AN ACT Relating to recognizing the contributions of the state's forest products sector as part of the state's global climate response; amending RCW 70.235.005; adding a new section to chapter 70.235 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 43.30 RCW; and creating a new section.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. (1) The legislature finds that the intergovernmental panel on climate change (IPCC) released a report in 2019 entitled "IPCC special report on climate change, desertification, land degradation, sustainable land management, food security, and greenhouse gas fluxes in terrestrial ecosystems" that provides guidance relating to how natural and working lands can be utilized to assist with a global climate response strategy. In addition, the food and agricultural organization of the United Nations issued a report in 2016 entitled "forestry for a low-carbon future" with specific recommendations for integrating forests and wood products in climate change strategies. Recommendations from these reports are critical as Washington develops its own climate response and charts how the state can use its forestland base and vibrant forest products sector as part of its contribution to the global climate response.

(2) The legislature further finds that the 2019 intergovernmental panel on climate change report identifies several measures where sustainable forest management and forest products may be utilized to maintain and enhance carbon sequestration. These include increasing the carbon sequestration potential of forests and forest products by maintaining and expanding the forestland base, reducing emissions from land conversion to nonforest uses, increasing forest resiliency to reduce the risk of carbon releases from disturbances such as wildfire, pest infestation, and disease, and applying sustainable forest management techniques to maintain or enhance forest carbon stocks and forest carbon sinks, including through the transference of carbon to wood products.

(3) The legislature further finds that the food and agricultural organization of the United Nations reports similar recommendations, with a focus on forest management tools that increases the carbon density in forests, increases carbon storage out of the forest in harvested wood products, utilizes wood energy, and suppresses forest disturbances from fire, pests, and disease.

(1) The legislature finds that Washington has long been a national and international leader on energy conservation and environmental stewardship, including air quality protection, renewable energy development and generation, emission standards for fossil-fuel based energy generation, energy efficiency programs, natural resource conservation, sustainable forestry and the production of forest products, vehicle emission standards, and the use of biofuels. Washington is also unique among most states in that in addition to its commitment to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, it has established goals to grow the clean energy sector and reduce the state's expenditures on imported fuels.

(2) The legislature further finds that Washington should continue its leadership on climate change policy by creating accountability for achieving the emission reductions established in RCW 70.235.020, participating in the design of a regional multisector market-based system to help achieve those emission reductions, assessing other market strategies to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, maintaining and enhancing the state's ability to continue to sequester carbon through natural and working lands and forest products, and ensuring the state has a well trained workforce for our clean energy future.

(3) It is the intent of the legislature that the state will: (a) Limit and reduce emissions of greenhouse gas consistent with the emission reductions established in RCW 70.235.020; (b) minimize the potential to export pollution, jobs, and economic opportunities; ((and)) (c) support industry sectors that can act as sequesterers of carbon; and (d) reduce emissions at the lowest cost to Washington's economy, consumers, and businesses.

(4) In the event the state elects to participate in a regional multisector market-based system, it is the intent of the legislature that the system will become effective by January 1, 2012, after authority is provided to the department for its implementation. By acting now, Washington businesses and citizens will have adequate time and opportunities to be well positioned to take advantage of the low-carbon economy and to make necessary investments in low-carbon technology.

(b) The opportunities presented by Washington's abundant forest resources and the associated forest products industry, along with aquatic and agriculture land((,))and the associated industries; and ((the))

(c) The state's leadership in energy efficiency and the actions it has already taken that have reduced its generation of greenhouse gas emissions and that entities receive appropriate credit for early actions to reduce greenhouse gases.

(6) If any revenues, excluding those from state trust lands,that accrue to the state are created by a market system, they must be used to further the state's efforts to achieve the goals established in RCW 70.235.020, address the impacts of global warming on affected habitats, species, and communities, promote and invest in industry sectors that act as sequesterers of carbon, and increase investment in the clean energy economy particularly for communities and workers that have suffered from heavy job losses and chronic unemployment and underemployment.

(1)(a) Washington's existing forest products sector, including public and private working forests and the harvesting, transportation, and manufacturing sectors that enable working forests to remain on the land and the state to be a global supplier of forest products, is, according to a University of Washington study analyzing the global warming mitigating role of wood products from Washington's private forests, an industrial sector that currently operates as a significant net sequesterer of carbon. This value, which is only provided through the maintenance of an intact and synergistic industrial sector, is an integral component of the state's contribution to the global climate response and efforts to mitigate carbon emissions.

(b) Satisfying the goals set forth in RCW 70.235.020 requires supporting, throughout all of state government, consistent with other laws and mandates of the state, the economic vitality of the sustainable forest products sector and other business sectors capable of sequestering and storing carbon. This includes support for working forests of all sizes, ownerships, and management objectives, and the necessary manufacturing sectors that support the transformation of stored carbon into long-lived forest products while maintaining and enhancing the carbon mitigation benefits of the forest sector, sustaining rural communities, and providing for fish, wildlife, and clean water, as provided in chapter 76.09 RCW. Support for the forest sector also ensures the state's public and private working forests avoid catastrophic wildfire and other similar disturbances and avoid conversion in the face of unprecedented conversion pressures.

(c) It is the policy of the state to support the contributions of all working forests and the synergistic forest products sector to meet the state's climate response. This includes the landowners, mills, bioenergy, pulp and paper, and related harvesting and transportation infrastructure which are necessary for forestland owners to continue the rotational cycle of carbon capture and sequestration in growing trees and allows forest products manufacturers to store the captured carbon in wood products. These activities maintain and enhance the forest sector's role in mitigating a significant percentage of the state's carbon emissions while providing other environmental and social benefits, such as supporting a strong rural economic base. Furthermore, it is the policy of the state to support the participation of working forests in current and future carbon markets, strengthening the state's role as a valuable contributor to the global carbon response while supporting one of its largest manufacturing sectors.

(d) It is further the policy of the state to utilize carbon accounting land use, land use change, and forestry reporting principles consistent with established reporting guidelines, such as those used by the intergovernmental panel on climate change and the United States national greenhouse gas reporting inventories.

(1) The forest and forest products carbon account is created in the custody of the state treasurer. All specified state funding must be deposited into the account, including appropriations from the general fund, the capital budget, and any specified revenues from other sources, including policies that establish a price on carbon or related federal grant programs. The department may also deposit into the account any grants, gifts, or donations to the state for purposes consistent with the allowable uses of the account. Expenditures from the account may be used only for department administrative costs and grants consistent with this section. Only the commissioner or the commissioner's designee may authorize expenditures from the account.

(2) The department shall use all moneys in the forest and forest products carbon account, less reasonable administrative overhead costs, as grants to any private landowner, organization that works with private landowners, nonprofit organization, local government, Indian tribe, or state land managing agency to advance the state's carbon sequestration goals outlined in section 3 of this act. All grant awards must be the result of a competitive process, designed by the department, that seeks to leverage the carbon sequestration and storage benefits of the investment. Allowable grant project types include, but are not limited to, funding:

(3) The department must manage the forest and forest products carbon account in cooperation with the department of agriculture and state conservation commission and, when appropriate, utilize the conservation district infrastructure to identify potential grantees and distribute and oversee grant funds.

(4) In addition to administrative costs and grants as provided in this section, the department may also use funds in the forest and forest products carbon account to conduct an opportunity analysis of land in Washington to determine how many acres of deforested land could be returned to forestlands without decreasing food production.