HB 2472: Greenhouse gas/fossil fuels

Summary

• Directs the Department of Ecology (Ecology), in consultation with other state agencies, to adopt a rule establishing a cumulative greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions rate associated with fossil fuel production, gathering, processing, storage, distribution, and combustion.
• Requires Ecology to adopt a related rule to specify the global warming potential associated with fossil fuel emissions over a 20-year and 100-year time frame.
• Requires Ecology to adopt rules under the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) to establish standards for the mitigation of greenhouse gases that achieve no net increase in cumulative GHG emissions associated with a project or other government action.
• Integrates the fossil fuel cumulative emissions rate and global warming potential rules into other environmental and energy laws, including SEPA, the state Clean Air Act and GHG emission reporting laws, carbon dioxide mitigation laws for thermal power plants, and utility resource planning laws.

From the House Bill Analysis 2020 (HB 2472), written by the Legislature's nonpartisan staff. Read the full report ↗