Sue Lani Madsen: Volz bill seeks to provide certainty for wildfire damaged communities

Faced with months and years of rebuilding lives and property after the Oregon Road and Gray fires blew through Spokane County, residents are hoping for a bit of relief.

Nothing dramatic, simply asking the Washington Legislature to let them rebuild under the regulations in place on the weekend of the August 2023 fires. Regulatory certainty would give them time to plan, time they didn’t have when fire crested the hills above Silver Lake and blew across roads in Elk.

Rep. Mike Volz, R-Spokane, introduced House Bill 1899 “Facilitating reconstruction of communities damaged or destroyed by wildfires” with co-sponsors Rep. Suzanne Schmidt, R-Spokane Valley; Rep. Joe Schmick, R-Colfax; Rep. Leonard Christian, R-Spokane Valley; and 15 others. The bill would require local authorities to allow property owners in the affected disaster areas to choose to build under the building and energy codes in effect at the time of permitting or alternatively under the codes which were applicable on the dates the fires occurred. This option would expire June 30, 2025.

It wasn’t an issue when Malden and Pine City burned in 2020. Codes are updated on a regular cycle, then reviewed and amended by the state before a recommendation to adopt is made. It’s a long process even in normal code cycles. The Malden fire happened during the lull between significant updates.

But this spring the State Building Code Council stretched beyond public health and safety in the built environment into enacting public policy through rule-making and adopted controversial new energy code requirements. The effective date has already been postponed twice because of legal challenges and vigorous pushback from opponents who believe in energy choices.

Anyone in Eastern Washington who relied on their gas or wood burning fireplace to supplement a struggling electric heat pump in this last cold snap knows the value of energy resilience. One-size-fits-all requirements for heat pumps as the preferred system in a state with the geographic and climate diversity of Washington is Seattle-centric.

The State Building Code Council has acknowledged the cost impact on new construction. Spokane County Commissioner Al French, a licensed architect and member of the building code council in 2023, testified at the hearing for HB 1899 that the additional cost to build under the codes, now set to go into effect March 15, can be up to $50,000. The minimum additional cost for the energy code changes as calculated by the Building Industry Association of Washington is $9,200.

Silver Lake resident Lisa Johnson took advantage of the remote testimony option before the House Local Government Committee on Tuesday, saying it is “important that you hear from someone who experienced what we did … it was quite the harrowing experience when you’re escaping down the one road that you have available in the Silver Lake area but it’s also a harrowing experience in dealing with the state and the county afterwards.”

County Commissioner Josh Kerns emphasized the breadth of the devastation. “They just want to rebuild their homes and families … the unfortunate truth is this will take time.” All five Spokane County commissioners are on board with supporting state level relief to facilitate reconstruction.

The Office of the Insurance Commissioner sent a representative to testify in opposition, citing the importance of new wildland urban interface requirements when rebuilding in vulnerable areas, commonly referred to as the WUI (woo-ee). Senior policy adviser David Fort said, “We understand the noble intent of the bill” but expressed concern about the ability of residents to get insurance in the future.

Mayor Terri Cooper of Medical Lake joined the hearing virtually. Cooper is president of the newly formed Spokane Regional Long Term Recovery Group. She pushed back on Fort’s testimony. “WUI code is already in flux, it’s already been moved out once because it’s difficult to employ so there are challenges with that,” Cooper said. She said that about half of those affected have their permits in place now and they were just looking for a pause.

Rep. Marcus Riccelli, D-Spokane, hinted at a substitute bill that would replace providing code options to homeowners with providing financial grants to build to new codes, tied up with the requirements of the Climate Commitment Act. That wouldn’t address the question of uncertainty. A lawsuit was filed in Thurston County Superior Court on Tuesday by a broad coalition of community interests including trade associations and union representatives is “asking the court to invalidate provisions of the state’s new building codes.”

Jan Himebaugh emphasized the simplicity of the original HB 1899 bill in an email following the filing of the lawsuit. “All this bill would do is allow people to rebuild to the building standards or codes that are current, and the current 2018 energy code is no slouch on costs or efficiency standards, but it would allow the people who lost everything to have a little relief in their rebuild process.”

Contact Sue Lani Madsen at rulingpen@gmail.com.