Washington Business Fall 2015 | Legislative Review | Page 25

issue area reports | environment

joint irrigation boards to prepare an annual
budget and eases some of the public notice
requirements. SB 5556 passed the Senate
48-0 and the House by a vote of 97-0.

SSB 6125

emergency drought funding
Failed (incorporated in capital budget)/
AWB Supported

AWB supported Substitute Senate Bill 6125,
sponsored by Sen. Jim Honeyford, R-Sunnyside, which would dedicate $18 million for
drought purposes. The bill would appropriate $14 million from the general fund to the
State Drought Preparedness Account, along
with an additional $4 million in bonds. The
state Department of Ecology would use
the money to fund an emergency drought
response. Earlier this year, the governor
declared a statewide drought emergency.
SSB 6125 twice passed the Senate 47-0 and
44-0 but it never came up for a vote in the
House. The Legislature ultimately included
$16 million in emergency drought funding
in the capital budget.

water quality/
toxics
E2SHB 1472 /2SSB 5056 /
SSB 6131

use of chemical action
plans to reduce toxics
in washington waters
Failed/AWB Supported

For nearly four years, AWB and many
permitted dischargers of wastewater and
stormwater have been working with the
state on an update to surface water quality
standards. In July of 2014, Gov. Jay Inslee
gave the state Department of Ecology (DOE)
directives on several key policy choices to
advance the state’s update to the water

Bill considered as part of
AWB’s voting record

Rep. Matt Shea, R-Spokane Valley, ranking member of the House Environment Committee, left,
with Rep. J.T. Wilcox, R-Yelm, assistant ranking member of the House Appropriations Committee.

quality standards. Although the governor
said the policy directives were based on
scientifically sound and strong legal principles, he also announced he would sponsor
legislation in 2015 to reduce toxics in Washington’s waters, and expected the legislation
to pass as part of his water quality package
to submit to the federal Environmental Protection Agency.
Despite the governor’s linking of the
water quality rule, AWB opposed early
iterations of his toxics reduction legislation, House Bill 1472, sponsored by Rep. Joe
Fitzgibbon, D-Burien. The bill as introduced would have granted new authority
to the state DOE to mandate the broad use
of Alternative Assessments by industry
stakeholders and give DOE authority to
ban chemicals from commerce. Sen. Doug
Ericksen, R-Ferndale, sponsored competing
legislation, Senate Bill 5056 and Senate Bill
6131, which would have allowed the use of
Chemical Action Plans (CAP) to evaluate
chemicals in commerce impacting water
quality, and provide recommen