2018 legislative review
Mike Chapman , D-Port Angeles , requires the Department of Natural Resources to do periodic reporting on marbled murrelet conditions and protections . A coalition of businesses and local government representatives succeeded in amending the final Supplemental Operating Budget , SB 6032 Section 308 ( 24 ), to reiterate the state ’ s trust mandate obligation to beneficiaries of trust land resource revenues . Other marbled murrelet bills included House Bill 2300 and Senate bills 6020 and 6032 ( the final Supplemental Operating Budget ).
HB 2658 pfas in food packaging
Passed / AWB Opposed
AWB members have been advisory committee members to the poly- and perfluorinated alkyl substances ( PFAS ) Chemical Action Plan ( CAP ) at the state Department of Ecology since 2015 . The CAP process seeks to convene stakeholders and scientists to provide recommendations to the Legislature for whether and how to regulate certain chemicals . The CAP was scheduled to finish in 2018 , but before it had the chance , the environmentalist group Toxic-Free Future ( which was also a member of the CAP Advisory Committee ) introduced legislation to ban PFAS in food packaging . House Bill 2658 , sponsored by Rep . Joan McBride , D-Kirkland , requires an Alternative Assessment to be performed prior to the ban taking place , but since the products are federally-regulated and considered safe by the U . S . Food and Drug Administration , it is unclear whether the assessment will produce truly safer alternatives . Banning a substance before creating private-sector consensus and phase-out opportunities is an unprecedented move that could expose Washington state to litigation .
SB 6413 pfas in firefighting foams
Passed / AWB Opposed
In past years , the Washington state Department of Ecology has discovered
Rep . Richard DeBolt , R-Chehalis , is the ranking member of the Capital Budget Committee and assistant ranking member of the Technology & Economic Development Committee .
“ long-chain ” PFAS chemicals PFOA and PFOS in groundwater reserves surrounding military bases . The PFOA and PFOS contamination results from military and firefighter training exercises using the chemicals to extinguish fires ignited by flammable liquids such as aircraft or vehicle fires . The PFOA and PFOS are found to be persistent , bioaccumulative , and toxic , so industry voluntarily phased out their manufacture and replaced them with “ short-chain ” PFAS chemistries that are not shown to have the same damaging characteristics . However , the group Toxic- Free Future proposed Senate Bill 6413 , sponsored by Sen . Kevin Van De Wege , D-Sequim , to ban the use of PFAS in all firefighting foams that are not required to meet military specifications . As such , federal military bases , airports , or other facilities may still use the long-chain foams . The bill did not address remediation measures such as groundwater cleanup on those sites , which are a higher priority for the PFAS CAP . Rather than an outright ban , AWB members supported sticking to the recommendations of the PFAS CAP which include protecting drinking water , collecting legacy stockpiles , and examining research on safer alternatives .
land use , water resources and regulatory reform
ESSB 6091 legislative hirst fix
Passed / AWB Supported
AWB supported Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill 6091 , sponsored by Rep . Kevin Van De Wege , D-Sequim , which provided a legislative fix for the Hirst water rights decision . In 2016 , in a ruling known as the Hirst decision , the Washington Supreme Court ruled that counties ( not the state ) must determine whether adequate water is available before issuing a building permit . This caused many counties , especially in rural areas to stop issuing building permits .
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