transportation, as part of the state implementation plan for areas that do not attain the national ambient air quality standards for carbon monoxide or ozone, require municipalities other than those identified in subsection (1) of this section to adopt and implement commute trip reduction plans if the department determines that such plans are necessary for attainment of said standards.

(4) A commute trip reduction plan shall be consistent with the rules established under RCW 70.94.537 and shall include but is not limited to (a) goals for reductions in the proportion of single-occupant vehicle commute trips consistent with the state goals established by the commute trip reduction board under RCW 70.94.537 and the regional commute trip reduction plan goals established in the regional commute trip reduction plan; (b) a description of the requirements for major public and private sector employers to implement commute trip reduction programs; (c) a commute trip reduction program for employees of the county, city, or town; and (d) means, consistent with rules established by the department of transportation, for determining base year values and progress toward meeting commute trip reduction plan goals. The plan shall be developed in consultation with local transit agencies, the applicable regional transportation planning organization, major employers, and other interested parties.

(5) The commute trip reduction plans adopted by counties, cities, and towns under this chapter shall be consistent with and may be incorporated in applicable state or regional transportation plans and local comprehensive plans and shall be coordinated, and consistent with, the commute trip reduction plans of counties, cities, or towns with which the county, city, or town has, in part, common borders or related regional issues. Such regional issues shall include assuring consistency in the treatment of employers who have worksites subject to the requirements of this chapter in more than one jurisdiction. Counties, cities, and towns adopting commute trip reduction plans may enter into agreements through the interlocal cooperation act or by resolution or ordinance as appropriate with other jurisdictions, local transit agencies, transportation management associations or other private or nonprofit providers of transportation services, or regional transportation planning organizations to coordinate the development and implementation of such plans. Transit agencies shall work with counties, cities, and towns as a part of their six-year transit development plan established in RCW 35.58.2795 to take into account the location of major employer worksites when planning and prioritizing transit service changes or the expansion of public transportation services, including rideshare services. Counties, cities, or towns adopting a commute trip reduction plan shall review it annually and revise it as necessary to be consistent with applicable plans developed under RCW 36.70A.070. Regional transportation planning organizations shall review the local commute trip reduction plans during the development and update of the regional commute trip reduction plan.

(6) Each affected regional transportation planning organization shall adopt a commute trip reduction plan for its region consistent with the rules and deadline established by the department of transportation under RCW 70.94.537. The plan shall include, but is not limited to: (a) Regional program goals for commute trip reduction in urban growth areas and all designated growth and transportation efficiency centers; (b) a description of strategies for achieving the goals; (c) a sustainable financial plan describing projected revenues and expenditures to meet the goals; (d) a description of the way in which progress toward meeting the goals will be measured; and (e) minimum criteria for growth and transportation efficiency centers. (i) Regional transportation planning organizations shall review proposals from local jurisdictions to designate growth and transportation efficiency centers and shall determine whether the proposed growth and transportation efficiency center is consistent with the criteria defined in the regional commute trip reduction plan. (ii) Growth and transportation efficiency centers certified as consistent with the minimum requirements by the regional transportation planning organization shall be identified in subsequent updates of the regional commute trip reduction plan. These plans shall be developed in collaboration with all affected local jurisdictions, transit agencies, and other interested parties within the region. The plan will be reviewed and approved by [the] commute trip reduction board as established under RCW 70.94.537. Regions without an approved regional commute trip reduction plan shall not be eligible for state commute trip reduction program funds.

The regional commute trip reduction plan shall be consistent with and incorporated into transportation demand management components in the regional transportation plan as required by RCW 47.80.030.

(7) Each regional transportation planning organization implementing a regional commute trip reduction program shall, consistent with the rules and deadline established by the department of transportation, submit its plan as well as any related local commute trip reduction plans and certified growth and transportation efficiency center programs, to the commute trip reduction board established under RCW 70.94.537. The commute trip reduction board shall review the regional commute trip reduction plan and the local commute trip reduction plans. The regional transportation planning organization shall collaborate with the commute trip reduction board to evaluate the consistency of local commute trip reduction plans with the regional commute trip reduction plan. Local and regional plans must be approved by the commute trip reduction board in order to be eligible for state funding provided for the purposes of this chapter.

(8) Each regional transportation planning organization implementing a regional commute trip reduction program shall submit an annual progress report to the commute trip reduction board established under RCW 70.94.537. The report shall be due at the end of each state fiscal year for which the program has been implemented. The report shall describe progress in attaining the applicable commute trip reduction goals and shall highlight any problems being encountered in achieving the goals. The information shall be reported in a form established by the commute trip reduction board.

(9) Any waivers or modifications of the requirements of a commute trip reduction plan granted by a jurisdiction shall be submitted for review to the commute trip reduction board established under RCW 70.94.537. The commute trip reduction board may not deny the granting of a waiver or modification of the requirements of a commute trip reduction plan by a jurisdiction but they may notify the jurisdiction of any comments or objections.

(10) Plans implemented under this section shall not apply to commute trips for seasonal agricultural employees.

(11) Plans implemented under this section shall not apply to construction worksites when the expected duration of the construction project is less than two years.

(12) If an affected urban growth area has not previously implemented a commute trip reduction program and the state has funded solutions to state highway deficiencies to address the area's exceeding the person hours of delay threshold, the affected urban growth area shall be exempt from the duties of this section for a period not exceeding two years.

[ 2006 c 329 § 2; 1997 c 250 § 2; 1996 c 186 § 513; 1991 c 202 § 12.]

NOTES:

Findings—Intent—Part headings not law—Effective date—1996 c 186: See notes following RCW 43.330.904.

Captions not law—Effective date—Severability—1991 c 202: See notes following RCW 47.50.010.