Category Archives: Transportation 2021

HB1577

HB1577– Issuing up to $4.943 billion in bonds, backed by a tax on fossil fuels, to be used for clean transportation investments and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Prime Sponsor – Representative Hackney (D; 11th District; South Seattle, Renton, and Tukwila) (Co-sponsor Wicks – D)
Current status – Referred to the Committee on Environment and Energy
Next step would be – Scheduling a hearing.
Legislative tracking page for the bill.

Summary –
The bill retains the carbon tax and bond provisions of SB5373, but it would direct 60% of the revenue to transportation investments that reduce emissions, and the remaining 40% to a variety of projects focused on clean energy, efficiency, and emissions reductions. It makes some adjustments to 5373’s environmental justice provisions and its reporting requirements, specifies that Ecology has the authority to regulate indirect emissions, and requires the department to exercise specified powers under the Clean Air Act to ensure that the emissions it regulates will be reduced to the levels required by the State’s targets if it determines by October 30th 2025 that the bill’s provisions are not likely to be enough to do that.

Details about the changes from 5373 (In process…) –

Investments –
Revenue from the bill must be used by the Department of Commerce for projects and incentive programs in Washington that yield verifiable reductions in greenhouse gas emissions in excess of baseline practices, for community engagement to support decision making on priority investments, and with high priority placed on funding projects that directly benefit economically distressed areas.

At least 35% of total investments must provide “direct and meaningful benefits” to vulnerable populations within the boundaries of highly impacted communities designated by the Department of Health’s cumulative impact analysis. At least 25% of total investments must benefit projects in rural areas, “or” at least 10% of total investments must be used for programs, activities, or projects formally supported by a resolution of an Indian tribe, with priority given to otherwise qualifying projects directly administered or proposed by a tribe. (There’s a provision I don’t follow saying that projects meeting both of these last two requirements “may count toward the requisite minimum percentage for this subsection”.)

Sixty percent of the funds remaining after servicing bonds must go to miles ahead transportation investments in programs, activities, or projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions or mitigate the impact of greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector, including:
1. Reducing vehicle miles traveled, including transportation demand management, non-motorized transportation, affordable transit-oriented housing, and high-speed rural broadband;
2. Increasing public transportation services, including public transit;
3. Deploying vehicle charging and refueling infrastructure with a strong emphasis on underserved communities and low to moderate-income members of the workforce not readily served by transit, or located in corridors with emissions that exceed federal or state standards. Supporting alternative fuel car sharing programs to provide opportunities to them;
4. Providing financing assistance to facilitate purchasing battery and fuel cell electric vehicles by lower income residents;
5. Providing grants to transit authorities for cost-effective capital projects reducing the carbon intensity of the system including electrification of fleets, modification or replacement of capital facilities to facilitate fleet electrification or renewable hydrogen refueling, upgrades to transmission and distribution systems, and construction of charging and fueling stations;
6. Supporting small trucking firms converting vehicles to cleaner alternative fuels, access to necessary fueling infrastructure, and assistance in mitigating the costs of the transition to cleaner fuel vehicles;
7. Electrifying and decarbonizing the state’s vehicle and passenger ferry fleet, and converting state, county, city, and public transit agency fleets to clean alternative fuels;
8. Reducing or mitigating the impacts of copollutant emissions in overburdened communities or vulnerable populations, including the expansion of monitoring networks for them;
9. Reducing emissions from vessels, onshore equipment and vehicles, including provision of shore power, reducing vehicle congestion and excessive idling, and installing clean fuel infrastructure;
10. Investing in rail and high-speed rail with the incremental installation of rail electrification integrated with local power generation; and
11. Supporting converting farm vehicles to cleaner alternative fuels, acquisition of and access to fueling infrastructure, and mitigating the costs of the transition to cleaner fuel vehicles.

The other forty percent of the money must be spent on projects and
programs including:
1. Activities to restore and improve forest health and reduce vulnerability to drought, insect infestation, disease, and other threats to healthy forests including silvicultural treatments, seedling development, thinning and prescribed fire and postfire recovery activities to stabilize and prevent unacceptable degradation to natural and cultural resources and minimize threats to life and property resulting from wildfire. (Priority must be given to programs, activities, or projects aligned with various current forest plans.)
2. Supplementing the growth management planning and environmental review fund for making grants or loans to local governments for the planning costs;
3. Deploying renewable energy resources, distributed generation, energy storage, demand side technologies and strategies, and other grid modernization projects;
4. Supporting programs, activities, or projects within the Department of Commerce’s clean energy fund;
5. Increase the energy efficiency or reducing the greenhouse gas emissions of industrial facilities including proposals to implement upgrading the energy efficiency of equipment, reducing process emissions, or switching to less emissions intensive fuels;
6. Achieving energy efficiency or emissions reductions in the agricultural sector including fertilizer management, soil management, bioenergy, and biofuels (including funding the sustainable farms and fields grant program); preserving or increasing carbon sequestration and storage benefits in soils, marine and freshwater areas; and through forest management, planting, and forest products.
7. Increasing energy in new and existing buildings, including weatherization and other retrofits, or promoting low-carbon architecture, including the use of low carbon building materials;
8. Funding programs, activities, or projects within the Department of Commerce’s weatherization plus health initiative;
9. Promoting the electrification and decarbonization of new and existing buildings;
10. Improving energy efficiency, including district energy, and investments in market transformation of energy efficiency products; and
11. Providing incentives and technical assistance to stationary sources to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and co-pollutants.

Increasing Ecology’s authority –
The bill specifies that the definitions of “emissions” that Ecology can regulate under the Clean Air Act include indirect emissions of greenhouse gases resulting the consumption, use, combustion, or oxidation of the petroleum products and natural gas. It specifies that the Department can require persons that produce or distribute products that emit greenhouse gases in the state to comply with air quality standards, emission standards, or emission limitations on greenhouse gases. It requires Ecology to decide by October 30th 2025 whether it’s likely that the tax will reduce the emissions it covers enough to obtain their share of the reductions needed to reach the State’s targets, and it requires Ecology to use its authority under the Clean Air Act to impose enough additional limitations on those emissions to reach the targets if it determines that the tax is not likely to do that.

Other changes –

The environmental justice and equity panel is now to provide “guidance” as well as recommendations about the development and implementation of the programs, projects, and activities funded by the bill. It has an additional member representing the agricultural community. The bill now says the Department of Commerce must “apply recommendations through iterative consultation with the environmental justice and economic equity panel” in the development of policies and procedures for the allocation of funding under this section, as well as the implementation plan, rather than saying it must “seek recommendations” on those from the panel.

The bill no longer allows fossil fuels that are subject to another jurisdiction’s carbon price to count that charge as a credit against their obligations under the bill. It adds several additional kinds of reporting. It rewrites Section 13, about managing taxable and non-taxable bond proceeds to comply with the IRS rules. It adds some details to the language about fair labor standards.

HB1572

HB1572 – Exempts rental car company purchases of EVs and hybrids from sales and use taxes; applies the current tax on car rentals to peer-to-peer car sharing.
Prime Sponsor – Representative Fitzgibbon (D; 34th District; West Seattle)
Current status – Referred to the Committee on Finance.
Next step would be – Scheduling a hearing.
Legislative tracking page for the bill.

Summary –
The bill would exempt a rental car company’s purchases of electric and hybrid vehicles to be used exclusively as rentals from the sales and use taxes. It would apply the current 5.9% tax on car rentals to peer-to-peer car sharing transactions, unless rental car companies were authorized to use reseller permits to buy vehicles for use as rental cars, or were exempted from paying “sales or use tax or or any other tax generally applicable to a transaction involving the acquisition of any motor vehicle.” [That seems to mean that this new tax would not apply if the bill passed, since the bill does seem to exempt them from sales and use taxes, so I don’t see what this provision is intended to do.]

HB1548

HB1548 – Frees regular hybrids without plugs from the extra $75 transportation electrification fee for EVs and alternative fuel vehicles.
Prime Sponsor – Representative Klippert (R; 8th District; Benton County) (Co-Sponsor Shewmake – D)
Current status – Referred to the House Committee on Transportation
Next step would be – Scheduling a hearing
Legislative tracking page for the bill.

Summary –
Currently fully electric vehicles, other alternative fuel vehicles, plug-in hybrids and regular hybrids pay an additional $75 a year as a transportation electrification fee, which goes to supporting the adoption of electric vehicles until July 1, 2025. (After that, the money will go to the regular motor vehicle account.) The bill would eliminate the fee for regular hybrids.

HB1457

HB1457 – Facilitating the installation of broadband facilities on limited access highways.
Prime Sponsor – Representative Wiley (D; 49th District; Vancouver) (Co-Sponsors Riccelli, Kloba, Santos, Slatter, Shewmake, Ramel, and Hackney – Ds)
Current status –
In the House – Passed
Referred to the House Committee on Transportation; had a hearing there February 16th. Amended and passed out of committee February 22nd; referred to Rules. Replaced by a striker from the prime sponsor and passed by the House March 8th. House concurred in the Senate’s changes April 15th.
In the Senate –
Referred to the Transportation Committee. Had a hearing March 16th; replaced by a striker and passed out of committee March 30th. Referred to Rules. Passed by the Senate unanimously April 10th, and returned to the House for consideration of concurrence.
Next step would be – To the Governor.
Legislative tracking page for the bill.

Summary –
Senate Transportation Striker –
This authorizes the Department of Transportation to install conduit for broadband when doing highway projects if no broadband operator chooses to do it, and makes a few other minor changes which are summarized at the end of it.

House Striker –
The striker expands the Department of Transportation’s current authority to grant franchises for using state highways to construct and maintain various facilities to include fiber optics, and adds a number of items to the potential Joint Transportation Committee report.
Amendments –
The amendments broadened the study to include all highway corridors and made a couple of other very small changes.

Original bill –
Requires the Department of Transportation to proactively provide broadband facility owners with information about planned limited access highway projects to collaboratively identify opportunities for installing of broadband infrastructure during the appropriate phase of these projects when such opportunities exist.

If specific funding’s appropriated the bill would have the Joint Transportation Committee oversee a consultant’s study to recommend:
1.An effective Department of Transportation strategy, and specific limited access highway corridors, that could be used to address missing fiber connections and inadequate broadband service in underserved parts of the state;
2. The most promising planning and financing tools for installing conduit in anticipation of future fiber installation by others;
3. Opportunities for mutually beneficial partnerships between
the Department and service providers to provide broadband for transportation purposes such as intelligent transportation systems, cooperative automated transportation/autonomous vehicles, transportation demand management, and highway maintenance; and,
4. Strategies for mitigating potential safety, operations, and preservation impacts related to the recommendations.

The study would also have to include an examination of any State and Federal laws and regulations that could prevent or limit the
implementation of the recommendations, as well as recommendations for modifications to the applicable State laws and regulations.

HB1502

HB1502 – Specifies competitive bidding procedures counties may use in designing and procuring electric ferries.
Prime Sponsor – Representative Wiley (D; 49th District; Vancouver) (Co-Sponsors Griffey – R, Ramel, Paul, Lekanoff, Berry, Ortiz-Self, Hackney, Harris-Talley, and Pollet – Ds)
Current status –
In the House – Passed
Referred to the House Committee on Transportation; had a hearing there February 17th. Amended and passed out of committee February 22nd; referred to Rules. Passed the House February 26th.

In the Senate –
Referred to the Committee on Transportation. Had a hearing March 15th, and passed out of committee March 30th. Referred to Rules, and passed by the Senate, unanimously, April 11th.
Next step would be – To the Governor.
Legislative tracking page for the bill.

Summary –
The bill simply lists procedures in detail; they seem to be optional, except for a couple. I’m not sure whether a county already has the legal authority to buy an electric ferry or not, but it sounds as if it does.

The amendment would require the Department of Transportation’s Office of Equal Opportunity to specify a percentage of the contract award amount for county electric ferry procurement that the prime contractor would have to meet by subcontracting with small businesses.

