Wildfire plans and tree clearing in Washington: RCW 80.28.445, RCW 76.04.185 and the utility filings

This page reports what the official source says. It is not legal advice: ask the office named here. It restates six documents as read on October 9, 2026: RCW 80.28.445 and RCW 76.04.185 on the Washington Legislature site, the Wildfires page of the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission, and three utility presentations filed in the Commission's docket U-210254. The side by side with other regions is on the guide to utility wildfire plans and tree clearing.

What RCW 80.28.445 requires

Section 80.28.445 is titled "Wildfire mitigation plan, filing requirements" and was added by chapter 156 of the 2025 laws. It says each electrical company must file a wildfire mitigation plan with the Commission when practicable after July 27, 2025. A company that had already filed a plan before that date must file a plan update when practicable after it. Plans must be updated no less often than every three years, and a company may update more often.

The company must give a copy of its plan and each update to the Department of Natural Resources and to the utility wildland fire prevention advisory committee, in the format set under RCW 76.04.185, to be posted on the committee's website. The Commission, after at least one public workshop and a hearing, must approve, reject or approve with conditions a plan within 120 days of filing, and an update within 90 days. It may require additional elements, and may modify a plan where it finds the change a reasonable balancing of mitigation cost against the reduction in wildfire risk.

The workshop must involve local fire protection districts, utilities, affected landowners and groups representing utility customers. The section tells the Commission to adopt rules that include procedures and standards on vegetation management, with guidelines for fair market landowner compensation when appropriate, plus public safety power shutoffs, pole materials, circuitry and monitoring systems. The section prints no tree clearance distance.

What RCW 76.04.185 requires

This section, from chapter 132 of the 2023 laws, gives the job of the plan format to the Department of Natural Resources. It was to hire an independent consultant and make public a recommended format and list of elements by April 1, 2024, after input from the Commission, the advisory committee, electric utilities, the state fire marshal and the public. It covers both investor-owned and consumer-owned utilities, a term that includes public utility districts, municipal utilities and cooperatives. The department was also to send the legislature a summary of existing utility plans by December 31, 2024.

The recommended elements must include, among others, vegetation management along transmission and distribution lines and near associated equipment, infrastructure inspection and repair schedules and records, and "appropriate widths" for vegetation management and rights-of-way, including fire-resistant vegetation alternatives. The section says the elements must fit local topography, vegetation and population, so it sets no single width.

What the Commission says on its own page

The Commission's Wildfires page says it economically regulates the rates and services of the state's investor-owned electric utilities. During a wildfire or a time of heightened risk, it says, utilities coordinate with local emergency response, and the Commission is not part of those decisions but may review the utilities' investments and operating procedures afterward. It says that since 2021 the Commission has required regulated electric utilities to submit annual wildfire plans and present them at a public meeting. Per the page, the plans cover vegetation management, line hardening, and various depowering methods, along with customer communication and the thresholds for using each tool. The page links 2021 and 2022 preparedness files for Avista, PacifiCorp and Puget Sound Energy under docket U-210254. It also lists a recessed open meeting on November 3, 2022 on the 2022 wildfire season.

What three utility presentations say about vegetation

The files linked on the Commission page are slide presentations, not full plans, so they give figures but not clearance distances.

PacifiCorp, April 27, 2022

The 2022 Washington wildfire mitigation plan presentation lists annual vegetation inspection in the fire high-consequence area (FHCA) and annual pole clearing of equipment poles. It also lists "enhanced vegetation management practices" as part of a resilient system. It states about 140,000 Washington customers, 3,400 miles of distribution line and about 600 miles of transmission. About 20 miles of overhead distribution, 1 percent of overhead lines, sit in the FHCA, and no overhead transmission does.

Puget Sound Energy, November 2, 2021

The 2021 wildfire season recap says that before July 1, 2021 the utility removed 473 hazard trees and trimmed 1,690 trees. It describes hazard tree removal and hot-spot trimming as preventing vegetation from contacting energized conductors. It also reports pre-season inspections of 580 miles of higher-risk distribution circuits and 187 miles of transmission lines.

Avista, April 27, 2022

The presentation lists vegetation management as one of four plan elements and shows "100% of Distribution & Transmission Lines Inspected in 2022" on its risk based vegetation slide.