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October 14, 2021 Leah LaCivita Category: Climate change, new legislation and regulations

The Washington State Legislative Assembly in 2021 enacted an ambitious set of climate-related bills, some of which are included in the 2021 climate-related legislation.

This blog covers other bills that collectively reflect legislative priorities for reducing waste and pollution and expanding the use of non-carbon-based fuels.

HB 1050 has increased the regulation of hydrofluorocarbons (HFC). HFC is a greenhouse gas that is widely used in a variety of applications, including refrigeration, air conditioning, building insulation, fire suppression systems, and aerosols. The legislative authority regulated HFC for the first time in 2019, but the legislation went a step further and officially designated it as an ozone-depleting substance.

The Washington State Department of Ecology passed a rule (Chapter 173-443 WAC, Hydrofluorocarbons) in December 2019 to transition from the use of HFC in products and equipment. HB 1050 now instructs Ecology to set the maximum global warming potential threshold for new stationary air-conditioning equipment, new and existing stationary refrigeration equipment, and HFCs used in ice rinks; to develop regulations for the management of emissions from large air-conditioning and refrigeration equipment Plan; and recommend how to safely manage and dispose of refrigerant.

The bill also requires the Washington State Building Code Commission to develop new standards that allow the replacement of HFCs with lower global warming potential than HFCs.

SB 5022 prohibits the manufacture, sale and distribution of certain expanded polystyrene products (also known as styrofoam), including packaging peanuts, styrofoam coolers, and food utensils (ie cups, plates, bowls) before June 2024 And clamshell container). With this bill, Washington is the seventh state in the United States to ban polystyrene foam food containers and the first state to ban foam plastic coolers.

It also prohibits food companies from automatically including disposable tableware, cups, lids and condiments in their take-out orders. Instead, customers must request additional items, or food companies can put them on the counter for self-service.

SB 5022 also requires that by 2031, all plastic containers used for beverages, household cleaning products, personal care products, and garbage bags sold in Washington contain up to 50% post-consumer recycled content.

As part of the 2021 legislative session, the legislature issued a budget statement that will allocate more than $3 million in the next two years to support the Ministry of Commerce (Commerce) in formulating guidelines to help cities and counties integrate mitigation and recovery goals into local integration plan. plan.

Although for decades, the Growth Management Act (GMA) required certain cities and counties to develop comprehensive plans, climate is not the target area of ​​the GMA plan. To assist local jurisdictions in addressing this important topic, the Ministry of Commerce will create model elements to help local jurisdictions. The first will provide a series of actions that counties and cities can take under existing statutory powers that have proven their ability to reduce vehicle mileage per capita, thereby reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Doing so can help the state achieve the greenhouse gas emission reductions specified in RCW 70A.45.020(1).

The Ministry of Commerce will also create a model climate change and elastic elements to provide the following guidance for cities, counties, and multi-county planning areas:

The model elements will expire on June 30, 2023. For more information about this program, please contact Sarah Fox.

Thanks to HB 1514, small car owners can now provide formal carpooling services. The bill reduces the minimum number of people required for carpooling from 5 to 3, including the driver, and cancels the weight and travel requirements originally proposed in RCW 46.74.010.

In 1991, the Washington State Legislature passed the Commute Reduction (CTR) Act, which required large private and public employers (with more than 100 workers working on a construction site and working on two or more working days at 6 am). Employers who start working between 9 am) for at least 12 consecutive months) implement a plan to reduce the number and time of commuting by car alone.

Employers develop and maintain workplace-based CTR programs, and the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) provides technical assistance to staff the CTR committee, maintain CTR data that employers can use for planning, and develop statewide CTR policies and practices.

Rideshare is one of several tools that the state encourages workplaces to provide as part of the CTR program, as well as other methods such as free transportation passes or telecommuting options. In addition, any vehicle purchased primarily for carpooling is eligible for certain tax exemptions and tax credits and license plates related to carpooling.

SB 5000 created an eight-year statewide pilot program to reduce the sales tax on hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles—just like the sales tax relief for buyers of plug-in electric vehicles. SB 5000 will allow a total of 650 vehicles to receive a 50% sales tax exemption from fiscal year 2023 to 2029.

Hydrogen fuel cells generate electricity through a chemical reaction between hydrogen fuel and oxygen in the air. Like batteries, hydrogen fuel produces zero emissions, but unlike batteries, they do not require charging. Proponents of hydrogen fuel touted it as a green alternative to diesel and gasoline, and some transportation agencies, such as Portland’s TriMet, are seeking to phase out the use of carbon-based fuels (ie, unleaded gasoline, diesel).

However, this technology is relatively more expensive than existing battery-electric and/or diesel bus technology, and the infrastructure required to support mass adoption, such as a gas station network, has only just begun to develop.

To help address this infrastructure demand, the legislature approved Senate Bill 5588 in 2019, which authorizes public utility districts to produce and sell renewable hydrogen to facilities that condense or distribute natural gas or renewable hydrogen for use as vehicle fuel .

In March of this year, the Douglas County Public Utilities District used this authority to break ground on a green hydrogen production facility near Wenatchee. In September, the Chehalis Daily reported on Chehalis Port and Chehalis A new memorandum of understanding between the ports-based on Twin Transit to build a hydrogen fuel station on the port property. It is hoped that the station will open in October 2022. By 2023, Twin Transit will receive a fleet of small buses equipped with hydrogen fuel cells.

Any electric vehicle (EV) driver driving in the state is faced with a dizzying array of public or private electric vehicle chargers, some require a card and/or account to operate, some only provide certain types of chargers, and look for The challenge of fast chargers running at the fastest charging rate. SB 5192 hopes to see all these changes and provide a more standardized experience for electric vehicle owners. bill:

WSDA has established a rule-making site based on WAC Chapters 16-662 and has held several meetings to receive opinions from stakeholders. WSDA must pass the rules before January 1, 2023.

The Washington Photovoltaic (PV) Module Management and Recycling Program (Program) was first passed in 2017, requiring solar photovoltaic manufacturers to fund the recycling and recycling of panels for their owners free of charge. HB 1393 postponed the implementation date of certain plans for another two years.

The management model seeks to minimize the impact of products on the environment by making manufacturers responsible for their entire life cycle. Our state has already required a variety of items (from fluorescent lamps and other mercury-containing lamps, to electronic products, paints, and even pharmaceuticals). ) To supervise. However, only Washington and California have passed legislation requiring photovoltaic recycling and recycling.

The plan calls for the recycling of residential solar panels and solar panels used in large-scale utility projects such as solar farms. The main challenge in recycling solar panels lies in not damaging the critical semiconductor layers during the process of disassembling the solar panels. This makes the recycling process difficult and time-consuming, and therefore much more expensive than simply throwing away the panel.

HB 1393 has postponed the initial implementation date, and now requires manufacturers (or designated organizations) to submit management plans to the ecology before July 1, 2024, and submit reports on the implementation and results of these plans before April 1, 2026 report.

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