H-0173.1

HOUSE BILL 1985

ByRepresentatives Maycumber, Kretz, Walsh, and Eslick

AN ACT Relating to regulatory relief from greenhouse gas emissions rules for producers of agricultural commodities and food products; amending RCW 70.94.151 and 70.94.331; adding a new section to chapter 70.94 RCW; and adding a new section to chapter 43.31 RCW.

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: 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.

Sec. 2. RCW 70.94.331 and 1991 c 199 s 710 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) The department shall have all the powers as provided in RCW 70.94.141.

(2) The department, in addition to any other powers vested in it by law after consideration at a public hearing held in accordance with chapters 42.30 and 34.05 RCW shall:

(a) Adopt rules establishing air quality objectives and air quality standards;

(b) Adopt emission standards which shall constitute minimum emission standards throughout the state. An authority may enact more stringent emission standards, except for emission performance standards for new woodstoves and opacity levels for residential solid fuel burning devices which shall be statewide, but in no event may less stringent standards be enacted by an authority without the prior approval of the department after public hearing and due notice to interested parties;

(c) Adopt by rule air quality standards and emission standards for the control or prohibition of emissions to the outdoor atmosphere of radionuclides, dust, fumes, mist, smoke, other particulate matter, vapor, gas, odorous substances, or any combination thereof. Such requirements may be based upon a system of classification by types of emissions or types of sources of emissions, or combinations thereof, which it determines most feasible for the purposes of this chapter. However, an industry, or the air pollution control authority having jurisdiction, can choose, subject to the submittal of appropriate data that the industry has quantified, to have any limit on the opacity of emissions from a source whose emission standard is stated in terms of a weight of particulate per unit volume of air (e.g., grains per dry standard cubic foot) be based on the applicable particulate emission standard for that source, such that any violation of the opacity limit accurately indicates a violation of the applicable particulate emission standard. Any alternative opacity limit provided by this section that would result in increasing air contaminants emissions in any nonattainment area shall only be granted if equal or greater emission reductions are provided for by the same source obtaining the revised opacity limit. A reasonable fee may be assessed to the industry to which the alternate opacity standard would apply. The fee shall cover only those costs to the air pollution control authority which are directly related to the determination on the acceptability of the alternate opacity standard, including testing, oversight and review of data.

(3) The air quality standards and emission standards may be for the state as a whole or may vary from area to area or source to source, except that emission performance standards for new woodstoves and opacity levels for residential solid fuel burning devices shall be statewide, as may be appropriate to facilitate the accomplishment of the objectives of this chapter and to take necessary or desirable account of varying local conditions of population concentration, the existence of actual or reasonably foreseeable air pollution, topographic and meteorologic conditions and other pertinent variables.

(4) The department is directed to cooperate with the appropriate agencies of the United States or other states or any interstate agencies or international agencies with respect to the control of air pollution and air contamination, or for the formulation for the submission to the legislature of interstate air pollution control compacts or agreements.

(5) The department is directed to conduct or cause to be conducted a continuous surveillance program to monitor the quality of the ambient atmosphere as to concentrations and movements of air contaminants and conduct or cause to be conducted a program to determine the quantity of emissions to the atmosphere.

(6) The department shall enforce the air quality standards and emission standards throughout the state except where a local authority is enforcing the state regulations or its own regulations which are more stringent than those of the state.

(7) The department shall encourage local units of government to handle air pollution problems within their respective jurisdictions; and, on a cooperative basis provide technical and consultative assistance therefor.

(8) The department shall have the power to require the addition to or deletion of a county or counties from an existing authority in order to carry out the purposes of this chapter. No such addition or deletion shall be made without the concurrence of any existing authority involved. Such action shall only be taken after a public hearing held pursuant to the provisions of chapter 34.05 RCW.

(9) The department shall establish rules requiring sources or source categories to apply reasonable and available control methods. Such rules shall apply to those sources or source categories that individually or collectively contribute the majority of statewide air emissions of each regulated pollutant. The department shall review, and if necessary, update its rules every five years to ensure consistency with current reasonable and available control methods. The department shall have adopted rules required under this subsection for all sources by July 1, 1996.

For the purposes of this section, "reasonable and available control methods" shall include but not be limited to, changes in technology, processes, or other control strategies.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3. A new section is added to chapter 70.94 RCW to read as follows:

(1) This section does not provide authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions by rule.

(2) If a rule is created that regulates greenhouse gas emissions of agricultural activities and food processing, the producers of agricultural commodities as defined in RCW 15.66.010 or producers of food products as defined in RCW 69.04.008 may request the department to calculate greenhouse gas emissions in a comparison of a specified competitor's agricultural commodity or food product imported from out-of-state against the same type of agricultural commodity if obtained in the state. This calculation will include the gross estimated carbon emissions, including transportation of the agricultural commodity or food product to the state; the estimated difference in carbon usage if the agricultural commodity or food product was obtained within the state versus the comparable out-of-state agricultural commodity or food product, including transportation. Factors in the calculation may include labor, business and occupation taxes, energy use of vehicles involved in production or transport, and clean air credit purchasing.

(3) If the department determines that the greenhouse gas emissions from the out-of-state produced agricultural commodity or food product exceed the amount of greenhouse gas emissions of producing the in-state agricultural commodity or food product, the department must provide regulatory relief for the producer of the agricultural commodity or food product to assure that the producer remains competitive in the global market. This includes providing an exemption from any rules addressing greenhouse gas emissions, including any that limit emissions, price emissions, require purchase of credits, or add additional costs to the production of the agricultural commodity or food product.

(4) The producer of the agricultural commodity or food product may provide the department with a comparison from a reputable greenhouse gas emissions expert requesting regulatory relief in lieu of requesting the department to make the calculation in subsection (2) of this section.

(5) The department must report what regulatory relief the department granted to producers pursuant to this section to the appropriate committees of the legislature by November 30th of each year.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 4. A new section is added to chapter 43.31 RCW to read as follows:

The department in consultation with the department of ecology, transportation-industry experts, and other business related interests must create a greenhouse gas emissions shipping modeling tool that allows a producer of a product to estimate the amount of greenhouse gas emissions produced when importing products and goods from out-of-state locations. The model may address more than transportation emissions, including differences in energy sources, environmental regulations, and whether the product was created using emission reducing technology that is comparable to state requirements.

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