SB5312 – Facilitating transit-oriented development through grants to cities and counties paying the costs of preparing environmental analyses that can be used by applicants for development permits.
Prime Sponsor – Senator Mullet (D; 5th District; Issaquah)
Current status – Had a hearing in the House Committee on Environment & Energy February 18th.
Next step would be – Action by the committee.
Legislative tracking page for the bill.

In the Senate 2021 – Passed
Had a hearing in the Senate Committee on Housing and Local Government January 27th; passed out of committee February 4th. Referred to Rules, and passed by the Senate 43-2 on February 16th.
In the House 2021 – Did not get a floor vote.
Referred to the House Committee on Environment and Energy. Had a hearing March 11th, amended and passed out of committee March 19th. Referred to Appropriations; had a hearing March 30th; replaced by a striker and passed out of Appropriations March 31st. Referred to Rules April 2nd; never reached the floor for a vote. Returned to Senate Rules, and passed again in 2022.

In the Senate 2022 – Passed
Reintroduced in Senate Rules in the 2022 session and passed January 12th. Returned to the House.
In the House 2022 –

Summary –

In 2021 _
House Appropriations striker –
The striker made several small changes which are summarized at the end of it.
House committee amendment –
This extended the period during which cities that planned to take at least two of the long list of options to increase density in RCW 36.70A.600 could apply for planning grants. (It would now include actions until April 1, 2025 instead of April 2021.)

Original bill –
The Department of Commerce currently awards grants or loans to cities and counties from the Growth Management Planning and Environmental Review Fund. These can be used to assist them in preparing environmental analyses for the state that are integrated with “a comprehensive plan, subarea plan, plan element, countywide planning policy, development regulation, monitoring program, or other planning activity adopted under or implementing” the GMA; and improve the process for project permit review while maintaining environmental quality.

The bill says appropriations to the fund for the purpose of facilitating transit-oriented development may be used for grants to pay the costs associated with a somewhat different list of activities – the preparation of State Environmental Policy Act environmental impact statements, planned action ordinances, subarea plans, costs associated with using other tools under SEPA, and the costs of local code adoption and implementation of such efforts. It specifies these funds may only go to efforts that address environmental impacts and consequences, alternatives, and mitigation measures in sufficient detail to allow the analysis to be adopted in whole or in part by applicants for development permits within the area analyzed.