BILL REQ. #:  H-0953.1 

Read first time 02/03/2003.   Referred to Committee on Fisheries, Ecology & Parks.

     AN ACT Relating to reducing neighborhood wood smoke pollution; amending RCW 70.94.470, 70.94.473, and 70.94.483; and adding a new section to chapter 70.94 RCW.

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

Sec. 1   RCW 70.94.470 and 1991 c 199 s 502 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) The department shall establish, by rule under chapter 34.05 RCW, (((a))) a statewide opacity level of twenty percent for residential solid fuel burning devices for ((the purpose of)) enforcement on a complaint basis and (((b) a statewide opacity of ten percent)) for ((purposes of)) public education.
     (2) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter which may allow an authority to adopt a more stringent opacity level, no authority shall adopt or enforce an opacity level for solid fuel burning devices other than established in this section.
     (3) Actions of the department and local air pollution control authorities under this section shall preempt actions of other state agencies and local governments for the purposes of controlling air pollution from solid fuel burning devices, except where authorized by chapter 199, Laws of 1991.

Sec. 2   RCW 70.94.473 and 1998 c 342 s 8 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) Any person in a residence or commercial establishment which has an adequate source of heat without burning wood shall((:
     (a))) not burn wood in any solid fuel burning device whenever the department has determined under RCW 70.94.715 that any air pollution episode exists in that geographic area((;
     (b) Not burn wood in any solid fuel burning device except those which are either Oregon department of environmental quality phase II or United States environmental protection agency certified or certified by the department under RCW 70.94.457(1) or a pellet stove either certified or issued an exemption by the United States environmental protection agency in accordance with Title 40, Part 60 of the code of federal regulations, in the geographical area and for the period of time that a first stage of)) or an impaired air quality has been determined, by the department or any authority, for that geographic area, for the period of time that the event lasts. ((A first stage of))
     (2)(a) An impaired air quality event is reached when: (i) Before March 31, 2004, particulates ten microns and smaller in diameter are at an ambient level of sixty micrograms per cubic meter measured on a twenty-four hour average; (ii) after March 31, 2004, particulates two and one-half microns and smaller in diameter are at an ambient level that exceeds the level set by the department pursuant to subsection (3) of this section; or when (iii) carbon monoxide is at an ambient level of eight parts of contaminant per million parts of air by volume measured on an eight-hour average((; and
     (c) Not burn wood in any solid fuel burning device in a geographical area and for the period of time that a second stage of impaired air quality has been determined by the department or any authority, for that area. A second stage of impaired air quality is reached when particulates ten microns and smaller in diameter are at an ambient level of one hundred five micrograms per cubic meter measured on a twenty-four hour average)).
     (((2))) (b) The department must adopt in rule the ambient level of particulates two and one-half microns and smaller in diameter that must be measured in order to reach an impaired air quality event after March 31, 2004. If possible, the rules adopted under this section should conform to standards adopted by the federal government for ambient particulate matter. The department may amend any rules adopted under this section should federal standards change or the department find that a lower particulate concentration is appropriate for the protection of human health.
     (3) Actions of the department and local air pollution control authorities under this section shall preempt actions of other state agencies and local governments for the purposes of controlling air pollution from solid fuel burning devices, except where authorized by chapter 199, Laws of 1991.

Sec. 3   RCW 70.94.483 and 1991 sp.s. c 13 ss 64, 65 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) The wood stove education and enforcement account is hereby created in the state treasury. Money placed in the account shall include all money received under subsection (2) of this section and any other money appropriated by the legislature. Money in the account shall be spent for the purposes of the wood stove education program established under RCW 70.94.480, for a wood stove buy-back program pursuant to section 4 of this act, and for enforcement of the wood stove program, and shall be subject to legislative appropriation.
     (2) The department of ecology, with the advice of the advisory committee, shall set a flat fee of ((thirty)) forty dollars, on the retail sale, as defined in RCW 82.04.050, of each solid fuel burning device after January 1, 1992. The fee shall be imposed upon the consumer and shall not be subject to the retail sales tax provisions of chapters 82.08 and 82.12 RCW. The fee ((may)) shall be adjusted annually above ((thirty)) forty dollars to account for inflation as determined by the state office of the economic and revenue forecast council. The fee shall be collected by the department of revenue in conjunction with the retail sales tax under chapter 82.08 RCW. If the seller fails to collect the fee herein imposed or fails to remit the fee to the department of revenue in the manner prescribed in chapter 82.08 RCW, the seller shall be personally liable to the state for the amount of the fee. The collection provisions of chapter 82.32 RCW shall apply. The department of revenue shall deposit fees collected under this section in the wood stove education and enforcement account.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 4   A new section is added to chapter 70.94 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) The department may institute a wood stove buy-back program designed to exchange wood stoves for credit towards the purchase of a new natural gas or propane stove.
     (2) The department may either directly administer the stove buy-back program, or provide funds for stove buy-back programs that are administered by local air agencies.
     (3) The department should work with the private sector in establishing a credit system for the purchase of new natural gas or propane stoves.