BILL REQ. #:  S-3459.1 

Read first time 01/20/14.   Referred to Committee on Energy, Environment & Telecommunications.

     AN ACT Relating to capping the amount of the greenhouse gas reporting fee; and amending RCW 70.94.151.

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

Sec. 1   RCW 70.94.151 and 2010 c 146 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) The board of any activated authority or the department, may classify air contaminant sources, by ordinance, resolution, rule or regulation, which in its judgment may cause or contribute to air pollution, according to levels and types of emissions and other characteristics which cause or contribute to air pollution, and may require registration or reporting or both for any such class or classes. Classifications made pursuant to this section may be for application to the area of jurisdiction of such authority, or the state as a whole or to any designated area within the jurisdiction, and shall be made with special reference to effects on health, economic and social factors, and physical effects on property.
     (2) Except as provided in subsection (3) of this section, any person operating or responsible for the operation of air contaminant sources of any class for which the ordinances, resolutions, rules or regulations of the department or board of the authority, require registration or reporting shall register therewith and make reports containing information as may be required by such department or board concerning location, size and height of contaminant outlets, processes employed, nature of the contaminant emission and such other information as is relevant to air pollution and available or reasonably capable of being assembled. In the case of emissions of greenhouse gases as defined in RCW 70.235.010 the department shall adopt rules requiring reporting of those emissions. The department or board may require that such registration or reporting be accompanied by a fee, ((and may determine the amount of such fee for such class or classes)) not to exceed one hundred dollars: PROVIDED, That the amount of the fee shall only be to compensate for the costs of administering such registration or reporting program which shall be defined as initial registration and annual or other periodic reports from the source owner providing information directly related to air pollution registration, on-site inspections necessary to verify compliance with registration requirements, data storage and retrieval systems necessary for support of the registration program, emission inventory reports and emission reduction credits computed from information provided by sources pursuant to registration program requirements, staff review, including engineering or other reliable analysis for accuracy and currentness, of information provided by sources pursuant to registration program requirements, clerical and other office support provided in direct furtherance of the registration program, and administrative support provided in directly carrying out the registration program: PROVIDED FURTHER, That any such registration made with either the board or the department shall preclude a further registration and reporting with any other board or the department, except that emissions of greenhouse gases as defined in RCW 70.235.010 must be reported as required under subsection (5) of this section.
     All registration program and reporting fees collected by the department shall be deposited in the air pollution control account. All registration program fees collected by the local air authorities shall be deposited in their respective treasuries.
     (3) If a registration or report has been filed for a grain warehouse or grain elevator as required under this section, registration, reporting, or a registration program fee shall not, after January 1, 1997, again be required under this section for the warehouse or elevator unless the capacity of the warehouse or elevator as listed as part of the license issued for the facility has been increased since the date the registration or reporting was last made. If the capacity of the warehouse or elevator listed as part of the license is increased, any registration or reporting required for the warehouse or elevator under this section must be made by the date the warehouse or elevator receives grain from the first harvest season that occurs after the increase in its capacity is listed in the license.
     This subsection does not apply to a grain warehouse or grain elevator if the warehouse or elevator handles more than ten million bushels of grain annually.
     (4) For the purposes of subsection (3) of this section:
     (a) A "grain warehouse" or "grain elevator" is an establishment classified in standard industrial classification (SIC) code 5153 for wholesale trade for which a license is required and includes, but is not limited to, such a licensed facility that also conducts cleaning operations for grain;
     (b) A "license" is a license issued by the department of agriculture licensing a facility as a grain warehouse or grain elevator under chapter 22.09 RCW or a license issued by the federal government licensing a facility as a grain warehouse or grain elevator for purposes similar to those of licensure for the facility under chapter 22.09 RCW; and
     (c) "Grain" means a grain or a pulse.
     (5)(a) The department shall adopt rules requiring persons to report emissions of greenhouse gases as defined in RCW 70.235.010 where those emissions from a single facility, source, or site, or from fossil fuels sold in Washington by a single supplier meet or exceed ten thousand metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent annually. The department may phase in the requirement to report greenhouse gas emissions until the reporting threshold in this subsection is met, which must occur by January 1, 2012. In addition, the rules must require that:
     (i) Emissions of greenhouse gases resulting from the combustion of fossil fuels be reported separately from emissions of greenhouse gases resulting from the combustion of biomass;
     (ii) Reporting will start in 2010 for 2009 emissions. Each annual report must include emissions data for the preceding calendar year and must be submitted to the department by October 31st of the year in which the report is due. However, starting in 2011, a person who is required to report greenhouse gas emissions to the United States environmental protection agency under 40 C.F.R. Part 98, as adopted on September 22, 2009, must submit the report required under this section to the department concurrent with the submission to the United States environmental protection agency. Except as otherwise provided in this section, the data for emissions in Washington and any corrections thereto that are reported to the United States environmental protection agency must be the emissions data reported to the department; and
