Washington’s permanent smoke rules require workplace planning

October 7, 2026

Washington’s permanent workplace wildfire-smoke rules took effect on January 15, 2024. L&I’s rulemaking history identifies a new chapter 296-820 WAC for general workplaces and agriculture-specific provisions in chapter 296-307 WAC.

APT’s Washington wildfire smoke workplace rules tracker record connects the permanent rules with their particulate-concentration exposure basis.

The permanent rules replaced emergency cycles

L&I adopted the permanent provisions after earlier emergency rules. The adoption order records the commencement date. The agency describes an employer plan for protecting workers from wildfire smoke and measures tied to the current concentration of fine particulate matter, PM2.5.

The rule’s exposure basis is hourly average PM2.5 concentration in micrograms per cubic meter. The corresponding Air Quality Index values are a means of communicating those conditions. A whole-shift average or a different particulate fraction should not be substituted for the rule’s stated basis.

L&I subsequently updated AQI references in 2025 while retaining the concentration-based requirements. An employer using an older AQI table should therefore check the current references.

Make the plan usable during a smoke event

APT’s practical interpretation is to identify the information source, the worker locations and the person responsible for applying the relevant action tier. Procedures should also identify how workers receive instructions as smoke conditions change.

Agriculture and other workplaces have separately located provisions, and coverage exclusions must be read in the applicable chapter. Selecting a concentration trigger or respirator requires the current rule and its specific action tier.

Find related developments in the industrial hygiene regulatory tracker.