Lashway

I. Factual Background

A. Regulatory background

The State of Washington licenses and regulates boarding homes (i.e., assisted living facilities for the elderly). Wash. Rev. Code §§ 18.20.020(1), 18.20.030. The State has insti- tuted comprehensive regulations covering various aspects of boarding home construction and operation. See Wash. Admin. Code §§ 388-78A-2010-2050. These rules are generally enforced by DSHS and its Resident Care Services department (“RCS”), but fire protection standards are enforced by the Washington State Patrol through the director of fire protection (i.e., the fire marshal’s office). Wash. Rev. Code §§ 18.20.110, 18.20.130.

In 1995, the state building code council adopted a licensed care facility code (“LC Code”) that requires automatic fire sprinklers if the facility has more than sixteen residents or has more than two residents who are non-ambulatory. Wash. 13628 CAREPARTNERS v. LASHWAY Admin. Code § 51-40-0313.8.2.1 (1998). In response to a 1998 fire at a boarding home, which killed eight residents, the Washington Legislature enacted a program to subsidize the cost of retrofitting older facilities with fire sprinklers. As of 1999,…