vehicles 0.4.1 → 0.8.0

data/data/plates/us-wa.yml

@@ -0,0 +1,484 @@
+# plates/us-wa.yml — Washington (PRD-PLATES gate L2, northwest group).
+#
+# WHY WASHINGTON IS THE HARD CASE OF THIS GROUP. Two independent reasons, and
+# both are sourced below rather than assumed. First, IP: Washington is one of
+# the four states PRD-PLATES §4 names as adverse, and this pass confirms it
+# from the state's own instruments — the issuing agency stamps its web estate
+# "© Washington State Department of Licensing" and the Legislature's own site
+# carries "Copyright 2025. All Rights Reserved." Second, and far more
+# decisively, RCW 46.18.200(2) enumerates Washington's special plates IN THE
+# STATUTE and describes many of them as displaying PRIVATELY OWNED marks —
+# "Displays the 'Seattle Mariners' logo", "Displays the Fred Hutch logo",
+# "Displays the name, image, and likeness of Smokey Bear", "Displays the
+# likenesses of the J.P. Patches and Gertrude characters", "Displays the '4-H'
+# logo". No theory of state public domain reaches those, because the state
+# does not own them. See `artwork_risk`.
+#
+# WHERE WASHINGTON LAW IS SILENT, AND IT IS SILENT ABOUT A LOT. RCW
+# 46.16A.200(1) hands the ENTIRE design to the director: plates "may vary in
+# background, color, and design" and "must be of a size and color ... as
+# determined by the director". So Washington — unlike Florida, Montana or
+# Wyoming — legislates NO dimension, NO colour, NO serial grammar and NO
+# replacement cycle. Everything in `design:` below is therefore observed or
+# locator-grade, and is labelled as such. What the statute DOES give is
+# unusually good: plate counts per vehicle type, display geometry, the
+# unlawful-acts list, and a replacement trigger that is not a clock.
+#
+# PERIOD DISCIPLINE (PRD-PLATES §9, and the standing rule for this wave).
+# Washington publishes no design changelog. Every era boundary below that came
+# from an enthusiast/encyclopedia table carries
+# `period_evidence: secondary-locator-only` and a `period_caveat` saying in
+# terms that it is NOT a sourced claim. The CURRENT series is instrument-dated
+# instead (`instrument-in-force-upper-bound`), exactly as us-fl-standard is,
+# so that no folklore year is ever presented as sourced.
+jurisdiction: us-wa
+authority:
+  name: Washington State Department of Licensing (DOL)
+  url: "https://dol.wa.gov/vehicles-and-boats/vehicles/license-plates"
+binding: vehicle
+statute_edition: >-
+  Revised Code of Washington, Title 46, as served by app.leg.wa.gov on
+  2026-08-02. NOTE A GENUINE TRAP: leg.wa.gov served TWO versions of RCW
+  46.16A.200 on one page — the operative text and a version "(Effective
+  January 1, 2027)" amended by 2026 c 172 s 3. The two differ only in
+  subsection (9)(b)(ii) (a defective-plate fee cross-reference to RCW
+  46.17.260). Every quotation below is identical in both versions unless
+  noted.
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# artwork_risk — required per jurisdiction by PRD-PLATES §4/§7.1.
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+artwork_risk:
+  posture: adverse
+  basis: >-
+    ADVERSE ON TWO INDEPENDENT GROUNDS. (1) State-works posture: Washington
+    does not place its works in the public domain by default; the surveyed
+    secondary analysis states "Works created by the State of Washington are
+    copyrighted. Works published by the Secretary of State of Washington are
+    voluntarily released into the public domain" — a narrow carve-out that does
+    NOT reach the Department of Licensing. That is a LOCATOR claim, but it is
+    corroborated by the state's own instruments as fetched in this pass: the
+    DOL plate estate carries the footer notice "© Washington State Department
+    of Licensing", and leg.wa.gov carries "Copyright 2025. All Rights
+    Reserved." No {{PD-WAGov}} tag exists on Wikimedia Commons; the only
+    Washington-specific tag found on the Commons per-territory page is
+    {{PD-WSRC}}, which is a single-body tag, not a state-wide one.
