BILL REQ. #:  H-0658.1 

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

     AN ACT Relating to a biodiesel pilot project; adding new sections to chapter 28A.160 RCW; and providing an expiration date.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   A new section is added to chapter 28A.160 RCW to read as follows:
     The legislature recognizes that using biodiesel in place of, or blended with, petroleum diesel reduces emissions of carbon monoxide, hydrocarbon, particulates, and air toxics from diesel engines. It further recognizes that ultra low sulfur diesel, along with retrofit devices, significantly reduces fine-particle, hydrocarbon, and nitrogen oxide emissions from diesel engines. The United States environmental protection agency's new emission standards requiring the use of ultra low sulfur diesel take effect June 1, 2006, and ultra low sulfur diesel requires the addition of a lubricant to counteract premature wear of injection pumps. The legislature further recognizes that biodiesel reduces harmful emissions in addition to providing the needed lubricity to ultra low sulfur diesel. It is the intent of the legislature to study the effects of using ultra low sulfur diesel with biodiesel.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   A new section is added to chapter 28A.160 RCW to read as follows:
     The superintendent of public instruction shall conduct a pilot project on the use of biodiesel with ultra low sulfur diesel in school buses powered by compression-ignition engines. The pilot project must be for one school year beginning September 2004.
     (1) The superintendent of public instruction shall select two school districts to participate in the project. School districts located in a geographic area listed by the environmental protection agency as an area of concern for pollution emissions must receive first consideration for the project.
     (2) School districts selected for the pilot project shall meet the following requirements:
     (a) During the 2003 school year, at least twenty-five percent of the school bus fleet, or a total of not less than ten buses, must be fueled with ultra low sulfur diesel. Emissions testing must be conducted before using ultra low sulfur diesel, and again after ultra low sulfur diesel has been in use for at least six months.
     (b) During the 2004 school year, not less than seventy percent, or a total of not less than seven, of the buses fueled with ultra low sulfur diesel during the 2003 school year must be fueled with eighty percent ultra low sulfur diesel, by volume, and twenty percent biodiesel (B20), by volume. Emissions testing must be conducted not less than six months after adding B20 to the ultra low sulfur diesel.
     (c) Issues related to the maintenance, including but not limited to fuel economy, changes in fuel filters, and other maintenance issues related to the use of ultra low sulfur diesel and B20 must be recorded.
     (3) The superintendent of public instruction shall submit a report of findings to the legislature by September 1, 2005.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   A new section is added to chapter 28A.160 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.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 4   Sections 1 through 3 of this act expire September 1, 2005.