HB1537

HB1573 – Terminates some tax exemptions for particular uses of fossil fuels.
Prime Sponsor – Representative Ramel (D; 40th District; Bellingham) (Co-sponsors Harris-Talley, Berry, and Macri – D’s)
Current status – Referred to the House Committee on Finance. Had a hearing March 23rd.
Next step would be – Dead.
Legislative tracking page for the bill.

Summary –
As of January 1st, 2022, the bill would eliminate the current blanket state and local use tax exemptions for natural gas, compressed natural gas, or liquefied natural gas used as a transportation fuel. It would continue to exempt their use by a transit agency, if it had been doing that before 2025. It would continue to exempt renewable natural gas used as a transportation fuel, and compressed or liquefied versions of that. It would exempt users from the tax if they offset that consumption with renewable gas credits purchased from a distribution business in the state.

It removes the current exemption from the tax to fund the pollution liability insurance program for natural gas, petroleum coke, and liquid fuel or fuel gas used in petroleum processing .

It removes the current exemption for propane or natural gas used to heat chicken houses.

SB5452 – 2021

SB5452 – Requires giving electric bicycles the same access to non-motorized dirt trails and closed roads that regular bicycles are given.
Prime Sponsor – Senator Cleveland (D; 49th District; Vancouver) (Co-Sponsors Liias – D and Jeff Wilson – R)
Current status – Converted to a study and passed.
In the Senate – Passed
Referred to Senate Committee on Transportation; had a hearing on February 18th. Replaced by a substitute and voted out of committee February 22nd. Referred to Rules. Amended on the floor in a very minor way and passed by the Senate unanimously March 8th. Senate concurred in the House amendments April 14th.

In the House – Passed
Referred to the Committee on Rural Development, Agriculture & Natural Resources. Had a hearing March 16th. Replaced by a striker and passed out of committee March 23rd. Referred to Rules, and passed by the House April 11th. Returned to the Senate for consideration of concurrence.
Next step would be – To the Governor.
Legislative tracking page for the bill.

Summary –

Striker in the House –
This would postpone the due date for the study by nine months, to September 30th, 2022, and would allow people with a current State disabled parking permit to ride Class 1 & 2 electric bicycles on these trails and roads until June 30th, 2023, or the creation of rules or legislation about the issue.

Substitute –
The substitute converts the bill to a study by the Department of Natural Resources, and a study by the Department of Fish and Wildlife, to decide which classes of electric-assisted bicycles are acceptable on these trails and roads under each agencies’ management, and where.

Original –
The bill would only apply to Class 1 and Class 3 e-bikes. Class 1 bikes only provide power from the battery when the rider is pedaling, provide electric assistance up to 20 miles an hour, and would be allowed on non-motorized trails. Class 3 bikes do not include pedaling, have a maximum speed of 28 miles an hour, and would be allowed on roads with nonmotorized access.

SB5460

SB5460 – Authorizes Director of Licensing to make and enforce rules for the current autonomous vehicle self-certification testing pilot program.
Prime Sponsor – Senator Nguyen (D; 34th District; West Seattle)
Current status –
In the Senate – Passed
Referred to the Senate Committee on Transportation; had a hearing February 18th; drastically amended and voted out of committee February 22nd. Referred to Rules. Passed unanimously by the Senate March 8th.

In the House –
Referred to the Transportation Committee. Had a hearing Monday March 15th, and passed out of committee March 31st. Referred to Rules, and passed by the House April 11th.
Next step would be – To the Governor.
Legislative tracking page for the bill.

Summary –
Amendments –
The first amendment in Transportation, by Senator Padden (R – Spokane Valley) removed the section granting the Department of Licensing authority to make rules to administer and implement the AV self-certification testing pilot program. The second amendment, by the sponsor, delayed the program’s start for a year, until October 2022.

Original bill –
The bill would explicitly authorize the Director of Licensing to adopt and enforce rules to administer and implement the autonomous vehicle self-certification testing pilot program that’s already on the books. (It also drops the current prohibition of screens that the driver can see and that can display video besides a backup camera’s.)

SB5457

SB5457 – Extends tax exemptions for commuter ride sharing vehicles to any carpool or vanpool transporting at least three people, including the driver.
Prime Sponsor – Senator Saldaña (D; 37th District; Seattle)
Current status – Referred to the Senate Committee on Transportation; had a hearing on February 18th.
Next step would be – Dead.
Legislative tracking page for the bill.
This is a companion bill to HB1514.

Summary –Summary –
Currently, the Commute Trip Reduction Incentives Act provides tax exemptions for vehicles that will be used for at least three years in commuter car pools or van pools making one round trip a day. They’re exempted from the State sales and use taxes, and from the motor vehicle excise tax. (It also exempts them from the regulations applying to drivers or owners of motor vehicles operated for hire, common carriers and public transit carriers, and protects those promoting ride sharing from any civil suits arising from the maintenance or operation of the vehicles.)

The bill expands the scope of these provisions by dropping the references to commuting, and redefining ridesharing as any “carpool or vanpool arrangement whereby one or more groups” of at least three people and not more than fifteen, including the driver, are transported. (I don’t know if this definition would include operations like Uber Pool or not.)

SB5444

SB5444 – Creates a per mile charge on electric and hybrid vehicles, replacing the current special fees; extends the $75 transportation electrification fee to cover all plug-ins.
Prime Sponsor – Senator Saldaña (D; 37th District; Seattle) (Co-sponsors Hobbs, Nguyen and Nobles – Ds)
Current status – Referred to the Committee on Transportation; had a hearing on February 18th. Amended and passed out of committee March 16th. Referred to Rules. Dead.
Next step would be – Action by the Rules Committee.
Legislative tracking page for the bill.

Comments –
Senator Fortunato’s SJR8207 would amend the Constitution to require any revenue from road usage charges of vehicle miles traveled fees to be spent for highway purposes.

Summary –
Senate Transportation amendment –
This shifts the implementation dates back a year and makes some other minor changes which are summarized by staff at the beginning of it.

Original bill –
The bill requires the Department of Licensing and the Transportation Commission to develop a plan for imposing a per mile charge on electric and hybrid vehicles in place of the current special fees on them. (Owners of plug-in vehicles that can go at least 30 miles on the battery are currently charged an extra $150 a year in place of the gas tax, and they, hybrid, and other alternative fuel vehicle owners are charged another $75 a year to support developing charging infrastructure, green transit, and other clean alternative fuel infrastructure.) The new system would begin July 1 2026, and collect an annual fee for vehicles that can go over 30 miles on the battery of $0.02/mile for three years, increasing to $0.025/mile after that. It would continue the annual $75 fee and expand that to apply to plug-ins with less battery range as well. (Thus, if you drove 10,000 miles a year in an all electric vehicle, you’d pay $275/year, and then $325.) By July 1, 2025 at the latest, owners of vehicles that can go over 30 miles on the battery would be able to choose to switch to the new system early, and would be exempted from the $75 fee (an ongoing exemption according to Plug-In America, though I don’t think that’s clear; it depends on whether you read “actively participate in the program” as referring to the pilot program or the road use charge program). At least 500 varied State light vehicles would be required to participate in it (starting as early as July 2024 if that were feasible), but without paying the fees.

The plan has to take account of previous State research on replacing the gas tax with a road usage charge, and must include:
1. Different mileage reporting methods;
2. Recommended payment collection means and rates for achieving cost efficiency, fairness, minimal administrative cost, payment compliance, consumer choice, and for preserving individual privacy;
3. Options for collaborating with other states or countries in developing and administering the per mile funding system;
4. Evaluation and comparison of the benefits and costs of allowing payment plan options and annual payment;
5. Any recommended statutory changes, including suggested offsets or rebates to the per mile fees that might be approved by the Legislature;
6. Specific recommendations to better align the system with other vehicle-related charges and potentially establish the framework for broader implementation of a per mile funding system, including analysis of the preferred method for addressing potential 18th Amendment restrictions;
(g) A recommended implementation and governance structure, and a transition plan with the Department as the agency operating and administering the funding system;
(h) A recommendation on the best agency to be lead public outreach and education;
(i) Recommendations for augmenting vehicle owner privacy in light of new and emerging mileage reporting methods or technologies, and proposed rules to be adopted by the Commission to protect privacy in the system; and
(j) Detailed information on a recommended periodic review and evaluation process to ensure the system is achieving the policy and revenue goals established by the Legislature.

The bill exempts any personally identifying information of persons reporting mileage or vehicle location information as part of a complying with a mileage tax from disclosure, except to law enforcement agencies in accordance with a court order. The bill prohibits collecting any  personally identifying information beyond what’s necessary to calculate, report, and collect the per mile fee, unless the vehicle owner provides written consent for collecting more. Reporting is allowed to collect general location data if an owner chooses that specific reporting method; proper disclosure of the method was made according to rules adopted by the Transportation Commission; and the owner specifically consents to its reporting. The bill prohibits reporting specific location data to the Department or any subdivision of the state, including travel patterns, origins, destinations, waypoint locations, or times of travel, unless a vehicle owner specifically consents to the recording or reporting. The bill establishes an affirmative public duty to ensure that per mile information is protected with reasonable operational, administrative, technical, and physical safeguards to ensure its confidentiality and integrity; to implement and maintain reasonable security procedures and practices to protect the information from unauthorized access, destruction, use, modification, or disclosure; and to implement and maintain a usage and privacy policy to ensure that the collection of information respects  individuals’ privacy and civil liberties. Any system data retained longer than needed to ensure proper mileage account payment has to have all personally identifying information removed and may only be used for public purposes.

SB5439

SB5439 – Facilitating the coordinated installation of broadband along state highways.
Prime Sponsor – Senator Saldaña (D; 37th District; Seattle) (Co-sponsors Kuderer, Lovelett, and Nguyen – Ds)
Current status – Dead
In the Senate – Passed
Referred to the Committee on Transportation; had a hearing February 15th. Replaced by a substitute and voted out of Committee February 22nd. Referred to Rules. Completely replaced by a striker from the prime sponsor on the floor and passed by the Senate unanimously February 26th. (The changes made by the striker are summarized by staff at the end of it.)

In the House –
Referred to the Committee on Transportation. Had a hearing March 11th, and passed out of committee March 31st. Referred to Rules April 2nd.
Next step would be – Action by the Rules Committee.
Legislative tracking page for the bill.

Summary –
Senate Floor Amendment –
Substitute –
There’s a summary by staff of the changes made by the substitute at the beginning of it.

Original bill –
The bill requires the Department of Transportation to provide at least sixty days notice of road construction projects to personal wireless and broadband service providers within the same county or counties, by website or electronic subscriptions, to allow collaboration on the installation of their facilities during construction. (If a provider replies within 30 days, the Department may schedule a consultation meeting to review installation opportunities and may determine the feasibility and viability of a collaboration project, but isn’t under any obligation to provide for installation.)

If there isn’t a service provider ready or able to install personal wireless service facilities or broadband conduit as part of a project, the bill would authorize the Department to do that in order to reduce future traffic impacts to the public; support vehicle miles traveled reduction and congestion management by allowing for more telework; and prepare the transportation system for autonomous vehicles. It also authorizes the Department to allow nonprofit service providers to use a right-of-way for broadband infrastructure in rural and unserved areas at no cost, provided that there’s quantifiable commensurate benefit to the transportation system and users of these specified kinds from the use of the conduit.

The bill requires the Governor’s statewide broadband office, in consultation with local governments and the UTC, to create a registration system for service providers applying to install broadband infrastructure that provides automatic notice to the Department of Transportation and other broadband providers applying for installation permits in the same area so opportunities for coordination can be identified.

It requires the Department of Commerce’s regular reports on broadband infrastructure to include the locations where broadband infrastructure has been deployed in the state during the prior five years and is planned to be employed, including along state highways.

It expands the exemption from the laws governing franchises on State highways that personal wireless services currently have to include broadband infrastructure.