+    (2) THE DECISIVE GROUND, and it is statutory rather than inferential:
+    RCW 46.18.200(2) enumerates the approved special plates and describes many
+    of them as carrying THIRD-PARTY marks the state plainly does not own —
+    the "Seattle Mariners" logo, the "Seattle Seahawks" logo, the "Seattle
+    Sounders FC" logo, the "Seattle Storm" logo, the "Seattle Reign FC" logo,
+    "the logo of the Seattle NHL hockey team", the "Fred Hutch" logo, the
+    "Music Matters" logo, the "donate life" logo, "the '4-H' logo", the
+    "LeMay-America's car museum logo", "the name, image, and likeness of
+    Smokey Bear", and "the likenesses of the J.P. Patches and Gertrude
+    characters". 4-H and Smokey Bear additionally carry FEDERAL statutory
+    protection independent of copyright. So even a maximally favourable
+    reading of Washington's own posture would clear only a minority of the
+    artwork on Washington plates.
+  emblem_rule: >-
+    PRD-PLATES §3's placeholder default applies to EVERY Washington emblem and
+    graphic without exception, including the Mount Rainier motif on the
+    standard base. Render `emblem: {present: true, rendered: placeholder}` and
+    do not revisit per-emblem for the special-plate tier at all — the owners
+    are third parties, so no state-level clearance could resolve it.
+  photograph_caution: >-
+    The Commons finding from the L0 pass applies unchanged: a CC BY-SA tag on
+    a photograph of a Washington plate is the PHOTOGRAPHER's licence on the
+    PHOTOGRAPH. Because our renders are generated from spec and never derived
+    from a photograph, those obligations never attach — but in Washington the
+    underlying artwork is the live problem, not the photograph.
+  sources:
+    - "https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=46.18.200  # RCW 46.18.200(2): the statutory special-plate table, quoted above, naming third-party logos and likenesses as the plate artwork"
+    - "https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=46.16A.200  # RCW 46.16A.200(1)(f): 'special license plate series approved by the department and enacted into law by the legislature may display a symbol or artwork approved by the department' — the department approves; it does not thereby own"
+    - "https://dol.wa.gov/vehicles-and-boats/vehicles/license-plates  # fetched 2026-08-02; footer notice reads '© Washington State Department of Licensing'"
+    - "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_status_of_works_by_subnational_governments_of_the_United_States  # LOCATOR ONLY (PRD-PLATES §4): 'Works created by the State of Washington are copyrighted...' — used to locate the posture, not to establish it"
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# The US standards chain. Recorded per state because adoption is VOLUNTARY and
+# because the delegation trap must not be forgotten: AAMVA sends dimensions to
+# SAE J686, whose own text is PAYWALLED and UNPINNED. Nothing here quotes J686.
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+us_standards:
+  no_federal_mandate: true
+  chain: "SAE J686 -> AAMVA License Plate Standard Edition 3 (September 2025) -> voluntary state adoption. AAMVA writes recommendations in the declarative present; read as RECOMMENDED PRACTICE."
+  aamva_edition_3:
+    dimensions_delegated: "AAMVA §3.1 delegates dimensions and bolt holes to SAE J686. J686's own text was NOT obtained (paywalled); no J686 dimension is quoted anywhere in this dataset."
+    character_layout: "AAMVA §2.2: characters at least 2.5 in high, spaced at least 0.25 in apart, stroke weight 0.2-0.4 in, at least 1.25 in clear of the top and bottom edges"
+    jurisdiction_name_layout: "AAMVA §2.1: jurisdiction name in the top centre between the bolt holes, at least 0.25 in above the plate number and 0.125 in from the top edge; characters 0.75-1.0 in"
+    replacement_cycle: "AAMVA §1.1 recommends a rolling or full replacement cycle 'not to exceed 7 to 10 years'. WASHINGTON HAS NO CLOCK AT ALL — see us-wa-standard.replacement_rule. This is the strongest counter-example in the group to the idea that AAMVA's cycle is normative."
+    source: "https://www.aamva.org/getmedia/646bcc8a-219b-47d8-b5cd-726240473163/License-Plate-Standard-Edition-3_September-2025-Update.pdf"
+  folklore_caution: >-
+    The "1956 AMA standardization agreement" that supposedly fixed the 6x12
+    inch plate is UNCITED in its Wikipedia source (a `citation needed` since
+    2017, copied verbatim across articles). It is recorded here as COMMONLY
+    REPEATED, UNSOURCED. Washington, unlike Florida, does not restate the
+    dimension in law at all, so this file cites NO statutory dimension.
