OLYMPIA – Rural jobs and environmental quality will both be furthered under a bill approved on Tuesday by the Washington State House of Representatives.
Under Senate Bill 5575, regulations set under Initiative 937 will be softened to include new sources of biomass energy and allow biomass facilities in operation before 1999 to qualify as eligible for renewable energy credits. The bill passed the House on an 89-9 vote, having earlier passed the Senate on a 45-1 vote.
“This is a great day for rural economies in Washington,” said Sen. Brian Hatfield, the bill’s sponsor. “Without this bill, mills that have been in operation for decades and provide hundreds of jobs would have faced an uphill climb to remain open.”
“This bill is going to help preserve the good family-wage jobs we have in our communities and will result in further investments and more jobs in the future,” said Rep. Brian Blake, who chairs the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee. “This is a good step to help instill confidence in the economy and lead us to energy independence.”
“The Legacy Biomass bill is a great first step in the preservation of hundreds of family wage jobs across the state,” said Rep. Dean Takko, a member of the House Environment Committee. “By recognizing new sources of biomass energy, we recognize the important role that biomass plays for the environment and sustaining jobs in our communities.”
Following the passage of Initiative 937 in 2006, public utility districts with 25,000 or more customers were required to meet targets for energy conservation and to use eligible renewable energy resources, either by acquiring eligible renewable resources for energy production or purchasing renewable energy credits. However, the initiative applied only to facilities constructed after March 31, 1999; facilities built before that date have been unable to sell the biomass energy generated in their power plants as renewable energy, putting them at a significant disadvantage. SB 5575 makes biomass facilities operating before that eligible, provided they are owned or directly interconnected to a qualifying utility.
“Eliminating that 1999 date was a common-sense move. It was an arbitrary date, one that is not worth the jobs it put at risk,” said Hatfield, chair of the Senate Agriculture, Water & Rural Economic Development Committee.
While allowing older facilities to qualify for renewable energy credits, SB 5575 also adds organic by-products of pulping and the wood manufacturing process, known as black liquor, to the definition of biomass.
“Several states consider pulping liquors as renewable, so why not Washington?” asked Hatfield. “I-937 was putting jobs at risk by not recognizing a legitimate biomass product and I am thrilled that lawmakers in both houses and on both sides of the aisle have helped to eliminate that threat to family-wage jobs.”
The bill also adds liquors derived from algae and other sources, yard waste, food waste and food processing residues as eligible biomass.