HB1514

HB1514 – Extends tax exemptions for commuter ride sharing vehicles to any carpool or vanpool transporting at least three people, including the driver.
Prime Sponsor – Representative Taylor (D; 30th District; Federal Way) (Co-sponsors Ramos, Harris-Talley – Ds)
Current status –
In the House – Passed
Referred to the House Committee on Transportation; had a hearing February 17th. Replaced by a substitute, voted out of committee, and referred to Rules February 22nd. Passed by the House March 5th. House concurred in the Senate’s amendments April 13th.

In the Senate – Passed
Referred to the Committee on Transportation. Had a hearing March 15th, and passed out of committee March 25th. Referred to Ways and Means;  had a hearing March 31st;  amended, passed out of committee and referred to Rules April 2nd. Passed by the Senate April 8th.
Next step would be – To the Governor.
Legislative tracking page for the bill.
SB5457 is a companion bill to this.

Summary –
Amendment in Ways and Means –
This would limit the tax exemption for vehicles that aren’t operated by a pubic transit agency to those with at least five passengers.

Substitute –
There’s a summary of the changes made by the substitute at the beginning of it. (It now specifically excludes ride hailing companies’ vehicles along with a variety of others, removes the changes to the definition of a “commute trip”, and makes other small changes.)

Original bill –
Currently, the Commute Trip Reduction Incentives Act provides tax exemptions for vehicles that will be used for at least three years in commuter car pools or van pools making one round trip a day. They’re exempted from the State sales and use taxes, and from the motor vehicle excise tax. (It also exempts them from the regulations applying to drivers or owners of motor vehicles operated for hire, common carriers and public transit carriers, and protects those promoting ride sharing from any civil suits arising from the maintenance or operation of the vehicles.)

The bill expands the scope of these provisions by dropping the references to commuting, and redefining ridesharing as any “carpool or vanpool arrangement whereby one or more groups” of at least three people and not more than fifteen, including the driver, are transported. (I don’t know if this definition would include operations like Uber Pool or not.)

HB1513

HB1513 – Modifying SB5373 on issuing up to $4.943 billion in bonds, backed by a tax on fossil fuels, to be used for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and natural climate solutions.
Prime Sponsor – Representative Lekanoff (D; 40th District; parts of Whatcom, Skagit, & San Juan County) (Co-sponsor Shewmake – D)
Current status – Referred to the House Committee on Environment and Energy.
Next step would be – Scheduling a hearing.
SB5373 is a similar bill in the Senate.
Legislative tracking page for the bill.

Comments –
The bill maintains the general structure of SB5373, but modifies it in a number of ways. The Senate bill has Ecology make recommendations to the Legislature if it decides the tax isn’t high enough to produce specified reductions; this bill would raise the rate until it was predicted to achieve them. Its definition of “greenhouse gases” would include any Ecology designated. It would not exempt fossil fuel burned in the state to generate electricity, and would require refineries to report their fossil fuel use.  It adds some details about collaborating with the Department of Licensing to administer the tax on motor fuels, and reporting by companies on how the costs of the tax are being passed on to consumers. It no longer includes a four year trial period in which emissions from any energy-intensive trade exposed industries that weren’t exempted by new Ecology rules would be taxed, though it keeps the Senate bill’s requirement for a 2026 report to the Governor and the Legislature with recommendations on taxing those emissions. It specifies that the tax doesn’t apply to electricity or to any fuels that aren’t fossil fuels, such as green hydrogen, not just biofuels. It drops specified funding for the sustainable farms and fields grants program, and for riparian easements. It would provide environmental justice oversight through the Environmental Justice Council that would be created by this session’s SB5141, rather than through SB5373’s Environmental and Economic Justice Panel, and define its responsibilities differently.  It would create a new Climate Oversight Board. It no longer requires high priority to be given to funding projects that directly benefit the economically distressed areas defined in RCW 43.168.020, would not require 25% of the investments to benefit rural areas, and would drop the Senate bill’s section on required consultation with tribes. It makes a number of small changes about agency roles and other things.

It’s not clear to me whether it would increase Ecology’s current authorization to regulate greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act if the tax were invalidated.

Summary –
The bill places a carbon tax of $25/metric ton on the life cycle CO2 equivalent emissions associated with the sale or use of fossil fuels burned in the state. It’s to begin in 2023, increase by 5% a year and be adjusted for inflation. Every two years the Department of Commerce, in consultation with Ecology, would have to reevaluate the tax rate needed to ensure the state achieved a goal of net-zero emissions by 2050. In January 2030, if Ecology determined that the emissions covered by the bill weren’t falling at a sufficient rate to produce their share of the reductions needed to meet the state’s targets, the rate would increase by $10/tonne, with an added annual increase of $2/tonne each year until Ecology estimated it would be sufficient to achieve the needed reductions. At that point, the added $2 annual increase would no longer apply. All the revenue is to be used to fund projects and activities that reduce greenhouse gas emissions or mitigate the environmental impacts of those emissions and of climate change. The bill would stop the Department of Ecology from regulating greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act, but would authorize it to use the full extent of its authority to regulate them under the Act  to help achieve the state’s targets for reductions if the tax were invalidated.

The tax is to be paid by the state and political subdivisions like counties and cities as well as by businesses. Distribution companies are to pay the tax on natural gas sold to retail customers and to utilities for generating power; direct access customers are to pay the tax on their gas use. The tax on motor vehicle fuel and special fuel is to be paid by the same parties who are currently responsible for paying the fuel tax. The bill specifies reporting and payment requirements for refineries.

The bill exempts fuel brought into the state in a primary fuel supply tank and burned, fuels that the State’s prohibited from taxing by Federal law or by laws about Indians’ property, fuel exported from the state, coal burned at the Transalta plant, agricultural and aircraft fuels, any fuels that aren’t fossil fuels, and fuel bought in the state but burned outside it by ships and interstate motor carriers. During a five year transition period, it exempts fuels used for transporting logs and agricultural products,  and for extracting timber. Fuels that have already paid a carbon tax or charge on their lifecycle emissions to another jurisdiction are eligible for a credit of up to that amount against the tax owed in Washington. By July 30th 2026, the Department of Ecology is to make recommendations to the Legislature on applying the tax to emissions from energy intensive trade exposed industries.

The bill gives the Departments of Revenue, Ecology, Licensing, Transportation, and Commerce the authority to adopt any rules they deem necessary to implement it; Ecology, Commerce, and the WSU Energy Extension Program are to provide technical assistance in administering the bill to the Department of Revenue if it requests it. The Department of Revenue is to issue a report every two years including:
1. The total carbon pollution taxes collected during the reporting period and a list of the taxpayers and the tax they paid;
2. Estimated costs incurred by the department, Commerce, and Ecology in administering the bill, as a dollar amount and as a percentage of the tax collected;
3. The impact on the state’s economy including verifiable data on emissions leakage and any job losses since the implementation of the tax, and
4. A summary of the investments made through Commerce’s allocations of the revenue, including amounts invested in each program area, project descriptions, names of grant recipients, an estimate of the emissions reductions achieved or anticipated via the investments, and other information requested by the Legislature.
The report’s to include recommendations for modifying or improving the act to ensure its goals are being met, and the first report is to include recommendations for auditing the expenditures. The Department of Commerce is to provide information on its website about the impacts of the tax on the price of natural gas and vehicle fuels by sector, and must provide an environmental justice analysis reporting on the environmental, health, and economic impacts of climate and of state measures taken to meet our emissions limits on highly impacted communities and vulnerable populations.

The Finance Committee is authorized to issue up to $4.943 billion in bonds during a ten year period, with terms that mean they’ll be fully repaid no later than December 31, 2050. They may be tax exempt or taxable, may be certified as green bonds or climate bonds, and may include new bonds to pay off outstanding bonds. They’re to be secured solely by pledged revenues from the carbon tax, and their repayment is to be the first priority for spending those. (Up to 5% of the remaining revenue may be used for administering the provisions of the bill.)

The backers of SB5373 estimate $16 billion will be raised by the tax over the first ten years, after the payment of 3.5% in debt service. Thus, funds will be available from the bonds when they are issued, and then from the portion of the ongoing revenue stream that isn’t needed for repayment of the principal, debt service and administrative expenses. 75% of that money available for investments is to be spent on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. (75% of this money is to be spent on programs, projects, and activities to reduce or mitigate the impact of transportation emissions, including:
1. Deploying clean alternative fuel vehicle charging and refueling infrastructure;
2. Supporting clean alternative fuel car sharing programs for underserved communities and low to moderate-income workers not readily served by transit, or in corridors with emissions that exceed federal or state standards;
3. Providing financing to facilitate the purchase of battery and fuel cell electric vehicles by lower-income residents;
4. Providing grants to transit authorities for cost-effective capital projects that reduce the carbon intensity of the transportation system including electrifying fleets, modifying
or replacing capital facilities to facilitate fleet electrification or hydrogen refueling, upgrading transmission and distribution systems, and constructing charging and fueling stations;
5. Providing support to small trucking firms in converting vehicles to cleaner alternative fuels, acquiring and accessing fueling infrastructure, and mitigating the costs of transitioning to cleaner vehicles;
6. Electrifying and decarbonizing the passenger ferry fleet; and
7. Converting state, county, city, and public transit agency fleets to battery or fuel cell electric vehicles.

The remaining 25% of this money for reducing emissions may be spent on programs, activities, or projects in the state including:
1. Supplementing the growth management planning and environmental review fund for making grants or loans to local governments for land use planning;
2. Deploying renewable energy resources or distributed generation, energy storage, demand side technologies and strategies, and modernizing the grid;
3. Increasing the energy efficiency or reducing the greenhouse emissions of industrial facilities including implementing combined heat and power, district energy, or on-site renewables, upgrading the energy efficiency of existing equipment, reducing process emissions, and switching to less emissions intensive fuel;
4. Achieving energy efficiency or emissions reductions in the agricultural sector through steps such as fertilizer management, soil management, bioenergy, and biofuels;
5. Increasing energy efficiency in new and existing buildings, or promoting low-carbon
architecture, including the use of building materials that result in a lower carbon footprint over the life cycle of the building and component materials;
6. Promoting the electrification and decarbonization of new and existing buildings, and
7. Improving energy efficiency, including supporting district energy, and investments in market transformation by energy efficiency products.

The other 25% of the initial revenue from the bonds, and what’s remaining from the ongoing tax revenue after servicing the bonds and paying administrative expenses, is to be spent on natural climate solutions – to increase the resilience of waters, forests, and other vital ecosystems to the impacts of climate change, and to increase their carbon pollution reduction capacity through sequestration, storage, and ecosystem integrity. It can be spent to:
1. Restore and protect estuaries, fisheries, and marine shoreline habitats, and prepare for sea level rise including making fish passage correction investments;
2. Increase the ability to remediate and adapt to ocean acidification;
3. Reduce flood risk and restore natural floodplain ecological function;
4. Increase the sustainable supply of water and improve aquatic habitat, including groundwater mapping and modeling;
5. Improve infrastructure treating stormwater from previously developed areas within an urban growth boundary, with a preference for projects that use green stormwater infrastructure; or to
6. Preserve or increase carbon sequestration and storage benefits in agricultural soils and timber stock.

It can also be spent on forest investments to:
1. Increase resilience to wildfire in the face of increased seasonal temperatures and drought; or
2. Improve forest health and reduce vulnerability to changes in hydrology, insect infestation, and other impacts of climate change.

