2026 legislative priorities

Our laboratory accreditation and landfill methane reduction programs are authorized to collect fees to cover the costs of operating the programs. Under current law, however, fees collected by these programs are deposited into the General Fund-State. This creates uncertainty in funding and program instability, as the fee revenue may not then be directed back to the program it was intended to support. Under this draft proposal, Ecology would specify dedicated funding accounts for each of the following two programs:

• Laboratory accreditation program:  Established in RCW 43.21A.230, this program accredits environmental laboratories to make sure that labs are producing credible, defensible data.
• Landfill methane reduction program:  Under Chapter 70A.540 RCW, we work with landfills to reduce their emissions of methane, a highly potent greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change.

Directing the fees collected into dedicated accounts will help make sure the fees collected support the work they’re intended to fund and provide sustainable, dependable funding for these important programs.

For more information about this draft bill proposal, please contact:

Joanna Ekrem
Senior Program Planner, Air Quality Program
joanna.ekrem@ecy.wa.gov
360-704-0514

Pallavi Mukerjee
Legislative Lead and Policy Coordinator, Environmental Assessment Program
pallavi.mukerjee@ecy.wa.gov
564-223-9665

According to our latest (2022) study, more than 37.8 million pounds of litter accumulates on our roadways and public areas every year. Since 1971, our state has funded litter prevention and cleanup work through a 0.015% tax on the sale of 13 commonly-littered products. However, the tax hasn’t been updated since its inception and current revenues only cover the removal of a fraction of the litter accumulating every year.

Our draft proposal seeks to modernize the litter tax to include the three material types most commonly found as litter that are not currently covered:  construction and demolition debris, auto rubber products, and vehicle debris. Adding these products to the litter tax will help make sure we can do the critical work needed to keep our environment clean and litter-free. The litter tax is established under RCW 82.19.020. During Tribal consultation and stakeholder engagement later this summer, we are open to input on any additional changes to our litter prevention and cleanup work, established under Chapter 70A.200 RCW.

For more information about this draft bill proposal, please contact:

Julie Robertson
Legislative Coordinator, Solid Waste Management Program
julie.robertson@ecy.wa.gov
360-763-2728

Mia Altieri
Legislative and Planning Assistant, Solid Waste Management Program
mia.altieri@ecy.wa.gov
564-669-1136