BILL REQ. #:  H-0504.1 

Read first time 01/21/2003.   Referred to Committee on Technology, Telecommunications & Energy.

     AN ACT Relating to the use of biodiesel; and adding new sections to chapter 43.19 RCW.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   A new section is added to chapter 43.19 RCW to read as follows:
     The legislature recognizes that:
     (1) Biodiesel is less polluting than petroleum diesel;
     (2) Using biodiesel in neat form or blended with petroleum diesel significantly reduces air toxics and cancer-causing compounds as well as the soot associated with petroleum diesel exhaust;
     (3) Biodiesel degrades much faster than petroleum diesel;
     (4) Biodiesel is less toxic than petroleum fuels;
     (5) The United States environmental protection agency's new emission standards for petroleum diesel that take effect June 1, 2006, will require the addition of a lubricant to ultra-low sulfur diesel to counteract premature wear of injection pumps; and
     (6) Biodiesel provides the needed lubricity to ultra-low sulfur diesel.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   A new section is added to chapter 43.19 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) All state agencies are encouraged to use a blend of twenty percent biodiesel (B20) with petroleum diesel for use in diesel-powered vehicles and equipment.
     (2) Effective June 1, 2006, when ultra-low sulfur diesel is mandated by the United States environmental protection agency, all state agencies shall use biodiesel as an additive to ultra-low sulfur diesel for lubricity. The amount of biodiesel added to the ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel shall be not less than two percent.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   A new section is added to chapter 43.19 RCW to read as follows:
     The definitions in this section apply throughout sections 1 and 2 of this act unless the context clearly requires otherwise.
     (1) "B20" means a fuel blend containing not less than nineteen percent or more than twenty-one percent biodiesel.
     (2) "Biodiesel" means diesel fuel that consists of a mono alkyl ester of long chain fatty acids derived from vegetable oils or animal fats for use in compression-ignition engines and that meets the requirements of the American society of testing and materials specification D 6751 when blended with conventional diesel fuel.
     (3) "Ultra-low sulfur diesel" means petroleum diesel in which the sulfur content is not more than fifteen parts per million.