At least 35% of the investments under the bill must provide direct benefits to vulnerable populations in highly impacted communities; at least 25% of them must benefit rural areas, and at least 10% of them must benefit tribes. The bill would have the Environmental Justice Council that would be created by this session’s SB5141 “prepare recommendations for and provide oversight of the impacts of the … tax … and associated programs …affecting low- income populations, vulnerable populations, and highly impacted communities.” It would define environmental justice progress indicators for the act including:
1. The elimination of materials emitting carbon dioxide, black carbon, methane, nitrogen oxides, and fluorinated gases imported into or extracted in the state;
2. The elimination of the emissions outside the state attributable to consumption in the state;
3. Air quality, water quality, and land and buildings free from toxins associated with fossil fuels;
4. The elimination of environmental health disparities that disproportionately impact households that are Black, indigenous, people of color’s, or are in areas that are highly impacted communities; and
5. The reduction of economic inequality and elimination of poverty and the prevalence of livelihoods and high-road employment opportunities accessible to all.
It would also “define and provide instruction on meaningful consultation with vulnerable populations and low-income populations” and provide opportunities for vulnerable populations to consult on the implementation of the act.

The bill would create a Climate Oversight Board appointed by the Governor and responsible for ongoing review of the implementation of the tax and funding to ensure the fairest, most equitable, most efficient, and timely achievement of bill’s objectives. Members would come from a specified list of stakeholders, would serve four yer terms, and would select a chair from the Board. It’s responsibilities would include reviewing  plans for implementing the funding programs including the criteria for allocations and project awards, as well as information about projects and funding decisions. It would review progress reports by agencies and compliance with consultation requirements; and would provide recommendations for standards for measuring emissions reductions from investments. It’s authorized to act jointly with the Environmental Justice Council in carrying out these responsibilities, and to contract with the Washington Academy of Sciences to provide evaluations. It’s to report to the Legislature every two years.

HB1503

HB1503 – Low income tax exemption for natural gas, propane, hydrogen, and electric vehicles.
Prime Sponsor – Representative Wiley (D; 49th District; Vancouver)
Current status – Referred to the House Committee on Finance, and had a hearing there on February 17th; passed out of committee February 18th, and referred to Transportation.
Next step would be – Dead.
Legislative tracking page for the bill.

Summary –
The bill creates a ten year low-income sales and use tax exemption for the purchase or lease of new or used passenger cars, light trucks and medium passenger vehicles that are powered by natural gas, propane, hydrogen, and electricity, including plug-in hybrids.  (Medium passenger vehicles weigh from 8,500 to 10,000 pounds, and are typically vans carrying up to 12 people.)

A vehicle would have to meet the California motor vehicle emission standards and Ecology’s rules to qualify. A purchase would have to have “a selling price plus trade-in property of like kind” less than $25,000 for the sales tax exemption (or a fair market value less than $25,000 for the use tax exemption), and a leased vehicle would have to have a fair market value less than $25,000. You’d have to have qualified for the Federal earned income tax credit on your last tax return to be eligible for the exemption. This currently requires an income below $37,870 to $51,567 for families with children (depending on how many they have), an income under $14,340 if you’re single, and under $19,680 for a married couple without children.

There are various requirements about paperwork and reporting; the tax exemption’s to be funded by the additional $75 a year registration fee currently paid by owners of hybrid, plug in and alternative fuel vehicles.

HB1479

HB1479 – Tax exemption for emissions reductions or energy efficiency in fire department vehicles.
Prime Sponsor – Representative Sullivan (D; 47th District; Auburn-Covington)
Current status – Referred to the House Committee on Finance
Next step would be – Scheduling a hearing.
Legislative tracking page for the bill.

Comments –
The number of covered vehicles is going to increase because of technological developments, and because of population growth, so the declaration of the Legislature’s intent to extend the exemption if that happens might as well just say that it does intend to extend it… Technically, the bill’s language seems to say that any efficient equipment “in” a vehicle, like, say, a more energy efficient pump, would qualify the whole vehicle for the exemption, even if it only made a very small improvement.

Summary –
The bill would create a new ten year sales and use tax exemption for fire department vehicles that contain or incorporate emissions or fuel reduction technology, if they’re designed, maintained, and used exclusively for fire suppression and rescue, or for fire prevention activities.

The bill declares that the legislature intends to extend the expiration date of the exemption if a review finds that the number of covered fire department vehicles in the state has increased.

SB5373

SB5373 – Issuing up to $4.943 billion in bonds, backed by a tax on fossil fuels, to be used for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and natural climate solutions.
Prime Sponsor – Senator Lovelett (D; 40th District; Anacortes) (Co-sponsors Saldaña, Salomon, Wellman, Das, Hunt, Claire Wilson, Kuderer, Stanford, Pedersen, Dhingra, Frockt, and Nguyen – Ds.)
Current status – Referred to the Senate Committee on Environment, Energy and Technology
Next step would be – Scheduling a hearing
Legislative tracking page for the bill.
HB1513 is a similar bill in the House.
The supporters have a brochure about the bill, and Carbon WA did an FAQ while the bill was being developed.

Summary –
The bill places a carbon tax of $25/metric ton on the life cycle CO2 equivalent emissions associated with the sale or use of fossil fuels burned in the state. It’s to increase by 5% a year and be adjusted for inflation. By January 2031, after ten years, the Department of Ecology is to report on whether it expects these emissions to fall at a sufficient rate to produce their share of the reductions needed to meet the state’s targets, and to make recommendations about how to achieve that. All the revenue is to be used to fund projects and activities that reduce greenhouse gas emissions or mitigate the environmental impacts of those emissions and of climate change.

The tax is to be paid by the state and political subdivisions like counties and cities as well as by businesses. Distribution companies are to pay the tax on natural gas sold to retail customers; direct access customers are to pay the tax on their gas use. The tax on motor vehicle fuel and special fuel is to be paid by the same parties who are currently responsible for paying the fuel tax.

The bill exempts fossil fuels used to generate electricity within the state, fuel brought into the state in a primary fuel supply tank and burned, fuels that the State’s prohibited from taxing by Federal law or by laws about Indians’ property, coal burned at the Transalta plant, agricultural and aircraft fuels, biogas, and fuel bought in the state but burned outside it by ships and interstate motor carriers. During a five year transition period, it exempts fuels used for transporting logs and agricultural products,  and for extracting timber. Fuels that have already paid a carbon tax or charge on their lifecycle emissions to another jurisdiction are eligible for a credit of up to that amount against the tax owed in Washington.

In consultation with Commerce and Ecology, the Department of Revenue is to develop rules by June 30, 2022 for designating exempted energy intensive trade exposed industries. By July 30, 2026, Ecology is to report to the Legislature on whether their exemption should be restricted or eliminated. It’s to solicit input and data from stakeholders in developing the rules, consider the availability of alternative fuels, and include recommendations for minimizing leakage, allowing Washington industries to grow, recognizing and providing credit for early actions to reduce emissions, and incorporating performance benchmarking of emissions intensity in production processes.

The bill gives the Departments of Revenue, Ecology, Licensing, Transportation, and Commerce the authority to adopt any rules they deem necessary to implement it; Ecology, Commerce, and the WSU Energy Extension Program are to provide technical assistance in administering the bill to the Department of Revenue if it requests it. The Department of Revenue is to issue a report every two years including:
1. The total carbon pollution taxes collected during the reporting period and a list of the taxpayers and the tax they paid;
2. Estimated costs incurred by the department, Commerce, and Ecology in administering the bill, as a dollar amount and as a percentage of the tax collected;
3. The impact on the state’s economy including verifiable data on emissions leakage and any job losses since the implementation of the tax, and
4. A summary of the investments made through Commerce’s allocations of the revenue, including amounts invested in each program area, project descriptions, names of grant recipients, an estimate of the emissions reductions achieved or anticipated via the investments, and other information requested by the legislature.
The report’s to include recommendations for modifying or improving the act to ensure its goals are being met, and the first report is to include recommendations for auditing the expenditures. The Department of Commerce is to provide information on its website about the impacts of the tax on the price of natural gas and vehicle fuels by sector, and must provide an environmental justice analysis reporting on the environmental, health, and economic impacts of climate and of state measures taken to meet our emissions limits on highly impacted communities and vulnerable populations.

The Finance Committee is authorized to issue up to $4.943 billion in bonds during a ten year period, with terms that mean they’ll be fully repaid no later than December 31, 2050. They may be tax exempt or taxable, may be certified as green bonds or climate bonds, and may include new bonds to pay off outstanding bonds. They’re to be secured solely by pledged revenues from the carbon tax, and their repayment is to be the first priority for spending those. (Up to 5% of the remaining revenue may be used for administering the provisions of the bill.)

The bill’s backers estimate $16 billion will be raised by the tax over the first ten years, after the payment of 3.5% in debt service. Thus, funds will be available from the bonds when they are issued, and then from the portion of the ongoing revenue stream that isn’t needed for repayment of the principal, debt service and administrative expenses. 75% of that money available for investments is to be spent on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, with high priority given to funding projects that directly benefit economically distressed areas. (75% of this money is to be spent on programs, projects, and activities to reduce or mitigate the impact of transportation emissions, including:
1. Deploying clean alternative fuel vehicle charging and refueling infrastructure;
2. Supporting clean alternative fuel car sharing programs for underserved communities and low to moderate-income workers not readily served by transit, or in corridors with emissions that exceed federal or state standards;
3. Providing financing to facilitate the purchase of battery and fuel cell electric vehicles by lower-income residents;
4. Providing grants to transit authorities for cost-effective capital projects that reduce the carbon intensity of the transportation system including electrifying fleets, modifying
or replacing capital facilities to facilitate fleet electrification or hydrogen refueling, upgrading transmission and distribution systems, and constructing charging and fueling stations;
5. Providing support to small trucking firms in converting vehicles to cleaner alternative fuels, acquiring and accessing fueling infrastructure, and mitigating the costs of transitioning to cleaner vehicles;
6. Electrifying and decarbonizing the passenger ferry fleet; and
7. Converting state, county, city, and public transit agency fleets to battery or fuel cell electric vehicles.

The remaining 25% of this money for reducing emissions may be spent on programs, activities, or projects in the state including:
1. Supplementing the growth management planning and environmental review fund for making grants or loans to local governments for land use planning;
2. Deploying renewable energy resources or distributed generation, energy storage, demand side technologies and strategies, and modernizing the grid;
3. Increasing the energy efficiency or reducing the greenhouse emissions of industrial facilities including implementing combined heat and power, district energy, or on-site renewables, upgrading the energy efficiency of existing equipment, reducing process emissions, and switching to less emissions intensive fuel;
4. Achieving energy efficiency or emissions reductions in the agricultural sector through steps such as fertilizer management, soil management, bioenergy, and biofuels;
5. Increasing energy efficiency in new and existing buildings, or promoting low-carbon
architecture, including the use of building materials that result in a lower carbon footprint over the life cycle of the building and component materials;
6. Promoting the electrification and decarbonization of new and existing buildings, and
7. Improving energy efficiency, including supporting district energy, and investments in market transformation by energy efficiency products.

The other 25% of the initial revenue from the bonds, and what’s remaining from the ongoing tax revenue after servicing the bonds and paying administrative expenses, is to be spent on natural climate solutions – to increase the resilience of waters, forests, and other vital ecosystems to the impacts of climate change, and to increase their carbon pollution reduction capacity through sequestration, storage, and ecosystem integrity. It can be spent to:
1. Restore and protect estuaries, fisheries, and marine shoreline habitats, and prepare for sea level rise including making fish passage correction investments;
2. Increase the ability to remediate and adapt to ocean acidification;
3. Reduce flood risk and restore natural floodplain ecological function;
4. Increase the sustainable supply of water and improve aquatic habitat, including groundwater mapping and modeling;
5. Improve infrastructure treating stormwater from previously developed areas within an urban growth boundary, with a preference for projects that use green stormwater infrastructure; or to
6. Preserve or increase carbon sequestration and storage benefits in agricultural soils and timber stock , including funding the sustainable farms and fields grant program established to assist participants with increasing the quantity of organic carbon in soils and reducing or avoiding carbon dioxide equivalent emissions in or from soils.

