Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council.  Created in 1970, the Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council (EFSEC) is the permitting and certifying authority for siting major energy facilities in Washington.  EFSEC coordinates all evaluation and licensing steps for siting certain energy facilities, as well as specifies the conditions of construction and operation. After evaluating an application, EFSEC submits a recommendation either approving or rejecting an application to the Governor, who makes the final decision on site certification.  If approved by the Governor, a site certification agreement is issued in lieu of any other individual state or local agency permits. 

The laws that require or allow a facility to seek certification through the EFSEC process apply to the construction, reconstruction, and enlargement of energy facilities, including nuclear power plants of any size; biorefineries; and electrical transmission facilities, with many specifications.

Energy facilities of any size that exclusively use alternative energy resources, such as wind or solar energy; clean energy product manufacturing facilities; and storage facilities may opt into the EFSEC certification process. The facilities that choose not to opt in to the EFSEC certification process must instead receive applicable state and local agency development and environmental permits for their projects directly from each agency.

Fusion. For the purposes of the state energy strategy, fusion energy is defined as energy production derived directly or indirectly from the merger of atomic nuclei.

In 2024, the Legislature directed EFSEC and the Department of Health to establish a fusion energy work group (work group) of state agencies to identify and evaluate new and existing permitting, siting, licensing, and registration pathways for producing fusion energy. The work group provided the following recommendations to the Legislature in December 2024, amend EFSEC's statute to: 

• distinguish between fusion and fission; and 
• provide fusion energy facilities with the choice of a siting and permitting process that best suits their needs: the local government-led process, the Department of Ecology's coordinated clean energy permit process, or opting into the EFSEC process. 

The bill as referred to committee not considered.

Fusion energy facilities are included in the list of facilities that may choose to use the EFSEC certification process. A fusion energy facility receiving EFSEC certification must also secure required licenses and registrations, or equivalent authorizations, for radiation control purposes from designated state or federal agencies. 

The definition of energy plant is amended to specifiy that it includes fission nuclear power facilities. Additional references to nuclear energy are replaced with fission nuclear energy throughout EFSEC's chapter.