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Display rules — the best-specified part of Washington plate law.
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+display_rules:
+  default: "TWO plates, front and rear. RCW 46.16A.200(4)(a)(i): the director furnishes 'Two identical license plates each containing the license plate number'."
+  one_plate_vehicles: "RCW 46.16A.200(4)(a)(ii): 'One license plate if the vehicle is a trailer, semitrailer, camper, moped, collector vehicle, horseless carriage, or motorcycle.'"
+  mounting: "RCW 46.16A.200(5)(a): attached 'conspicuously at the front and rear of each vehicle if two license plates have been issued'; 'Attached in a horizontal position at a distance of not more than four feet from the ground'; 'kept clean and uncovered and be able to be plainly seen and read at all times'."
+  obstruction_exceptions: >-
+    RCW 46.16A.200(5)(b)(ii) is unusually specific and unusually modern: where
+    two plates are properly attached, ONE may be temporarily obstructed by a
+    trailer hitch, a wheelchair lift or carrier, a towed trailer, or a bicycle
+    / ski / luggage rack — provided the device is installed to manufacturer
+    specification and the plate can still be read from at least one accessible
+    viewing angle when parked. (5)(b)(iv) adds a forklift-carrier case for
+    trailers and expressly permits RELOCATING the trailer plate higher than
+    four feet from the ground. A dataset that models US display law as
+    "front and/or rear" loses all of this.
+  unlawful_acts: "RCW 46.16A.200(7): displaying plates not issued for the vehicle; displaying changed, altered, disfigured or illegible plates; using holders, frames or covers that conceal, obstruct, distort, alter or make a plate illegible (frames permitted only if they obscure nothing and the plate reads plainly); operating without valid plates attached; transferring plates between vehicles without application (traffic infraction, fine up to $500, plates confiscated and nullified)."
+  state_patrol_exception: "RCW 46.16A.200(5)(b)(i): the Washington State Patrol may grant exceptions where the body construction of the vehicle makes compliance impossible."
+  sources:
+    - "https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=46.16A.200  # (4)(a) two plates / one-plate vehicle list; (5)(a) mounting, four-foot rule, clean-and-uncovered; (5)(b) the obstruction exceptions and the State Patrol exception; (7) unlawful acts and the transfer penalty"
+
+series:
+
+  # =========================================================================
+  # THE STANDARD-ISSUE SERIES.
+  # =========================================================================
+  - id: us-wa-standard
+    class: standard
+    categories: [car, van, truck, bus]
+    period: { start: 2026 }
+    period_evidence: instrument-in-force-upper-bound
+    matching: strict
+    format:
+      pattern: "LLL9999"
+      regex: '\A[A-Z]{3} ?\d{4}\z'
+      charset:
+        notes: >-
+          NO CHARSET RULE EXISTS IN WASHINGTON LAW. RCW 46.16A.200 says only
+          that plates "must be legible and clearly identifiable as a
+          Washington state license plate" and that the director determines
+          size and colour. There is no character cap, no alphabet and no
+          exclusion list anywhere in RCW 46.16A. The reported exclusion of
+          I, O and Q from the third letter position of the current series is
+          LOCATOR-GRADE ONLY and is deliberately NOT encoded as a
+          `regex_strict`: a strict twin is defined by PRD-PLATES §2.7 as the
+          AUTHORITY's own alphabet, and no authority has stated one.
+      progression: >-
+        LOCATOR-GRADE, NOT ASSERTED: the encyclopedia record reports the
+        current three-letter/four-numeral arrangement running from AAA0000
+        and reaching the C-block. No DOL publication of serial ranges was
+        located. Recorded so a future pass knows what to verify, not as a
+        claim.
+      pattern_note: >-
+        `regex` encodes the current three-letter/four-numeral passenger
+        arrangement, corroborated by DOL's own plate imagery and by the
+        encyclopedia record. It is written with an OPTIONAL space (` ?`)
+        because Washington prints the group boundary as a kerning gap rather
+        than a glyph — PRD-PLATES §2.6 rule 2 requires the printed form.
