HOUSE BILL REPORT

                  HB 1613

             As Reported By House Committee On:

                    Agriculture & Ecology

Title:  An act relating to funding of a state biosolids management program.

Brief Description:  Funding a biosolids management program.

Sponsors:  Representatives Chandler and Regala.

Brief History:

Committee Activity:

Agriculture & Ecology:  2/12/97, 2/17/97 [DPS].

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE & ECOLOGY

Majority Report:  The substitute bill be substituted therefor and the substitute bill do pass.  Signed by 11 members:  Representatives Chandler, Chairman; Parlette, Vice Chairman; Schoesler, Vice Chairman; Linville, Ranking Minority Member; Anderson, Assistant Ranking Minority Member; Cooper; Delvin; Koster; Mastin; Regala and Sump.

Staff:  Rick Anderson (786-7114).

Background:  Sewage sludge that has been removed from a wastewater treatment plant or collected from septic tanks is regulated as a solid waste.  The Department of Ecology (DOE) has adopted rules and published guidelines that establish the conditions under which sewage sludge can be applied to land.  Local health departments are responsible for issuing solid waste permits for the use and disposal of municipal sludge.  Approximately 85 percent of sewage sludge generated in the state is beneficially reused through land application to forests, farms, or reclamation sites.  The remainder is incinerated or disposed of in landfills.

The federal Clean Water Act of 1987 required the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to develop rules to increase federal requirements for sludge management.  In 1989, the EPA adopted rules relating to how states must regulate a sludge management program.  These rules, in part, require states to have direct enforcement authority, including the power to impose both civil and criminal penalties, and to have the power to delegate permitting authority to local governments.  EPA rules adopted in 1993 established technical standards for the use and disposal of sludge, including numeric standards for toxics and pathogens.

Biosolids is a term used to define sewage sludge that meets specified state and federal standards.

In 1992, the Legislature directed the DOE to develop a biosolids management program that would conform with federal regulations on municipal sewage sludge.  The DOE has direct enforcement authority and may delegate permitting authority to a qualified local health jurisdiction.  The program is funded through a surcharge on certain waste discharge permit fees and has received federal grants. 

The DOE has developed a draft rule to implement the federal standards but has not adopted this rule.  Under these rules, municipal sewage sludge that meets all state and federal standards is to be regulated as a biosolid.  Sludge that does not meet these standards will be regulated as a solid waste but may not be applied to land.  The DOE is not eligible to receive federal delegation to administer a biosolids program until it adopts a rule meeting federal requirements.

Summary of Substitute Bill:  The DOE is directed to establish annual fees to recover the costs of administering a biosolids program, including the costs of providing technical assistance.  A fee schedule must be adopted by rule and may not be revised more than once every two years.  Fees apply to all permits and will be levied at the beginning of the funding cycle.  The fee must be based on the number of residents or other similar criteria.

A biosolids permit account is established in the state treasury.  Money from the account may be spent only after appropriation and only for the purposes of administering a biosolids program.  The DOE must submit a report every two years detailing revenues and expenditures of the current funding cycle and estimate fiscal requirements for future funding cycles.  The DOE must work with local health departments and permit holders to study the feasibility of allowing delegated local governments to receive a portion of the state imposed fee.  

The biosolids program is made ineligible for wastewater discharge permit fees.

Substitute Bill Compared to Original Bill:  The substitute bill clarifies that the DOE can recover the cost of providing  technical assistance through its fee-setting authority.

Appropriation:  None.

Fiscal Note:  Requested on February 11, 1997.

Effective Date of Substitute Bill:  Ninety days after adjournment of session in which bill is passed.

Testimony For:  The bill will allow one permitting entity to regulate biosolids permits.  The bill will keep the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency from regulating these permits.  The DOE, not the EPA, should be regulating biosolids permits. Streamlining the regulatory process will encourage greater investment in biosolids recycling.  Fees charged by the department will be subject to legislative appropriation.

Testimony Against:  None.

Testified:  Ed Dzedzy, WA Environmental Health Directors (WALPHO); Robert Thode Fire Mt. Farms, Inc.; Ed Thorpe, Coalition for Clean Water; Roger Hickey, Bio Recycling Corp.; Jim Pendowski, Department of Ecology; and Dan Thompson, City of Everett (in favor).