It can also be spent on forest investments to:
1. Increase resilience to wildfire in the face of increased seasonal temperatures and drought;
2. Improve forest health and reduce vulnerability to changes in hydrology, insect infestation, and other impacts of climate change; or
3. Assist forestland owners in the protection of riparian and other sensitive aquatic areas by providing compensation to small forestland owners for easements under the Stewardship of Nonindustrial Forests and Woodlands program.

At least 35% of the investments under the bill must provide direct benefits to vulnerable populations in highly impacted communities; at least 25% of them must benefit rural areas, and at least 10% of them must benefit tribes. The bill establishes an environmental and economic justice panel appointed by the Governor to make recommendations on developing and implementing the programs, activities, and projects funded by the bill. It’s to be co-chaired by a tribal leader and a representative of the interests of the highly impacted communities identified by the Department of Health’s health disparities map. It’s to have at least ten members, including a tribal leader and four other people representing the interests of vulnerable populations in highly impacted communities in different rural and urban areas of the state; two people representing union labor with expertise in economic dislocation, clean energy economy, or energy-intensive, trade-exposed facilities; another person to represent tribal governments; and two people representing low-income and community advocacy organizations. (I think the co-chairs are members of the committee, rather than additional appointments, but I’m not sure.) The panel’s to:
1. Provide recommendations in the development of the investment plans and funding proposals authorized by the bill;
2. Provide a forum to determine if policies adopted lead to improvements in highly impacted communities;
3. Recommend procedures and criteria for evaluating programs, activities, or projects for funding;
4. Evaluate the level of funding provided to assist vulnerable populations, low-income individuals, and displaced workers, and the funding in or benefiting highly impacted communities;
5. Provide recommendations to agencies for meaningful consultation with vulnerable populations; and
6. Periodically evaluate the economic impacts and outcomes of the bill’s emissions reduction policies and financial assistance on low and middle-income households and vulnerable populations, including communities of color and tribal communities.

Agencies receiving funding under the bill have to consult with tribes on all decisions that may affect their rights and interests in tribal lands, using a framework for consultation developed in coordination with tribal governments. Projects directly affecting tribal lands can’t be funded without a written resolution from the affected tribe or tribes providing consent.

HB1388

HB1388 – Allows manufacturers that only make zero-emissions vehicles, like Tesla, to own and control their own dealerships, finance, leasing and service operations. (Dead)
Prime Sponsor – Representative Kloba (D; 1st District; Kirkland, Bothell)
Current status – Referred to the House Committee on Consumer Protection & Business; had a hearing February 10th.
Next step would be – Dead bill.
Legislative tracking page for the bill.
Plug-In America has a fact sheet on the bill.

Summary –
The bill allows manufacturers that only make zero-emissions vehicles, like Tesla, to operate their own dealerships, finance, leasing and service operations. (It also raises the cap on the documentary service fee dealers can charge to cover the costs of dealing with registration fees and other legal requirements when selling or leasing a vehicle from $150 to $300.)

SB5308

SB5308 – Removes the additional $75 transportation electrification fee on hybrids and plug-in vehicles that travel less than 30 miles on the battery.
Prime Sponsor – Senator Short (R; 7th District; Northeast WA)
Current status – Had a hearing in the Senate Committee on Transportation February 3rd.
Next step would be – Action by the committee.
Legislative tracking page for the bill.

Summary –
Currently, plug-in vehicles that go more than 30 miles on the battery pay a $150 in fees to make up for miles they’re driving without paying gas taxes, and a $75 transportation electrification fee to support developing charging infrastructure, developing greener transit, and supporting clean alternative fuel infrastructure. Hybrids and plug-in vehicles that go less than 30 miles on a full charge only pay the $75 fee, and the bill would eliminate that charge.

(Incidentally, after 2025, the revenue from this fee is to be shifted into the regular motor vehicle account, where the gas taxes go…)

HB1330

HB1330 – Creates a sales and use tax exemption for electric bicycles and up to $200 of related equipment.
Prime Sponsor – Representative Shewmake (D; 42nd District; Whatcom County)
Current status – Dead
In the House – Passed
Referred to the House Committee on Finance. Had a hearing there February 17th; replaced by a substitute and passed out of committee February 19th. Referred to Rules, and passed by the House March 9th.

In the Senate –
Referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and had a hearing March 23rd.
Next step would be – Action by the committee.
Legislative tracking page for the bill.

Summary –
Substitute –
The substitute merely specified the date at which reaching the cap would terminate the exemption more clearly.

Original bill –
The bill exempts electric bicycles and up to $200 of related equipment from the sales tax starting August 1st, 2021 and ending May 1st 2027, or when $500,000 of exemptions have been granted. (It says the Legislature intends to extend the expiration if a review by the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Committee finds that the number of electric bicycles purchased has increased by 25 percent compared to the number of electric bicycles in 2020.) [This may be intended to mean compared to the number purchased in 2020.]

HB1287

HB1287 – Creates a tool for forecasting and mapping EV charging infrastructure needs; requires addressing those in utilities’ integrated resource planning, and in building code updates.
Prime Sponsor – Representative Ramel (D; 40th District; Bellingham) (Co-sponsor Hackney – D)
In the House – Passed
Had a hearing in the House Committee on Environment and Energy January 28th. Replaced by a substitute and passed out of committee February 4th. Referred to the House Committee on Transportation; had a hearing there on February 16th. Replaced by a second substitute and voted out of Transportation February 18th. Referred to Rules. Amended on the floor and passed by the House March 3rd. House concurred in the Senate amendments April 14th.
In the Senate – Passed
Referred to the Committee on Environment, Energy & Technology; had a hearing March 18th; amended and passed out of committee March 23rd. Referred to Transportation; had a hearing March 29th, amended by the chair (reportedly without a role call vote), passed out of committee April 1st and referred to Rules. Amended on the floor and passed by the Senate April 10th.
Next step would be – To the Governor (who vetoed Hobbs’s amendment and signed the resulting bill.)
Legislative tracking page for the bill.

Summary –
Senate floor amendment –
The amendment would add areas zoned R-3 to those that would have increased code requirements for EV charging capability. (R-3 zoning allows single family, duplexes, triplexes, and row houses.)

Senate Transportation  amendment –
Chairman Hobbs’ amendment would delay making the 2030 phaseout a goal until the point when 75% of the cars and light trucks on the road were paying a road usage charge.

Senate committee amendment –
This added the goal for a 2030 phaseout of internal combustion cars and light trucks from the sponsor’s SB5256 (which died in committee) to the bill.

House Floor Amendments –
Representative Barkis’s amendments specified that money from the electric vehicle account could fund this bill’s activities; required Commerce to identify gas stations, convenience stores, and small retailers colocated with charging infrastructure; and to consider recommending such sites for future installations. Representative Ramel’s amendment removed green hydrogen from the bill and made a number of other changes which are summarized at the end of it.

Substitute –
The substitute makes a number of small changes, which are summarized by staff at the beginning of the new version. The second substitute made some administrative changes and technical adjustments, which are summarized by staff at the beginning of it.

Original bill –
The bill requires the Department of Commerce to create a publicly available mapping and forecasting tool to provide locations and essential information for the charging and refueling infrastructure to support forecasted levels of electric vehicle use across the state. It’s to be developed in consultation with several other agencies and stakeholders, and to enable the coordinated, effective, efficient, and timely deployment of the charging and refueling infrastructure needed for transportation electrification consistent with the State’s emissions reductions targets. Utilities’ integrated resource plans would be required to account for how they expect to meet the State’s forecasted needs for this infrastructure and the associated energy impacts. The bill would require the Building Code Council to increase the current code requirements for providing charging infrastructure as needed to support the anticipated levels of use resulting from the ZEV standards, and needed to meet the State’s targets.

The tool’s to prioritize on-road transportation initially, and include the most recent data charging and refueling infrastructure feasible. It must incorporate DOT’s traffic and traveler information for passenger and freight vehicles, such as volumes and travel patterns. If it’s feasible, it must provide the data needed to support agency programs that directly or indirectly support transportation electrification efforts; and evolve over time to support future programs.

To the extent feasible, the tool must include:
1. The amount, type, location, and installation year for charging infrastructure and refueling infrastructure that’s expected to be necessary to support usage in the state;
2. EV adoption, usage, technological profiles, and any other characteristics needed to model future usage affecting needs for that infrastructure;
3. The estimated energy and capacity demand for it;
4. Boundaries of political subdivisions (including those for retail electricity suppliers; public transportation agencies, and tribal governments);
5. Existing publicly or privately owned Level 2 and DC fast chargers, and refueling infrastructure, identifying refueling that supplies renewable hydrogen, if possible.
6. A public interface allowing any user to determine the forecasted charging and refueling infrastructure needs within a provided geographic boundary;
7. The ability to download all data tracked by the tool, or use it within a separate mapping and forecasting tool.
8. Integrate scenarios including varying levels of public transportation and active transportation usage; of vehicle miles traveled; and of adoption of autonomous and shared mobility services.
9. Incorporate infrastructure located at or near the border in neighboring state and provincial jurisdictions when appropriate.

The  tool must integrate population, health, environmental, and socioeconomic data on a census tract basis to support highly impacted communities and vulnerable populations disproportionately burdened by transportation-related emissions and to ensure economic and mobility benefits flow to communities that have historically received less investment in infrastructure. (The department must consult with other agencies to ensure the tool properly integrates best practices for cumulative impact analyses and is developed in coordination with their efforts to identify disproportionately impacted communities.)

To the extent it’s appropriate, the tool must integrate related analyses, such as the department’s state energy strategy, the Joint Transportation Committee’s public fleet electrification study, the West Coast Collaborative’s alternative fuel infrastructure corridor coalition report, and other related assessments.

SB5154 – 2021

SB5154 – Prohibits ports from enforcing emission standards for trucks operating on their property, and from prohibiting old trucks until July 2036. (Dead)
Prime Sponsor – Senator Ericksen (R; 42nd District; Whatcom County) (Co-sponsor Jeff Wilson – R)
Current status – Had a hearing in the Senate Committee on Transportation January 21st.
Next step would be – Dead bill.
Legislative tracking page for the bill.

Summary –
The bill prohibits port districts from penalizing or discriminating against the operation on port district property of trucks that don’t meet emissions or related engine standards.  Until July 1st, 2036, it wouldn’t allow them to prohibit any trucks older than the 2007 models from operating on district property (For example, trucks that are now 14 years old would be able to keep running until they were 30 years old; trucks from 1995 that are now 25 years old could run until they were 41 years old, even if ports wanted to prohibit them.)

SB5256

SB5256 – Requires ending State registration of fossil fuel cars and light vehicles, starting with 2030 models. (Dead)
Prime Sponsor – Senator Liias (D; 21st District; Snohomish County) (Co-sponsor Nguyen – D)
Current status – Referred to the Senate Committee on Environment, Energy and Technology
Next step would be – Scheduling a hearing (Dead)
Legislative tracking page for the bill.
HB1204 is a companion bill in the House.

Comments –
Coltura has a fact sheet about the bill.

Summary –
The bill requires the State Transportation Commission to develop a plan and implement regulations to require that all new vehicles beginning with model year 2030 must be electric to be registered in Washington. (Model-year 2029 and earlier vehicles, emergency vehicles, vehicles over 10,000 pounds, and those bought by residents of another state before becoming Washington residents are not affected.)

The plan’s to be completed by September 1st, 2023, in consultation with other agencies, and must include:
1. The predicted number of new and used electric vehicles and internal combustion engine vehicles registered in Washington each year during a transition period from 2022 through 2040;
2. The charging infrastructure needed to provide convenient fueling of electric vehicles during that period, and predicted yearly investments required to build it;
3. An analysis of the generation, transmission, and distribution upgrades and build-out required to provide fueling for those electric vehicles, and the predicted yearly and aggregate investment required to implement those upgrades;
4. An analysis of how the grid can be optimized through smart charging and discharging of electric vehicles during that period;
5. An analysis of yearly job gains and losses during the period as a result of the requirement, as well as its effect on state transportation revenues
6. Recommendations on alternative sources of revenues to replace gas tax revenues;
7. An analysis of the requirement’s impacts on equity, especially on disadvantaged and low-income communities, communities of color, and rural communities, and strategies for maximizing equity in implementing the requirement; and
8. A just transition strategy for those negatively impacted by it.