+        There is NO `regex_statutory`: Washington's statute states no outer
+        bound to be encoded, which is itself the finding.
+    design:
+      plate: { w: 12, h: 6, unit: in, w_mm: 304.8, h_mm: 152.4, dimension_basis: convention-observed }
+      dimension_note: >-
+        NOT STATUTORY. RCW 46.16A.200(1)(e): plates "Must be of a size and
+        color and show the registration period as determined by the
+        director." No Washington instrument fixing 12 x 6 in was located, and
+        the AAMVA chain delegates the dimension to the unpinned SAE J686, so
+        12 x 6 in is recorded as the North American convention as observed,
+        not as a sourced Washington claim.
+      material_rule: "RCW 46.16A.200(1)(d): plates 'Must be treated with fully reflectorized materials designed to increase visibility and legibility at night'. (2): plates issued before 1 January 1968 are exempt — a live carve-out, because horseless-carriage plates issued before 1987 need never be replaced (see replacement_rule)."
+      background: { color: "#FFFFFF", finish: retroreflective, hex_basis: observed }
+      foreground_note: >-
+        NAVY / DARK BLUE CHARACTERS, HEX UNMEASURED AND DELIBERATELY NOT
+        INVENTED. Neither RCW 46.16A.200 nor any WAC located states a colour;
+        the statute says colour is "as determined by the director". Rather
+        than fabricate a hex from a JPEG, the colour is recorded by name with
+        `hex_basis: unmeasured`. A departmental specification or a measured
+        sample is the open item.
+      legend_top: "Washington"
+      legend_rule: "RCW 46.16A.200(1)(c): plates 'Must designate the name of the state of Washington without abbreviation.' That is the ONLY legend Washington law mandates."
+      graphic: { present: true, rendered: placeholder, description: "Mount Rainier motif behind the serial — observed from DOL plate imagery and the encyclopedia record; NOT from any statutory drawing" }
+      emblem: { present: true, rendered: placeholder }
+      slogan_note: >-
+        The "EVERGREEN STATE" slogan is reported on the base in issue through
+        2024. It is NOT mandated by RCW 46.16A.200, which requires only the
+        state name. Recorded as design, not law.
+      rear_differs: false
+      manufacture: "RCW 46.16A.200(1): plates 'may be obtained by the director from the metal working plant of a state correctional facility or from any source in accordance with existing state of Washington purchasing procedures' — prison manufacture is expressly contemplated in statute, but not required."
+      reported_2024_transition: >-
+        LOCATOR-GRADE, NOT ASSERTED, AND DELIBERATELY NOT MINTED AS A SERIES
+        BOUNDARY. The encyclopedia record reports an October 2024 change from
+        an embossed plate to an un-embossed (flat, digitally printed) plate
+        with navy characters, on the SAME three-letter/four-numeral
+        arrangement and with the serial block simply continuing. No DOL
+        instrument announcing it was located in this pass. Because the format
+        and the period are unchanged and only the manufacturing method and
+        hue moved, PRD-PLATES §2.3 would in any case make this a sub-entry
+        rather than a series — and on this evidence it is not even that. It
+        is recorded here so a verifier knows exactly what to chase.
+    replacement_rule:
+      clock: none
+      statutory_text: >-
+        RCW 46.16A.200(9)(a): an owner "must apply for a replacement license
+        plate or plates: (i) When taking ownership of the vehicle; (ii) if the
+        current license plate or plates assigned to the vehicle have been
+        lost, defaced, or destroyed; or (iii) if one or both plates have
+        become so illegible or are in such a condition as to be difficult to
+        distinguish."
+      transfer_rule: "RCW 46.16A.200(8)(a): 'Standard issue license plates must be replaced when ownership of the vehicle changes ... but the registered owner may retain the license plates and transfer them to a replacement vehicle of the same use.' The plate follows the OWNER on transfer, not the vehicle — while `binding: vehicle` still holds, because the plate is assigned to a vehicle at any instant."