     (iii) Emissions of carbon dioxide associated with the complete combustion or oxidation of liquid motor vehicle fuel, special fuel, or aircraft fuel that is sold in Washington where the annual emissions associated with that combustion or oxidation equal or exceed ten thousand metric tons be reported to the department. Each person who is required to file periodic tax reports of motor vehicle fuel sales under RCW 82.36.031 or special fuel sales under RCW 82.38.150, or each distributor of aircraft fuel required to file periodic tax reports under RCW 82.42.040 must report to the department the annual emissions of carbon dioxide from the complete combustion or oxidation of the fuels listed in those reports as sold in the state of Washington. The department shall not require suppliers to use additional data to calculate greenhouse gas emissions other than the data the suppliers report to the department of licensing. The rules may allow this information to be aggregated when reported to the department. The department and the department of licensing shall enter into an interagency agreement to ensure proprietary and confidential information is protected if the departments share reported information. Any proprietary or confidential information exempt from disclosure when reported to the department of licensing is exempt from disclosure when shared by the department of licensing with the department under this provision.
     (b)(i) Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, the rules adopted by the department under (a) of this subsection must be consistent with the regulations adopted by the United States environmental protection agency in 40 C.F.R. Part 98 on September 22, 2009.
     (ii) The department may by rule include additional gases to the definition of "greenhouse gas" in RCW 70.235.010 only if the gas has been designated as a greenhouse gas by the United States congress or by the United States environmental protection agency. Prior to including additional gases to the definition of "greenhouse gas" in RCW 70.235.010, the department shall notify the appropriate committees of the legislature. Decisions to amend the rule to include additional gases must be made prior to December 1st of any year and the amended rule may not take effect before the end of the regular legislative session in the next year.
     (iii) The department may by rule exempt persons who are required to report greenhouse gas emissions to the United States environmental protection agency and who emit less than ten thousand metric tons carbon dioxide equivalent annually.
     (iv) The department must establish a methodology for persons who are not required to report under this section to voluntarily report their greenhouse gas emissions.
     (c) The department shall review and if necessary update its rules whenever the United States environmental protection agency adopts final amendments to 40 C.F.R. Part 98 to ensure consistency with federal reporting requirements for emissions of greenhouse gases. However, the department shall not amend its rules in a manner that conflicts with (a) of this subsection.
     (d) The department shall share any reporting information reported to it with the local air authority in which the person reporting under the rules adopted by the department operates.
     (e) The fee provisions in subsection (2) of this section apply to reporting of emissions of greenhouse gases. Persons required to report under (a) of this subsection who fail to report or pay the fee required in subsection (2) of this section are subject to enforcement penalties under this chapter. The department shall enforce the reporting rule requirements unless it approves a local air authority's request to enforce the requirements for persons operating within the authority's jurisdiction. However, neither the department nor a local air authority approved under this section are authorized to assess enforcement penalties on persons required to report under (a) of this subsection until six months after the department adopts its reporting rule in 2010.
     (f) The energy facility site evaluation council shall, simultaneously with the department, adopt rules that impose greenhouse gas reporting requirements in site certifications on owners or operators of a facility permitted by the energy facility site evaluation council. The greenhouse gas reporting requirements imposed by the energy facility site evaluation council must be the same as the greenhouse gas reporting requirements imposed by the department. The department shall share any information reported to it from facilities permitted by the energy facility site evaluation council with the council, including notice of a facility that has failed to report as required. The energy facility site evaluation council shall contract with the department to monitor the reporting requirements adopted under this section.
     (g) The inclusion or failure to include any person, source, classes of persons or sources, or types of emissions of greenhouse gases into the department's rules for reporting under this section does not indicate whether such a person, source, or category is appropriate for inclusion in state, regional, or national greenhouse gas reduction programs or strategies. Furthermore, aircraft fuel purchased in the state may not be considered equivalent to aircraft fuel combusted in the state.
     (h)(i) The definitions in RCW 70.235.010 apply throughout this subsection (5) unless the context clearly requires otherwise.
     (ii) For the purpose of this subsection (5), the term "supplier" includes: (A) A motor vehicle fuel supplier or a motor vehicle fuel importer, as those terms are defined in RCW 82.36.010; (B) a special fuel supplier or a special fuel importer, as those terms are defined in RCW 82.38.020; and (C) a distributor of aircraft fuel, as those terms are defined in RCW 82.42.010.
     (iii) For the purpose of this subsection (5), the term "person" includes: (A) An owner or operator, as those terms are defined by the United States environmental protection agency in its mandatory greenhouse gas reporting regulation in 40 C.F.R. Part 98, as adopted on September 22, 2009; and (B) a supplier.