The commission’s to conduct a series of public workshops to give interested parties an opportunity to comment on the plan, especially including those from disadvantaged and low-income communities. The plan’s to be updated in 2025 and 2028, and the Commission’s to submit copies each time to the Legislature’s transportation committees.

Before January 1, 2025, the commission, in coordination with appropriate agencies, is to adopt regulations consistent with the scoping plan, requiring that all passenger and light duty vehicles of model year 2030 or later sold or registered in Washington state are electric. The regulations are to be designed to maximize equity and total benefits to the state while minimizing costs and risks, minimize the administrative burden of implementing and complying with them, and rely on the best available economic and scientific information and its assessment of existing and projected technological capabilities.

The commission’s to consult with the UTC, investor-owned utilities, public utility districts, and municipal utilities in the development of the regulations insofar as they affect electricity providers, in order to to minimize duplicative or inconsistent regulatory requirements.

HB1204

HB1204 – Requires ending State registration of fossil fuel cars and light vehicles, starting with 2030 models. (Dead)
Prime Sponsor – Representative Macri (D; 43rd District; Seattle) (Co-sponsors Chopp, Ramos, Kloba, Simmons, Senn, Berry, Fitzgibbon, Ramel, Duerr, Ortiz-Self, Goodman, Slatter, Bateman, Pollet, and Harris-Talley)
Current status – Had a hearing in the House Committee on Transportation February 1st. Replaced by a substitute and voted out of committee February 22nd. Referred to Rules. Was still in the House of origin at cutoff.
Next step would be – (Dead bill.)
Legislative tracking page for the bill.
SB5256 is a companion bill in the Senate.

Comments –
Coltura has a fact sheet about the bill.

Summary –
Substitute –
The substitute converts the requirement to a goal.

Original Bill –
The bill requires the State Transportation Commission to develop a plan and implement regulations to require that all new vehicles beginning with model year 2030 must be electric to be registered in Washington.  (Model-year 2029 and earlier vehicles, emergency vehicles, vehicles over 10,000 pounds, and those bought by residents of another state before becoming Washington residents are not affected.)

The plan’s to be completed by September 1st, 2023, in consultation with other agencies, and must include:
1. The predicted number of new and used electric vehicles and internal combustion engine vehicles registered in Washington each year during a transition period from 2022 through 2040;
2. The charging infrastructure needed to provide convenient fueling of electric vehicles during that period, and predicted yearly investments required to build it;
3. An analysis of the generation, transmission, and distribution upgrades and build-out required to provide fueling for those electric vehicles, and the predicted yearly and aggregate investment required to implement those upgrades;
4. An analysis of how the grid can be optimized through smart charging and discharging of electric vehicles during that period;
5. An analysis of yearly job gains and losses during the period as a result of the requirement, as well as its effect on state transportation revenues
6. Recommendations on alternative sources of revenues to replace gas tax revenues;
7. An analysis of the requirement’s impacts on equity, especially on disadvantaged and low-income communities, communities of color, and rural communities, and strategies for maximizing equity in implementing the requirement; and
8. A just transition strategy for those negatively impacted by it.

The commission’s to conduct a series of public workshops to give interested parties an opportunity to comment on the plan, especially including those from disadvantaged and low-income communities. The plan’s to be updated in 2025 and 2028, and the Commission’s to submit copies each time to the Legislature’s transportation committees.

Before January 1, 2025, the commission, in coordination with appropriate agencies, is to adopt regulations consistent with the scoping plan, requiring that all passenger and light duty vehicles of model year 2030 or later sold or registered in Washington state are electric. The regulations are to be designed to maximize equity and total benefits to the state while minimizing costs and risks, minimize the administrative burden of implementing and complying with them, and rely on the best available economic and scientific information and its assessment of existing and projected technological capabilities.

The commission’s to consult with the UTC, investor-owned utilities, public utility districts, and municipal utilities in the development of the regulations insofar as they affect electricity providers, in order to to minimize duplicative or inconsistent regulatory requirements.

SB5192

SB5192 – Requires signage, multiple payment methods, and interoperability for publicly available EV chargers.
Prime Sponsor – Senator Das (D; 47th District; Kent) (Co-Sponsor Lovelett – D)
Current status –
In the Senate – Passed
Had a hearing in the Senate Committee on Transportation January 26th. Replaced by a substitute and voted out of committee February 11th; referred to Ways and Means. Had a hearing there March 15. Amended and passed out of committee March 18th. Referred to Rules, and passed the Senate April 6th. Senate concurred in the House’s changes April 22nd.

In the House – Passed
Referred to Appropriations. Had a hearing April 19th, replaced by a striker and voted out of committee April 20th. Referred to Rules, and passed the House April 21st. Returned to the Senate for consideration of concurrence.
Next step would be – To the Governor.
Legislative tracking page for the bill.
The NW Energy Coalition maintains a web page supporting and tracking the bill.

Comments –
I’m not sure how expansive the requirement to “facilitate means for conducting a charging session in languages other than English, and means for facilitating charging sessions for consumers who are unbanked, underbanked, or low-moderate income” is, or how one would meet it for everyone in those categories.

Summary –

Striker in House Appropriations –
This made some minor changes which are summarized at the end of it.

Amendments in Ways and Means –
The amendments created a ten year exemption from the requirements for the testing and inspection of weights and measuring equipment for equipment in place before 2024, exempted chargers at auto dealers, and made some other minor changes which are summarized by staff at the beginning of the amended version.

Substitute –
There’s a staff summary of the changes at the beginning of the substitute.

Original bill –
The bill requires publicly available EV chargers to display a specified set of information, and to accept multiple payment methods in accordance with rules created by the Department of Agriculture. It requires the hardware, software, and communications network of a provider of public charging systems to be able to interact with, exchange, and make use of information, including payment information, from a different provider’s systems.

It applies to chargers that a lessee or property owner designates as available only to customers or visitors of a business; or ones that any member of the public can drive to in a parking garage or gated facility, with or without an entrance fee. (However, chargers that are clearly marked as available for use by the general public at no cost at all times are exempt from the bill’s requirements. So are free chargers are clearly marked as reserved for workplace use by workers or contracted employees, and free chargers reserved for residents, tenants, visitors, or employees of a private residence; a development with individually owned units in addition to shared facilities and common areas; or a residential building adjacent to a private residence.) The director of the Department of Agriculture is authorized to expand the requirements to other chargers to benefit the public and protect consumers.

Providers of service at covered chargers are required to clearly mark and disclose all the charges, fees, and costs associated with a charging session at each charger or location at which users can pay for and begin a session. They must include any fee for use of the parking space; any nonmember plug-in fee; the price to refuel in dollars/kWh or megajoule; any potential changes in that price due to variable pricing; and any other fees charged for a charging session. If a session or portion of one is offered at no cost, that must be disclosed.

In consultation with Commerce and the UTC, the department must adopt and update rules requiring charger providers to make multiple payment methods available at all publicly available Level 2 and DC fast chargers. The rules must include deadlines for compliance for previously installed and future chargers, and payment methods that must be available at a minimum. (These must be convenient and reasonably support access; they can include a credit card reader, a toll-free number on each charger that allows starting a session and paying whenever the charger’s available for use, or paying using a mobile phone or device.) They must also provide a means for conducting a charging session in languages other than English; a means for facilitating sessions for consumers who are unbanked, underbanked, or have low to moderate incomes. Providers can’t require a subscription, membership, account or a minimum balance to begin charging; if they sell or intend to sell consumer data from associated with charging, they have to disclose all the types of data they’re collecting to users.

By July 1st, 2022, the department is to require all providers to meet and maintain interoperability standards for these chargers that align with national and international best practices or standards. These should allow the hardware, systems, software, or a communications network provided by one party, vendor, or service provider to interact with exchange and make use of information, including payment information, with the corresponding systems provided by a different one. Starting July 1, 2022, the Department of Commerce, in consultation with Agriculture and the UTC, is to adopt and update rules establishing inventory, payment, and reliability reporting requirements for providers. These must include requirements for collecting and submitting information including provider contact information; certification for each charger model operated in Washington; an inventory of active, retired, decommissioned, or removed charging equipment in the state; annual reports detailing charging equipment payment information; and specifications for reporting data to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s Alternative Fuels Data Center.

The Department of Agriculture is allowed to establish a reasonable registration fee for electric vehicle supply equipment to cover the costs associated with enforcing the bill’s requirements. It must adopt, and amend as needed, rules for metering the sale of electricity as a vehicle fuel consistent with the the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s handbooks, except where modified to achieve state objectives. (These may not take effect before January 1, 2024.) It adds penalties of $200 for a first violation, and $500 for each subsequent one, on errors in the metering of electricity use by charging equipment that benefit its owners.

HB1091

HB1091 – Implements a low-carbon fuel standard.
Prime Sponsor – Representative Fitzgibbon (D; 34th District; SW Seattle & Vashon Island) (Co-Sponsor Slatter – D) (Requested by the Governor)
Current status –
Conference committee version passed by both houses.
In the House – Passed
Replaced by a substitute and passed out of committee January 21st. Had a hearing in Appropriations on February 4th; replaced by a 2nd Substitute and passed out of Appropriations February 9th. Had a hearing in the House Committee on Transportation February 16th, was amended, and passed out of committee as a 3rd Substitute on the 19th. Referred to Rules. Amended on the floor and passed by the House February 27th. Returned to the House by the Senate for possible concurrence with amendments there; the House refused to concur in the changes April 20th, and asked the Senate to agree to its version. Conference committee report signed April 24. Passed by the House April 25th.
In the Senate – Passed
Referred to the Committee on Environment, Energy and Technology. Had a hearing March 10th; replaced by a striker, amended, and passed out of committee March 16th. Referred to Ways and Means; had a hearing March 27th; replaced by a much weakened striker, amended, and passed out of committee April 1st. Referred to Rules April 2nd; amended on the floor and passed by the Senate April 8th. The Senate declined to accept the House version, and the bill went to conference committee. Conference committee report signed April 24. Passed by the Senate April 25th.
Next step would be – To the Governor.
Legislative tracking page for the bill.

Comments –
(The original bill was an updated version of HB1036, but the only substantive change was requiring fuels to have associated emissions at least 20% below 2017 levels to generate credits.)
The current price of CO2e reductions under California’s low carbon fuel standard is $200/metric ton; in Oregon it’s roughly $100/tonne.

Summary –
Conference Committee Striker –
This slows the rate at which reductions in fuel carbon intensity need to be made by dropping the provision for a step up to 2.5% reductions in 2032 and 2034. This delays the point at which a 10% reduction is reached by several years, and creates a pause at that level; it now requires a JLARC report on the program and a legislative review at that point before continuing the program, rather than requiring the reauthorization in the Senate’s version. It moves the date for reaching a 20% reduction out to 2038. Like the Senate bill, it drops the House provision that said Ecology had to require any additional reductions after 2031 that were needed to meet the State’s targets. It makes the implementation of the bill dependent on an increase of at least five cents a gallon in the gas tax rather than the additional $500 million in transportation funding added in the Senate’s version.

It makes the continuation of the program past the 10% reduction level dependent on at least a 15% increase in biofuel production and in state feedstocks, and on the approval beyond appeals of at least one new or expanded facility increasing biofuel capacity by more than sixty million gallons a year. (It says this expansion must include at least one new facility producing at least ten million gallons a year.) It also expands the severability clause to specify that the rest of the act is still to be enforced if these provisions are held to be invalid.

The striker drops the provision specifying that broadband investments generate credits, but adds a provision to the House definition of a credit saying that they can be generated by “other activities consistent with this chapter.” It allows up to 10% of total credits to be generated by state investments reducing transportation GHG emissions and decarbonizing the sector. It drops the Senate’s provisions about limiting SEPA review for new biofuel facilities and requiring the evaluation of their net cumulative emissions.