+      transfer_exceptions: "RCW 46.16A.200(8)(d): replacement is NOT required where the ownership change is adding/removing a lienholder, a transfer between spouses or registered domestic partners, removing a deceased spouse or partner, a gift or inheritance within the registered owner's immediate family, a transfer into or out of a trust benefiting the owner or immediate family, a lease buy-out, or a name change."
+      never_replaced: "RCW 46.16A.200(10): horseless carriage plates issued under RCW 46.18.255 before 1 January 1987, Medal of Honor plates under RCW 46.18.230, and plates for commercial motor vehicles over 26,000 lb gross weight are NOT subject to the replacement duty at all."
+      note: >-
+        WASHINGTON IS THE ANTI-FLORIDA ON REPLACEMENT. Florida legislated ten
+        years, the top of AAMVA's recommended 7-10 band. Washington legislated
+        NO PERIOD WHATSOEVER: replacement is triggered by an EVENT (sale,
+        loss, illegibility), never by a clock, and three plate classes are
+        exempt even from that. Any consumer inferring plate age from a
+        replacement cycle will be wrong in Washington, and pre-1968 plates are
+        additionally exempt from the reflectorization requirement.
+    region_encoding: none
+    sources:
+      - "https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=46.16A.200  # (1)(a)-(f) design delegation, state-name requirement, reflectorization, artwork approval; (2) the pre-1968 reflectorization carve-out; (4)(a) plate counts; (8) transfer and its seven exceptions; (9) the event-triggered replacement duty; (10) the three never-replaced classes; (12) tabs and emblems"
+      - "https://dol.wa.gov/vehicles-and-boats/vehicles/license-plates  # DOL's own plate estate: the standard/custom/replacement service structure and the plate imagery the observed colours are taken from"
+      - "https://www.aamva.org/getmedia/646bcc8a-219b-47d8-b5cd-726240473163/License-Plate-Standard-Edition-3_September-2025-Update.pdf  # AAMVA Ed.3 §1.1, the 7-10 year recommendation Washington declined to legislate"
+      - "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_registration_plates_of_Washington_(state)  # LOCATOR ONLY (PRD-PLATES §4): the reported 2010 arrangement change, the reported October 2024 flat-plate transition, the reported I/O/Q exclusion and the reported serial ranges. None is asserted as sourced here."
+    notes: >-
+      WASHINGTON STANDARD ISSUE. THE ID IS DELIBERATELY UNDATED, for the same
+      reason us-fl-standard is: Washington law fixes no design generation, DOL
+      publishes no changelog, and the only dates available are
+      encyclopedia-grade. `start: 2026` is the year the RCW was read and is an
+      UPPER BOUND on the true start; Washington has issued three-letter /
+      four-numeral plates for well over a decade. When a departmental
+      instrument lands, a dated id is added and this id becomes its former-id
+      alias under the PRD-QUALITY I-5/I-6 contract. THE STRUCTURAL FINDING
+      WORTH CARRYING: Washington delegates the whole design to the director by
+      statute, so unlike Florida, Montana and Wyoming there is no statutory
+      design text to mine — the primary-source ceiling for Washington plate
+      DESIGN facts is a departmental rule that does not appear to exist.
+
+  # =========================================================================
+  # ONE SERIES BACK. Encyclopedia-grade boundaries, marked as such.
+  # =========================================================================
+  - id: us-wa-standard-numeric-first
+    class: standard
+    categories: [car, van, truck, bus]
+    period: { start: 1987, end: 2010 }
+    period_evidence: secondary-locator-only
+    period_caveat: >-
+      NOT A SOURCED CLAIM. Both boundary years come from the encyclopedia
+      record and NOTHING ELSE — no Washington instrument stating either year
+      was located. They are recorded rather than omitted because the
+      ARRANGEMENT (three numerals then three letters) is independently
+      verifiable from any surviving plate, while the YEARS are not. A verifier
+      must either pin them to a DOL or Session Laws instrument or downgrade
+      them to `ended: true` with no start.
+    matching: strict
+    format:
+      pattern: "999 LLL"
+      regex: '\A\d{3}[- ]?[A-Z]{3}\z'
+      charset:
+        notes: >-
+          The reported exclusion of I, O and Q from the FIRST letter position
+          in the 1987-1998 sub-range is locator-grade and is not encoded.
