YVN Summary
\n\nMost people would see no change in daily life. If you live, fish, or boat in northwest Washington, a marine advisory commission would keep working on your local waters. That work would run for seven more years. It covers the Strait of Juan de Fuca and Puget Sound, from the Canadian border down to Snohomish County. The group collects data, tracks water quality, and recommends ways to restore habitat. It cannot write rules or enforce federal law. Its job is advice.\n\nThe commission has fourteen seats and may add more. Seven go to county marine committees, two are for tribal governments, and five are the Washington Governor's picks. The commission must consult every affected tribe so its work does not violate treaty rights. It may also team up with the state or with nonprofit groups to get the work done. Each year it must publish a report on what it did and how the water and habitat are doing. No dollar amount appears in the bill. Its authority would end seven years after the bill becomes law. The House passed it on June 3, 2026, and the Senate has not voted.
","status":"FLOOR_CONSIDERATION","topics":["ENVIRONMENT","TECHNOLOGY","FOREIGN_POLICY"],"introducedAt":"2025-04-10T00:00:00+00:00","latestActionAt":"2026-01-12T00:00:00+00:00","congressGovUrl":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/2860","accountabilityFlags":{"environment":["↑ Marine restoration work in Puget Sound — seven more years","↑ Water quality and habitat targets — yearly progress measured"],"civil_liberties":["↑ Guaranteed tribal seats on the commission — two of fourteen members","↑ Duty to protect tribal treaty rights — must consult affected tribes","↑ Protection from new federal rules — commission may not regulate"],"transparency_accountability":["↑ Yearly public report on commission activities — also sent to Congress","↑ Public forum for marine policy discussions — across governments, including Canada","↑ Congress must revisit the program — authority ends after seven years"]},"tldr":"Keeps an advisory commission watching Puget Sound area waters for seven more years — it advises, it cannot regulate.","summaryStandard":"v2","flagExplainers":{"environment":["The commission's authority comes from an older law, title IV of Public Law 105-384. This bill rewrites that part of the law and sets the work to run for seven years after enactment.","The bill lists what counts as progress: healthier habitat, healthier fish and wildlife populations, cleaner water, and good data. The commission has to report each year on how it is doing against those marks."],"civil_liberties":["Two of the fourteen seats go to people who represent tribal governments in the region. The Secretary of the Interior picks them, working with the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission and the affected tribes.","The commission has to check with every tribe its work touches, and make sure that work does not break treaty rights. The bill also tells the commission to help any tribe that wants a seat at the table.","The bill says nothing in this part of the law lets the commission issue regulations or enforce federal law. It can study, advise, and recommend, but it cannot make rules that bind people or businesses."],"transparency_accountability":["The report goes to four committees in Congress and to a top ocean official at the Commerce Department. The commission must also make it available to the public.","One of the commission's jobs is to host open, informal talks about marine policy. Officials from federal, state, local, tribal, and Canadian governments can all take part.","Seven years after the bill becomes law, the authority to run the program stops on its own. For the work to continue past that point, Congress would have to pass another bill."]},"flagValence":{"environment":["good","good"],"civil_liberties":["good","good","contested"],"transparency_accountability":["good","good","contested"]},"needsResummary":false,"displaySummaryHtml":null,"rawStatusText":"Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 376.","chamber":"HOUSE","policyArea":"Environmental Protection","legislativeSubjects":["Advisory bodies","Aquatic ecology","Ecology","Environmental assessment, monitoring, research","Intergovernmental relations","Marine and coastal resources, fisheries","Pacific Ocean","Seashores and lakeshores","State and local government operations","Washington State","Water quality","Wetlands","Wildlife conservation and habitat protection"],"lawStatus":null,"lawNumber":null,"latestActionText":"Received in the Senate. Read twice. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 427.","latestTextVersion":"Placed on Calendar Senate","textVersionUsed":null,"dateAdded":"2026-05-30T00:00:00+00:00","summarizedAt":"2026-08-17T00:00:00+00:00","recordId":"abf2a4c1-baa7-4ea8-914b-f269f39dfcc3","feedIdentityKey":"119/hr/2860","websiteBillId":"HR-2860","yourvoiceSummary":"Most people would see no change in daily life. If you live, fish, or boat in northwest Washington, a marine advisory commission would keep working on your local waters. That work would run for seven more years. It covers the Strait of Juan de Fuca and Puget Sound, from the Canadian border down to Snohomish County. The group collects data, tracks water quality, and recommends ways to restore habitat. It cannot write rules or enforce federal law. Its job is advice.\n\nThe commission has fourteen seats and may add more. Seven go to county marine committees, two are for tribal governments, and five are the Washington Governor's picks. The commission must consult every affected tribe so its work does not violate treaty rights. It may also team up with the state or with nonprofit groups to get the work done. Each year it must publish a report on what it did and how the water and habitat are doing. No dollar amount appears in the bill. Its authority would end seven years after the bill becomes law. The House passed it on June 3, 2026, and the Senate has not voted.","updatedAt":"2026-10-25T01:01:50.344086+00:00"}