The final version caps the price of credits in the clearance market in 2023 at $200 (in 2018 dollars); it’s limited to inflation increases after that. It follows the Senate version in requiring Ecology to hold a clearance market if any covered facility is short of credits, allows carrying forward deficits, requires Ecology to undertake an exploration of the root causes for a shortfall after two deficit periods,  and allows it to implement remedies for the problem (subject to some prohibitions). It follows the Senate in requiring electric utilities to spend 50% of their revenue from credits they generate on transportation projects  that Ecology and DOT decide produce the largest reductions in GHG emissions, rather than on the vehicle purchase incentives the House specified. It adds that they “should consider” projects expanding low and moderate income access to zero-emission transportation.

The conference version kept the Senate provision requiring deferral of compliance obligations for at least a quarter and up to four years if the forecast projected there were not going to be enough available credits to meet covered parties’ obligations, requiring an emergency deferral if there was not an adequate supply of renewable fuels for reasons that couldn’t have been foreseen or prevented, and providing a full or partial deferral for an individual party unable to comply for reasons beyond its control. It drops the House and Senate provisions about a WSU study of least conflict sites and a stakeholder process about mitigation of impacts, and has Ecology and Commerce make recommendations about improvements to permitting processes for industrial projects and facilities, and mitigations of their environmental impacts instead.

It makes the expedited Energy Facility Site Evaluation permitting process an option for smaller biofuel facilities capable of producing between 1,500 and 25,000 barrels a day.

Senate floor amendments –
These prohibit Ecology from raising the standard after 2026 unless a new biofuels production facility producing more than sixty million gallons of biofuels a year has been successfully permitted, and there’s been at least a 25% increase in the volume of in-state biofuel production and the use of agricultural feedstocks grown within the state. They require the program to generate credits for investments funded in an omnibus transportation act that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and decarbonize the sector, but allow Ecology to limit the number of those that can be earned each year. They require rule making for the program to conform to the standards for significant rules under the Administrative Procedure Act; if funds are appropriated, they require the WSU Energy Program to consult with stakeholders and identify least conflict priority sites for projects to produce significant volumes of low carbon transportation fuel, require Ecology to periodically consult with stakeholders to identify and discuss mitigation of significant likely environmental impacts associated with them, and require periodic reporting to the Legislature on a range of issues about them.

In Ways and Means –
The striker replaced the requirement for a 2028 standard 10% below 2017 levels with a set of stepped reductions producing a maximum reduction of 4% by then, followed by maximum reductions of 1%/yr through 2031, and 2.5% a year through 2034. It no longer requires Ecology to update the rules to produce emission reductions through 2050 consistent with the state’s targets. It requires the passage of “a separate additive transportation funding act” generating more than $500 million/biennium in revenue before Ecology can actually activate the program. [This is the same provision recently attached to the cap & trade bill.] It no longer has Ecology design mechanisms to provide a financial disincentive for relying on the mechanisms for cost compliance, and directs the department to hold a credit clearance market for any period where at least one regulated party is short of credits. It caps the maximum price for credits in the clearance market at $200, adjusted for inflation. [This is about their current price in the California market.] It requires Ecology to evaluate the net cumulative GHG emissions for new or expanded facilities that would require a SEPA review and would result in annual GHG over 25,000 MT per year, including any net displacement of global emissions.  [This involves estimates like the controversial ones for the Kalama methanol proposal, where the proponents claimed that the methanol would be used in China to produce plastics with fewer emissions than what would be used to make them there otherwise.] It requires 50% of an electric utility’s revenues from credits to be used for activities and projects that Ecology and the Department of Transportation jointly decide do the most to reduce GHG emissions and decarbonize transportation. If the forecast projects there will be less than 100% of the credits needed to comply with the requirements during a compliance period the bill requires Ecology to issue a deferral, adjusting the requirement temporarily, using the requirement for the previous period, suspending the calculation of deficits, or taking other measures needed to keep the costs of credits under the cap. The bill no longer allows broadband projects to generate credits, and makes some other minor changes that are summarized by staff at the end of it. The amendment requires Ecology to use the standard for the previous period if it determines before the beginning of 2026 or 2028 that available in-state feedstocks for the program are less than 25% of what’s needed for compliance.

In the Senate Committee on Environment, Energy and Technology –
The striker in committee made a number of modest adjustments to the bill which are summarized by staff at the end of it; the amendment specified that utility credits for providing power from a zero emission resource for transportation are only available for electricity supplied to a metered customer for charging or refueling, and limits the required mechanisms for assigning credits to charging in a utility’s service area. (Ecology could apparently still decide to assign them for providing charging beyond that area.)

Amendments on the House Floor –
Amendments required Ecology’s reports on health benefits to distinguish between those from the Clean Fuel Standard and those from vehicle efficiency improvements; authorized credits for broadband investments facilitating remote work and required Ecology to create a metric for them; removed expedited site review for clean fuel projects; created a program to identify least conflict priority sites for them; required periodic consultation with stakeholders on mitigation for probable environmental impacts from them and reporting to the Legislature on mitigation, funding needs, permitting, and environmental review; and allowed nonprofit and public entities to earn credits from fueling battery or fuel cell vehicles. Representative Fitzgibbon’s amendment and Representative Paul’s amendment each made a number of changes which are summarized at the bottom of those. (All the amendments are available at the bottom of the bill page.)

Second substitute adopted by House Environment and Energy –
There’s a staff summary of the changes made by the second substitute at the beginning of that. An additional amendment in the House Transportation Committee would require Ecology to expedite processing of environmental reviews under the State Environmental Policy Act and permit applications for projects related to producing low-carbon transportation fuels.

Substitute adopted by House Environment and Energy –
There’s a staff summary of the changes at the beginning of the substitute. (They include requiring 50% of the revenue to go to reducing the cost of new electric vehicle leases and purchases, and giving utilities credits for electricity used in residential charging.)

Original Bill –
The Department of Ecology is to establish rules to reduce the intensity of transportation fuels, including electricity, used in the state. They’re to take effect January 1st, 2023, and to reduce the full life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions attributable to fuels other than electricity to 10% below 2017 levels by 2028 and 20% below 2017 levels by 2035. (By 2031, Ecology is to update them so emissions from transportation sources will meet the state’s target of a 95% reduction from 1990 levels by 2050.)

The rules are to create a system of trackable, verifiable, tradeable, and bankable credits, generating a credit (or a deficit) when the production, importing, or dispensing of fuel with a lower (or a higher) carbon intensity than the department’s standard results in the emission of a metric ton of CO2e. The estimates of greenhouse gas emissions may not privilege fuels from any particular places, and must reflect the carbon intensity of each electric utility’s mix of generation sources. The rules must include cost containment mechanisms, such as provisions allowing the department to establish a credit clearance market and sell credits at a price it sets after the end of each compliance period, a similar means for complying if participants haven’t been able to acquire enough credits to meet the requirements by the end of a period, and a similar means of ensuring that the prices of credits don’t significantly exceed those of credits in similar programs in other jurisdictions. (Such mechanisms must be designed to financially disincentivize participants from relying on them rather than reducing emissions.) Persons associated with the supply chains of transportation fuels covered by the program and those generating credits from fuels that are not covered by the program may elect to participate in the market. (The department may also designate an entity to aggregate and use credits generated by any persons covered by the program that generate credits but choose not to participate.)

Electricity and fuels used by aircraft, vessels, railroad locomotives, and military vehicles are not covered by the program. Fuel for off-road logging vehicles, construction and mining, and agriculture isn’t covered until 2028, but can be used to generate credits and trade them before then. Ecology is also authorized to allow the generation of credits associated with electric or alternative transportation infrastructure that already exists when the bill becomes effective.

The rules must allow generating credits from providing zero emission vehicle refueling infrastructure and other low carbon fuel infrastructure including, fast charging battery electric vehicle infrastructure and hydrogen electric vehicle refueling infrastructure. They may allow generating credits from any activities that reduce emissions in the state, including carbon capture and sequestration projects, such as innovative crude oil production projects including carbon capture and sequestration; refinery investments in it; or direct air capture projects; and fueling of vehicles with electricity the department certifies as net-zero. (This must include electricity for which a renewable energy credit or other environmental attribute has been retired or used only for purposes of the program; electricity produced using a zero emission resource that’s directly supplied as a transportation fuel by its generator, and the smart charging of an electric vehicle when the carbon intensity of grid electricity is comparatively low.) The department’s to periodically consult with an advisory panel, including representatives of forestland and agricultural landowners, on how to best incentivize and allot credits for sequestration through activities on agricultural and forestlands. It may set yearly limits on the credits that can be generated by emissions reducing activities that it chooses to include, providing those “take into consideration” the return on investment needed for it to be financially viable.

Before each compliance period, the Department of Commerce, in consultation with Agriculture and Ecology, is to estimate whether the expected supply of low-carbon fuels will generate enough credits to meet the program’s compliance requirements.

Utilities must spend half of their low carbon fuel standard revenues from supplying retail customers on projects supporting the use of electrification or renewable hydrogen in transportation. Sixty percent of that must go to projects in or directly benefiting areas with high levels of air pollution or disproportionately impacted communities identified by the department of health. Ecology may adopt requirements, developed in consultation with utilities, for spending the other half of these revenues.

Details –
Calculations of life-cycle emissions may include “changes in land use associated with transportation fuels and any permanent greenhouse gas sequestration activities”, and may consider the efficiency of a fuel as used in a powertrain.

The department may obtain additional information it needs to estimate fuel emissions from suppliers and utilities; companies covered by the program should be allowed to demonstrate appropriate carbon intensity values to the department if that doesn’t counter the reduction goals of the program or prove administratively burdensome.

It’s to try to harmonize the rules with those of other states that have adopted low carbon fuel standards or similar requirements for low-carbon transportation fuels and that supply (or might supply) significant quantities of those to the state, or get them from us.

There are variety of reporting requirements. The bill allows Ecology to collect fees from participants to to cover the costs of administering the program. It extends the current penalties for violations of air pollution standards to include violations of the bill’s requirements. The Joint Legislative Audit and Review Committee is to report to the Legislature on a variety of issues about the program after five years, including its costs and benefits, associated emissions reductions, and its effects on employment and fuel prices. The bill removes a poison pill provision about the transfer of transportation funds which has been intended to block adoption of the standard.

HB1075

HB1075 – Requires ride-hailing services to reduce their vehicle emissions.
Prime Sponsor – Representative Berry (D; 36th District; NW Seattle) (Co-sponsor Fitzgibbon – D)
Current status – Had a hearing in the House Committee on Environment and Energy January 15th; substitute passed out of committee January 26th. Had a hearing in Appropriations February 8th; replaced by a 2nd Substitute and passed out of Appropriations February 19th. Referred to Rules.
Next step would be – Dead.
Legislative tracking page for the bill.

Summary –
Substitute –
Requires an analysis of the effects on drivers after a year and after five years.
Second Substitute –
Exempts ride-hailing companies using only zero-emissions vehicles from some reporting and regulatory requirements.

Original bill –
By July 1st, 2022 the bill requires the Department of Ecology to establish a baseline of the emissions per passenger-mile-traveled through ride-hailing services in 2018. (It’s to include an estimate of the additional miles using active modes of transportation like walking and biking by passengers whose use of those has been facilitated by the company’s software.) The bill requires the department to set mandatory annual goals and targets that are technically and economically feasible for each company’s emissions per passenger-mile and for increasing the percentage of passenger-miles traveled using zero emission vehicles; they’re to “take into consideration” the state greenhouse gas targets and its vehicle miles traveled goals. To the extent that it’s practical, the rules Ecology’s to create for the program are to have a minimal negative impact on low-income and moderate-income drivers; support providing clean mobility for low-income and moderate-income individuals; and complement and support the long list of goals for planning under the Growth Management Act.