+      pattern_note: >-
+        The group boundary is spelled as the separator-only class `[- ]`,
+        which PRD-PLATES §2.8 sanctions, because the printed boundary on this
+        base is a gap on some issues and a dash-like element on others and no
+        authority text settles it. `pattern` shows the canonical printed form
+        with a space.
+    design:
+      plate: { w: 12, h: 6, unit: in, dimension_basis: convention-observed }
+      background: { color: "#FFFFFF", finish: retroreflective, hex_basis: observed }
+      foreground_note: "dark blue characters; hex unmeasured, not invented"
+      legend_top: "Washington"
+      graphic: { present: true, rendered: placeholder, description: "Mount Rainier motif — observed, not from a statutory drawing" }
+      emblem: { present: true, rendered: placeholder }
+    region_encoding: none
+    sources:
+      - "https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=46.16A.200  # the statutory frame this series was issued under is unchanged: (1)(c) state name, (1)(d) reflectorization, (1)(e) size and colour by the director"
+      - "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_registration_plates_of_Washington_(state)  # LOCATOR ONLY: the 999-LLL arrangement and both boundary years, neither asserted as sourced"
+    notes: >-
+      THE PREVIOUS WASHINGTON BASE ARRANGEMENT. Kept as its own series because
+      the FORMAT differs from the current one, which is the PRD-PLATES §2.3
+      test, and because a parser needs it: a Washington plate of unknown
+      vintage is either 999-LLL or LLL9999 and nothing else. Its period is the
+      weakest data in this file and says so on its face. Distinct from
+      us-wa-standard in that this series is closed and numeral-leading; the
+      current series is open and letter-leading.
+
+  # =========================================================================
+  # CORE DISTINCT CLASSES. Washington separately serializes these; the formats
+  # are LOCATOR-GRADE, so each is `recall-only` per PRD-PLATES §2.7 — a match
+  # is a shape hit and nothing more, and the regexes are deliberately widened
+  # so that recall-only is the honest description rather than a hedge.
+  # =========================================================================
+  - id: us-wa-motorcycle
+    class: motorcycle
+    categories: [motorcycle]
+    period: { start: 2026 }
+    period_evidence: instrument-in-force-upper-bound
+    matching: recall-only
+    format:
+      pattern: "9L9999"
+      regex: '\A\d[A-Z]\d{3,5}\z'
+      charset:
+        notes: >-
+          Washington law states no motorcycle serial grammar. RCW
+          46.16A.200(4)(a)(ii) establishes only that a motorcycle receives ONE
+          plate. The digit-letter-digits shape is locator-grade; the regex is
+          widened on the numeral count so that a match claims a SHAPE and not
+          a grammar.
+    design:
+      plate_note: "reduced size; no Washington instrument stating motorcycle plate dimensions was located (recorded gap). RCW 46.16A.200(1)(e) leaves size to the director."
+      background: { finish: retroreflective }
+      emblem: { present: true, rendered: placeholder }
+    region_encoding: none
+    sources:
+      - "https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=46.16A.200  # (4)(a)(ii): one plate for a motorcycle; (1)(e): size determined by the director"
+      - "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_registration_plates_of_Washington_(state)  # LOCATOR ONLY: the reported motorcycle serial shape"
+    notes: >-
+      MOTORCYCLE. `recall-only` is the point, not a hedge: the only Washington
+      motorcycle fact with a primary source is the plate COUNT (one). The
+      serial shape is encyclopedia-grade and the regex is written wide enough
+      to say so.
+
+  - id: us-wa-trailer
+    class: trailer
+    categories: [trailer]
+    period: { start: 2026 }
+    period_evidence: instrument-in-force-upper-bound
+    matching: recall-only
+    format:
+      pattern: "99999LL"
+      regex: '\A\d{4,6}[A-Z]{2}\z'
+      charset: { notes: "no statutory grammar; digits-then-two-letters shape is locator-grade and the digit count is widened accordingly" }
+    design:
+      background: { finish: retroreflective }
+      emblem: { present: true, rendered: placeholder }
+    region_encoding: none
+    sources:
+      - "https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=46.16A.200  # (4)(a)(ii): one plate for a trailer or semitrailer"
+      - "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_registration_plates_of_Washington_(state)  # LOCATOR ONLY: the reported trailer serial shape"
+    notes: >-
+      TRAILER. Washington separately serializes trailers and issues them ONE
+      plate by statute. Note the interaction with display_rules: RCW
+      46.16A.200(5)(b)(iv) expressly allows a trailer plate obstructed by a
+      forklift carrier to be RELOCATED above the four-foot limit, which is the
+      only place in the group where the mounting geometry bends for a class.
