Commerce is accepting applications to designate new opportunity zones (OZs) in Washington state. Federal bill H.R. #1 was signed into Public Law 119-21 in July 2025, making the current OZ program permanent, with designation cycles now set in place every ten years. After the application period closes, Governor Ferguson designate OZs and submit his recommendations to the U.S. Treasury in a 90-day window beginning July 1, 2026.
The new program features permanent changes to the policy’s geographic targeting criteria, incentive structure and reporting requirements. The new program also tightens eligibility requirements, reducing the expected qualified OZ tracts by roughly 20%. Washington currently has 139 OZs across 36 counties and that number will narrow to 99 OZs designated across the state.
Eligibility
The U.S. Treasury issued its determination of population census tracts eligible to be designated as OZs, and Commerce updated the Washington OZ 2.0-eligible census tract GIS map to reflect this final guidance. This map includes the OZ-eligible tracts that may be nominated by state governors (aka, state CEOs) to be designated as OZs, beginning January 1, 2027. The federal government is responsible for establishing this eligibility criteria and any associated guidance. From that, each state designates up to 25% of eligible census tracts as opportunity zones.
Timeline
- Issue request for applications: April 28, 2026
- Pre-proposal conference:
- May 7: 9-10 a.m. pre-applicant webinar (rural/non-rural). Register for and join the 9 a.m. online conference
- May 7: 11 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. pre-applicant webinar (tribal specific). Join the 11 a.m. online conference for tribal applicants
- Question and answer window: April 28 to May 21, 2026
- Applications due: May 28, 2026, at 5 p.m.
How to apply
Applications will be accepted through May 28, 2026 at 5:00 p.m. and must be submitted via the Washington state Opportunity Zones nomination application platform.
Important links
- The Washington state Opportunity Zones nomination application platform
- View and download the final OZ 2.0 census tract nomination application (MS Word)
- View and download the final OZ 2.0 scoring criteria (PDF)
- View and download our most recent Opportunity Zones Frequently Asked Questions (PDF)
- OZ 2.0 Program landing page
Questions
Contact the RFA Coordinator via email at OEDCProcurement@Commerce.wa.gov.
Note: please include “OZ 2.0” in the subject line.