---
type: "Bill"
title: "Concerning tribal consultation conducted by the energy facility site evaluation council."
description: "Concerning tribal consultation conducted by the energy facility site evaluation council."
jurisdiction: "us/states/wa"
legislature: "Washington Legislature"
session: "2025-2026"
identifier: "HB 2496"
citation: "Washington HB 2496 (2025-2026)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Stearns"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 29
vote_count: 3
first_action: "2026-01-15"
last_action: "2026-03-30"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/e9e07b6c-ce24-4e54-ab47-987d5a134474"
source_url: "https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary/?BillNumber=2496&Year=2025&Initiative=false"
source_hash: "2f229ed5063bf2baa1a9e542e13124b3c602d86fc632e5f785f3b8d613ad1a46"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-wa"]
---

# Washington HB 2496 (2025-2026) — Concerning tribal consultation conducted by the energy facility site evaluation council.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Bill** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/Biennium/2025-26/Htm/Bills/House%20Bills/2496.htm)
2. **Substitute Bill** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/Biennium/2025-26/Htm/Bills/House%20Bills/2496-S.htm)
3. **Substitute Passed Legislature** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/Biennium/2025-26/Htm/Bills/House%20Passed%20Legislature/2496-S.PL.htm)

## Votes

- 3rd Reading & Final Passage as Amended by the Senate (#12) — **30–19** (pass) · upper
- 3rd Reading & Final Passage (#32) — **70–24** (pass) · lower
- Final Passage as Amended by the Senate (#16) — **71–24** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Stearns — primary (person)
- Doglio — cosponsor (person)
- Hill — cosponsor (person)
- Ormsby — cosponsor (person)
- Parshley — cosponsor (person)
- Pollet — cosponsor (person)
- Ramel — cosponsor (person)
- Santos — cosponsor (person)
- Simmons — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2026-01-15** First reading, referred to Environment & Energy. `reading-1`
- **2026-01-26** Public hearing in the House Committee on Environment & Energy at 1:30 PM.
- **2026-02-02** Executive action taken in the House Committee on Environment & Energy at 1:30 PM.
- **2026-02-02** ENVI - Majority; 1st substitute bill be substituted, do pass. `substitution`
- **2026-02-02** Minority; do not pass. `committee-passage-unfavorable`
- **2026-02-02** Minority; without recommendation. `committee-passage-unfavorable`
- **2026-02-04** Referred to Rules 2 Review. `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-12** Rules Committee relieved of further consideration. Placed on second reading. `reading-2`
- **2026-02-13** 1st substitute bill substituted (ENVI 26). `substitution`
- **2026-02-13** Rules suspended. Placed on Third Reading. `reading-3`
- **2026-02-13** Third reading, passed; yeas, 70; nays, 24; absent, 0; excused, 4. `reading-3`
- **2026-02-17** First reading, referred to Environment, Energy & Technology. `reading-1`
- **2026-02-20** Executive action taken in the Senate Committee on Environment, Energy & Technology at 10:30 AM.
- **2026-02-20** ENET - Majority; do pass with amendment(s). `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2026-02-20** Minority; do not pass. `committee-passage-unfavorable`
- **2026-02-20** Minority; without recommendation. `committee-passage-unfavorable`
- **2026-02-23** Passed to Rules Committee for second reading.
- **2026-02-24** Placed on second reading by Rules Committee. `reading-2`
- **2026-02-28** Committee amendment(s) adopted as amended.
- **2026-02-28** Rules suspended. Placed on Third Reading. `reading-3`
- **2026-02-28** Third reading, passed; yeas, 30; nays, 19; absent, 0; excused, 0. `reading-3`
- **2026-03-09** House concurred in Senate amendments.
- **2026-03-09** Passed final passage; yeas, 71; nays, 24; absent, 0; excused, 3. `passage`
- **2026-03-11** Speaker signed. `passage`
- **2026-03-12** President signed. `passage`
- **2026-03-12** Delivered to Governor. `executive-receipt`
- **2026-03-30** Governor signed. `executive-signature`
- **2026-03-30** Chapter 244, 2026 Laws. `became-law`
- **2026-03-30** Effective date 6/11/2026. `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/e9e07b6c-ce24-4e54-ab47-987d5a134474`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Washington legislature records).