+
+  # =========================================================================
+  # SPECIALTY — THE PROGRAM INDEX, per PRD-PLATES §2.5. Washington is the one
+  # state in this group whose specialty programme is ENUMERATED IN STATUTE,
+  # which makes its index unusually strong and its count unusually contested.
+  # =========================================================================
+  - id: us-wa-specialty-index
+    class: specialty
+    categories: [car, van, truck, motorcycle]
+    period: { start: 2026 }
+    period_evidence: instrument-in-force-upper-bound
+    matching: recall-only
+    format:
+      pattern: "LLL9999"
+      regex: '\A[A-Z0-9](?: ?[A-Z0-9]){0,6}\z'
+      charset:
+        notes: >-
+          Washington special plates do NOT all carry the standard passenger
+          arrangement — several run their own shorter serials. Because no
+          per-programme grammar was sourced (individual specialty specs are L4
+          per PRD-PLATES §2.5), the index carries a deliberately wide union
+          and is `recall-only`. A match says "this string could sit on some
+          Washington special plate" and nothing more.
+    design:
+      plate: { w: 12, h: 6, unit: in, dimension_basis: convention-observed }
+      background: { finish: retroreflective }
+      note: "one design per authorised programme; the designs themselves are L4 scope and none is described here"
+      emblem: { present: true, rendered: placeholder }
+    program_index:
+      count_statutory: 49
+      count_statutory_note: >-
+        49 NAMED ENTRIES in the RCW 46.18.200(2) table as read on 2026-08-02.
+        The count of DESIGNS is higher: the "Armed forces collection" entry is
+        defined in the statute as including "six separate designs, each
+        containing a symbol representing a different branch of the armed
+        forces", so the statutory table describes at least 54 designs.
+      count_agency: "approximately 89 plates across eleven categories on DOL's own special-design gallery (U.S. Armed Forces, Military Services and Veterans, Charitable Organizations, Collector Vehicles, Colleges and Universities, First Responders, Parks and Nature, Special Interest, Sports, Tribal, Miscellaneous)"
+      count_discrepancy_note: >-
+        THE COUNTS ARE NOT RECONCILED AND ARE NOT AVERAGED (PRD-PLATES §5.3).
+        The statute enumerates 49; DOL's gallery shows roughly 89. The gap is
+        structural rather than an error: the DOL gallery mixes in plate types
+        authorised elsewhere in Title 46 (Medal of Honor, Former Prisoner of
+        War, Disabled American Veteran, disabled parking, personalized,
+        rideshare, collector, horseless carriage, tribal) that are not
+        "special license plates" under RCW 46.18.200(2). Both figures are
+        recorded with their sources.
+      statutory_list_url: "https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=46.18.200"
+      official_gallery_url: "https://dol.wa.gov/vehicles-and-boats/vehicles/license-plates/get-custom-plates/special-design-plates"
+      moratorium: >-
+        THE FINDING NO COMPETING DATASET CARRIES. RCW 46.18.200(6): "Except for
+        special license plates created under chapter 385, Laws of 2025 and as
+        specified in this subsection, the department may not issue any new
+        special license plates until January 1, 2029." The subsection then
+        sets a PHASED issuance order for the chapter-385 plates keyed to when
+        DOL received signature sheets satisfying RCW 46.18.110(2)(f) — before
+        1 March 2025 (plus Keep Washington Evergreen and Historical Throwback)
+        first, then the later sheets in submission order. Washington's
+        specialty catalogue is therefore FROZEN by statute for the next two
+        and a half years, which makes this index unusually stable and makes
+        the date 2029-01-01 the natural re-audit trigger.
