Clean Water Jobs Act of 2011
Washington State Senate Bill 5604 seeks to create clean water jobs through storm water pollution funding by adding a new chapter to Title 90 RCW, known as the "Clean Water Jobs Act of f2011."
New Section 2 describes the Legislature’s finding that activities that address storm water contamination generate significant job growth, particularly in the construction industry. The Legislature recognizes that future expenditures for storm water remediation in the Puget Sound region will require billions of dollars in new investments, more than $250‑million will be needed to be spent by cities, counties, ports and the State’s Department of Transportation (“DOT”) each year. The source of pollution is not a single physical point, but occurs wherever products containing these substances are purchased, consumed or used, so called non-point sources. The Legislature has concluded that surface runoff of fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides into water bodies damage the natural water ecosystems and create pollution. The Legislature recognizes that control of pollutants and storm water runoff has occcured through the National Pollutant Discharge and Elimination System (“NPDES”) Phases I and II, including municipal storm water permits. Impacts from these sources can be prevented or controlled through retrofit projects for existing infrastructure; however, current resources being devoted to offset direct burdens of waterways by pollutants are insufficent to meet existing needs and the funding burden is disproportionally born by fees levyed on individual developers and property owners. As a result, the legistature has determined that imposing a fee on the first possession of toxic storm water pollutants that contribute to a non-point storm water contamination is appropriate.
New Section 4 proposes to establish a storm water pollution account created in the state treasury from all receipts from storm water pollution fees.
New Section 5 imposes, beginning July 1, 2011, a storm water pollution fee on first possession of the following substances: Petroleum products, pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers, a fee equal to 1% of the wholesale value of the toxic storm water pollutant. The fee will be collected by the Department of Ecology (“DOE”) quarterly, and the DOE may delete or add toxic storm water pollutants to the list. The storm water pollution fee charge would not apply to possession of fuel, any successive possession of a toxic storm water pollutant for which a fee has previously been paid or where a product is used for a personal or domestic purpose or in a dwelling.
New Section 7 provides a credit against the storm water pollution fee charged for pollutants that are subsequently exported for sale outside the state or for fees paid pursuant to this chapter on the possession of fuel from the state.
New Section 4 sets forth how the DOE must distribute the monies annually from the storm water pollution account: 1) $75,000 to be provided to each local government to address contamination of storm water by toxic storm water pollutants; 2) $11‑million to be provided to the DOT for transportation infrastructure, however these monies are not to be used for contruction of storm water facilities associated with new road construction or new road alignment construction; 3) $3‑million to be provided as grants to non-profit organizations to develop storm water prevention and treatment technologies and assist businesses and governmental entities in testing, monitoring, adopting and implementing new practices and technologies; 4) Forty-five percent of the monies remaining after the above allocations to be distributed annually by the department through grants to local governments covered by the NPDES municipal Phase I or Phase II permits to mitigate or prevent contamination from toxic storm water pollutants (local government must provide 50% of the project matching fund); 5) Forty-five percent of the monies remaining after allocation of the above to be allocated annually by the DOE through grants to local governments for retrofit projects to address contamination of storm water by toxic storm water pollutants that directly reduce emissions that result in air deposition of toxins from stom water pollutants. Within this 45% allocation of monies for capital improvement projects greater than $1‑million, at least 15% of the labor hours are to be performed by apprentices; 6) The final 10% of monies remaining after distribution of the above are to be allocated to the highest priority projects based upon ecological and water quality benefits. The stake holders and Department of Ecology are required to develop criteria for administering the program and ranking projects for funding based on water quality benefits and to assure that grants are awarded consistent with the prioritization of the 2020 Action Agenda.
Washington’s agri businesses are potentially facing greater regulation of surface water runoff containing fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides if this Bill is enacted into law to help fund the cost of mitigating the resulting contamination.