By January 1st 2024, each ride-hailing company must create an emissions reduction plan for reaching the targets; these must be approved by the department; implemented starting January 1st, 2025; and updated every two years. (It’s authorized to delay the process if it finds there are unanticipated barriers to expanding the use of zero-emissions vehicles, and it can create a system to give companies credits toward reaching their targets for providing or supporting charging infrastructure for ride-hailing vehicles.)

Plans have to include proposals for increasing the proportion of zero emission vehicles used, increasing the percentage of overall vehicle miles completed by zero emission vehicles, decreasing the average gram-per-mile greenhouse gas emission rates for vehicles, and increasing the percentage of overall vehicle miles in which passengers are being carried. They also have to consider incentives to increase the percentage of miles traveled by riders whose associated use of active modes of transportation is being facilitated by the company’s software; and to outline actions the company will take to ensure the plan won’t make drivers worse off financially.

Ecology is also to consult with businesses that deliver food and other consumer goods and report to the appropriate committees of the Legislature by December 1st, 2022 on ways to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.

Details –
Ride-hailing companies are required to provide relevant data to Ecology. The department’s authorized to collect fees to cover the costs of administering the program, and is required to report on it to the appropriate legislative committees. (There doesn’t seem to be an appeals procedure,  and there don’t seem to be any penalties for failing to meet the targets.)

The bill doesn’t apply to taxicabs, charters and excursion services, commercial vehicles on regular routes that include travel outside city limits, non-profits providing passenger service for people with special needs, or limousines.

HB1039

HB1039 – Reports on, updates, and expands school bicycle and pedestrian safety and education programs. (Dead)
Prime Sponsor – Representative McCaslin (R; 4th District; Spokane Valley)
Current status – Had a hearing in the House Committee on Transportation February 4th. Executive session scheduled February 11th, but no action taken.
Next step would be – Dead bill.
Legislative tracking page for the bill.

Summary –

The bill requires the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction to review and update its bicycle and pedestrian safety curriculum in coordination with a specified list of agencies and stakeholders. The new version is to “include more hazard avoidance skills and address the additional distractions associated with the use of modern technology when individuals are walking, biking, or driving,” as well as a plan to increase bicycle and safety education throughout the state and improve opportunities in distressed areas while reducing disparities in communities of color and other marginalized communities.

It requires the Washington State Patrol to create a bike safety awareness program for third to fifth grade students as part of its current elementary school bicycle awareness program, coordinating with OSPI and consulting with bicycling groups and the traffic safety commission’s active transportation safety council. It’s to include the same specified skills and content and be deployed in at least two school districts with up to 15,000 students on either side of the Cascades. The bill authorizes the Department of Transportation to fund presentations of the Patrol’s new bike safety awareness program to students by state or local officers as part of the safe routes to schools program.

It also requires the Department of Health to report to the House and Senate Transportation Committees on its head injury prevention program by September 1st, 2021.

SB5026

SB5026 – Authorizes ports’ purchases of zero and near zero emissions cargo handling equipment; prohibits purchase of automated container cargo handling equipment.
Prime Sponsor – Senator Salomon (D; 32nd District; Shoreline) (Co-Sponsor Cleveland – D)
Current status –
In the Senate – Passed
Passed out of the Senate Committee on Transportation January 25th; referred to the Committee on Housing and Local Government and had a hearing there on Tuesday, February 2nd. Passed out of committee February 10th, and referred to Rules. Passed out of Rules, amended on the floor and passed by the Senate February 23rd.

In the House – Passed
Referred to the Committee on Local Government. Had a hearing on March 10th, and passed out of committee March 12th. Referred to Rules, and passed by the House April 6th.
Next step would be – To the Governor.
Legislative tracking page for the bill.

Summary –
The bill authorizes purchases of zero and near zero emissions cargo handling equipment for the use of a port district, a port development authority, or its tenants or lessees. It also prohibits the purchase of any container cargo handling equipment that’s remotely operated or remotely monitored. (I think the floor amendment in the Senate would make the bill expire ten years from now, at the end of 2031, though the staff summary only says it expires the prohibition on fully automated equipment.)

HB1036

HB1036 – Implements a low-carbon fuel standard.
Prime Sponsor – Representative Fitzgibbon (D; 34th District; SW Seattle & Vashon Island) (Co-Sponsor Slatter – D)
Current status – This bill has been replaced by HB1091, an updated version. (The only substantive change requires fuels to have associated emissions at least 20% below 2017 levels to generate credits.) Assigned to the House Committee on Environment and Energy.
Next step would be – Scheduling a hearing.
Legislative tracking page for the bill.

Summary –
The Department of Ecology is to establish rules to reduce the intensity of transportation fuels, including electricity, used in the state. They’re to take effect January 1st, 2023, and to reduce the full life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions attributable to fuels other than electricity to 10% below 2017 levels by 2028 and 20% below 2017 levels by 2035. (By 2031, Ecology is to update them so emissions from transportation sources will meet the state’s target of a 95% reduction from 1990 levels by 2050.)

The rules are to create a system of trackable, verifiable, tradeable, and bankable credits, generating a credit (or a deficit) when the production, importing, or dispensing of fuel with a lower (or a higher) carbon intensity than the department’s standard results in the emission of a metric ton of CO2e. The estimates of greenhouse gas emissions may not privilege fuels from any particular places, and must reflect the carbon intensity of each electric utility’s mix of generation sources. The rules must include cost containment mechanisms, such as provisions allowing  the department to establish a credit clearance market and sell credits at a price it sets after the end of each compliance period, a similar means for complying if participants haven’t been able to acquire enough credits to meet the requirements by the end of a period, and a similar means of ensuring that the prices of credits don’t significantly exceed those of credits in similar programs in other jurisdictions. (Such mechanisms must be designed to financially disincentivize participants from relying on them rather than reducing emissions.) Persons associated with the supply chains of transportation fuels covered by the program and those generating credits from fuels that aren’t not covered by the program may elect to participate in the market. (The department may also designate an entity to aggregate and use credits generated by any persons covered by the program that generate credits but choose not to participate.)

Electricity and fuels used by aircraft, vessels, railroad locomotives, and military vehicles are not covered by the program. Fuel for off-road logging vehicles, construction and mining, and agriculture isn’t covered until 2028, but can be used to generate credits and trade them before then. Ecology is also authorized to allow the generation of credits associated with electric or alternative transportation infrastructure that already exists when the bill becomes effective.

The rules must allow generating credits from providing zero emission vehicle refueling infrastructure and other low carbon fuel infrastructure including, fast charging battery electric vehicle infrastructure and hydrogen electric vehicle refueling infrastructure. They may allow generating credits from any activities that reduce emissions in the state, including carbon capture and sequestration projects, such as innovative crude oil production projects including carbon capture and sequestration; refinery investments in it; or direct air capture projects; and fueling of vehicles with electricity the department certifies as net-zero. (This must include electricity for which a renewable energy credit or other environmental attribute has been retired or used only for purposes of the program; electricity produced using a zero emission resource that’s directly supplied as a transportation fuel by its generator, and the smart charging of an electric vehicle when the carbon intensity of grid electricity is comparatively low.) The department’s to periodically consult with and advisory panel, including representatives of forestland and agricultural landowners, on how to best incentivize and allot credits for sequestration through activities on agricultural and forestlands. It may set yearly limits on the credits that can be generated by emissions reducing activities that it chooses to include, providing those “take into consideration” the return on investment needed for it to be financially viable.

Before each compliance period, the Department of Commerce, in consultation with Agriculture and Ecology, is to estimate whether the expected supply of low-carbon fuels will generate enough credits to meet the program’s compliance requirements.

Utilities must spend half of their low carbon fuel standard revenues from supplying retail customers of projects supporting the use of electrification or renewable hydrogen in transportation. Sixty percent of that must go to projects in or directly benefiting areas with high levels of air pollution or disproportionately impacted communities identified by the department of health. Ecology may adopt requirements, developed in consultation with utilities, for spending the other half of these revenues.

Details –
Calculations of life-cycle emissions may include “changes in land use associated with transportation fuels and any permanent greenhouse gas sequestration activities”, and may consider the efficiency of a fuel as used in a powertrain.

The department may obtain additional information it needs to estimate fuel emissions from suppliers and utilities; companies covered by the program should be allowed to demonstrate appropriate carbon intensity values to the department if that doesn’t counter the reduction goals of the program or prove administratively burdensome.

It’s to try to harmonize the rules with those of other states that have adopted low carbon fuel standards or similar requirements for low-carbon transportation fuels and that supply (or might supply) significant quantities of those to the state, or get them from us.

There are variety of reporting requirements. The bill allows Ecology to collect fees from participants to to cover the costs of administering the program.  It extends the current penalties  for violations of air pollution standards to include violations of the bill’s requirements. The Joint Legislative Audit and Review Committee is to report to the Legislature on a variety of issues about the program after five years, including its costs and benefits, associated emissions reductions, and its effects on employment and fuel prices. The bill removes a poison pill provision about the transfer of transportation funds  which has been intended to block adoption of the standard.

SB5000

SB5000 – Creates a different sales and use tax exemption for hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.
Prime Sponsor – Senator Hawkins (R; 19th District; Wenatchee) (Co-Sponsor Lovelett)
Current status –
In the Senate – Passed
Passed out of the Senate Committee on Environment, Energy and Technology January 21st; had a hearing on a substitute bill in the Senate Committee on Transportation January 26th. Replaced by a 2nd substitute and passed out of Transportation February 11th; referred to Ways and Means. Had a hearing there on February 18th. Amended and passed out of Ways and Means February 22nd; referred to Rules. Passed the Senate March 3rd.

In the House – Passed
Referred to the Committee on Finance. Had a hearing March 15th, and passed out of committee March 25th. Referred to the Committee on Transportation; had a hearing March 29th and passed out of committee March 31st. Referred to Rules. Passed the House April 10th.
Next step would be – To the Governor.
Legislative tracking page for the bill.

Comments –
The State’s current tax exemptions for clean alternative fuel vehicles already cover the same vehicles. However, the current exemptions will step down on August 1st, 2021; again two years later; and then end July 31st, 2025. This bill’s exemptions might last through 2030, if its caps at 650 new and 650 used vehicles aren’t reached before then. (The bill specifies that you can’t claim both its exemptions and the current ones.) During the overlap, which exemptions are more generous may depend on the cost of the sale or lease, and which period it occurs in; I haven’t tried to work through the various possibilities.

The program is to be funded by transfers from the electric vehicle account established in RCW 46.17.324, which has received a $75 piece of the EV registration fees since October 2019. (That fee will currently expire in 2025, five years before the expiration of this pilot program, but I don’t know how much money may have accumulated in the account.)

Summary –
Amendments in Ways and Means –
One allowed PUDs to produce renewable hydrogen from non-emitting sources (like nuclear) as well as from renewable resources; the second one removed the feasibility study.

Substitute –
The substitute adds a study of the feasibility of converting public fleet vehicles to hydrogen fuel cell technology including infrastructure needs, manufacturing capabilities, estimated price differences and total cost of ownership comparisons for diesel, electric, and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles; and recommendations on how to cost-effectively deploy and operate fuel cell technology. The 2nd substitute, by Senator Hobbs, made the WSDOT study of the feasibility of converting pubic fleets to hydrogen dependent on specific funding for that being included in the transportation budget,

Original bill –
Establishes a pilot program exempting the sale or lease of fuel cell passenger cars, light duty trucks, and medium duty passenger vehicles from 50% of the State’s sales and use taxes. Completely exempts up to $16,000 of the cost of the sale or lease of a used fuel cell vehicle from these taxes.

The exemptions would be available for up to eight years, beginning on July 1, 2022; however, the exemptions for new vehicles and for used ones would each be capped at 650 transactions. (There are reporting requirements, and provisions for an analysis of the program’s effectiveness in promoting the technology by the joint legislative audit and review committee.)