+      eligibility_gates: >-
+        RCW 46.18.200(3): professional firefighter and paramedic plates
+        require a certificate of current membership from the Washington state
+        council of firefighters. (4): volunteer firefighter plates require ten
+        years' service, or one or more years plus documentation, with
+        surrender duties on early departure and on a conviction under RCW
+        46.61.502 or a felony; maximum one set per vehicle and two sets per
+        applicant. (5): the Seattle NHL hockey plate may not issue until the
+        signature-sheet requirement is met.
+      third_party_artwork_note: >-
+        See `artwork_risk`. The statutory table itself is the evidence that
+        much of this catalogue's artwork is third-party property.
+    region_encoding: none
+    sources:
+      - "https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=46.18.200  # the full statutory special-plate table (49 entries, armed forces = six designs); (3)-(4) eligibility and surrender rules; (5) the NHL signature-sheet gate; (6) the moratorium to 1 January 2029 and the chapter-385 phased issuance order"
+      - "https://dol.wa.gov/vehicles-and-boats/vehicles/license-plates/get-custom-plates/special-design-plates  # DOL's own gallery: roughly 89 plates in eleven categories — the contested count, recorded not averaged"
+      - "https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=46.16A.200  # (1)(f): special series may display a symbol or artwork approved by the department"
+    notes: >-
+      THE WASHINGTON SPECIALTY INDEX — one entry standing for the whole
+      programme, which is what PRD-PLATES §2.5 asks for at this gate. Two
+      things worth carrying forward. First, Washington is the rare state whose
+      specialty catalogue is a STATUTORY TABLE rather than an agency list,
+      which means the index is citable to an edict of government and is
+      therefore public domain even though the state's posture is adverse.
+      Second, the RCW 46.18.200(6) moratorium is a hard, dated freeze to
+      1 January 2029 — a fact with real product value (the catalogue will not
+      churn) and a natural audit date.
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Classes Washington separately serializes but which are NOT given series here,
+# because no format was sourced and this dataset does not invent grammars.
+# Each carries its statutory hook so the next pass starts from a citation.
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+unspecified_classes:
+  dealer:
+    statutory_hook: "RCW 46.16A.200(3): 'License plates issued to a dealer must contain an indication that the license plates have been issued to a vehicle dealer.' The existence and the marking duty are sourced; the serial grammar is not."
+    gap: "no dealer serial format located in RCW, WAC or DOL publications"
+  personalized:
+    statutory_hook: "RCW 46.18.200(1)(a): special series 'May be issued in lieu of standard issue or personalized license plates'. DOL sells personalized plates through its custom-plate service."
+    gap: "the character cap and the content-refusal criteria were not located in RCW or WAC; DOL's availability checker was not machine-read. No series is minted rather than guess a cap."
+  government:
+    statutory_hook: "RCW 46.16A.200(8)(c) contemplates plates 'issued to the state or any county, city, town, school district, or other political subdivision entitled to exemption as provided by law'."
+    gap: "no exempt/government serial format located"
+  temporary:
+    statutory_hook: "RCW 46.16A.320 (trip permits) is referenced from DOL's plate estate as the unlicensed-vehicle instrument."
+    gap: "the trip-permit document format was not obtained; it may not be a plate in the schema's sense at all"
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Dead ends and open items, recorded so the next pass does not repeat them.
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+research_notes:
+  reachability:
+    - "app.leg.wa.gov serves the RCW as HTML and was fully readable; note it renders BOTH the operative and the 2027-effective version of 46.16A.200 on one page, which a naive scraper will concatenate."
+    - "WAC 308-96A-021 was fetched and turned out NOT to be a display rule at all — it is the REPLACEMENT-PLATE rule ('For an additional fee, you may replace them with the same number and letter combination as long as the plate meets a current approved license plate configuration and background'). The US/world dossier's pin-list cites 308-96A-021 as 'WA plate display admin code'; THAT PIN IS WRONG and should be corrected in the source appendix. Display law is in RCW 46.16A.200(5), not the WAC."
+  open_items:
+    - "No departmental instrument fixing Washington plate colours, dimensions or serial grammar was located. If none exists, that absence should itself be recorded as a sourced negative after a WAC 308-96A sweep."
+    - "The reported October 2024 flat-plate transition needs a DOL instrument before any dated series id is minted."
+    - "{{PD-WSRC}} on Commons was not resolved to its scope in this pass; it is not a state-wide Washington PD tag."