Solid waste management

AN ACT Relating to improving Washington's solid waste management 1
outcomes; amending RCW 70A.205.045, 70A.205.500, 81.77.030, 2
81.77.160, and 81.77.185; reenacting and amending RCW 43.21B.110, 3
43.21B.300, and 49.48.082; adding a new section to chapter 49.46 RCW; 4
adding a new chapter to Title 70A RCW; creating new sections; 5
prescribing penalties; and providing an expiration date.6
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:7
Part One8
Providing for Producer Responsibility in the Management9
of Packaging and Paper Products10
NEW SECTION. Sec. 101. FINDINGS— INTENT. (1) The legislature 11
finds that, as of 2025:12
(a) Washington's statewide waste recovery rate has been generally 13
static since 2011 and Washington is not meeting the statewide goal of 14
50 percent recycling established in 1989; and 15
(b) Many residents, particularly those who live in rural areas 16
and in multifamily residences, do not have access to convenient or 17
affordable curbside recycling, and must rely on taking recyclables to 18
drop box locations, and that extended producer responsibility 19
S-0458.1
SENATE BILL 5284
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2025 Regular Session
By Senators Lovelett, Shewmake, Nobles, Bateman, Salomon, Saldaña,
Stanford, C. Wilson, Frame, Pedersen, Hasegawa, Liias, Orwall,
Slatter, and Valdez
Read first time 01/15/25. Referred to Committee on Environment,
Energy & Technology.
p. 1 SB 5284
programs could make curbside recycling available and affordable for 1
most people in the state. 2
(2)(a) It is the intent of the legislature to require extended 3
producer responsibility programs for consumer packaging and paper 4
products to be implemented in a manner that involves producers in 5
material management from design concept to end of life.6
(b) It is intended that these programs be responsibly planned and 7
funded in a manner that minimizes negative impacts to the environment 8
and minimizes risks to public health and worker health and safety. It 9
is also intended that these programs build and expand on the existing 10
waste and recycling system's infrastructure and reliance on the 11
authority of local governments and the utilities and transportation 12
commission in solid waste management. 13
(c) Finally, it is the intent of the legislature that Washington 14
should maintain the successful public-private partnership between 15
state, local government, and solid waste and recycling service 16
providers. The legislature does not intend to diminish or displace 17
the primary role of the utilities and transportation commission and 18
local governments in regulating or contracting directly with service 19
providers for the curbside collection of residential recyclables. 20
Local governments maintain their existing authority to collect, 21
contract for collection with solid waste and recycling service 22
providers, or defer to solid waste collection services regulated by 23
the utilities and transportation commission. 24
NEW SECTION. Sec. 102. DEFINITIONS. The definitions in this 25
section apply throughout this chapter unless the context clearly 26
requires otherwise.27
(1) "Advisory council" means the council established in section 28
105 of this act. 29
(2) "Alternative recycling process" means a recycling process 30
that occurs other than through purely physical means.31
(3) "Brand" means a name, symbol, word, logo, or mark that 32
identifies an item and attributes the item and its components, 33
including packaging, to the brand owner of the item.34
(4) "Collection rate" means the amount of a covered material by 35
covered materials type collected by service providers and transported 36
for recycling or composting divided by the total amount of the type 37
of a covered material by covered materials type introduced by the 38
relevant unit of measurement established in the plan.39
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(5) "Compostable" means a product that is capable of composting 1
in a composting system and is in compliance with the requirements for 2
a product labeled as compostable under chapter 70A.455 RCW.3
(6) "Composting" means the controlled microbial degradation of 4
source separated compostable materials to yield a humus-like product.5
(7) "Composting rate" means the amount of compostable covered 6
material that is managed through composting, divided by the total 7
amount of compostable covered material introduced by the relevant 8
unit of measurement. 9
(8) "Composting system" means a system meeting the requirements 10
of chapter 70A.205 RCW applicable to facilities that treat solid 11
waste for composting. 12
(9) "Contamination" means: 13
(a) The presence of materials that are not on the list of 14
materials collected in that material stream; or 15
(b) The presence of materials that are not specified or accepted 16
as a component of the feedstock or commodity. 17
(10) "Covered entity" means a person or location that receives 18
covered services for covered materials in accordance with the 19
requirements of this chapter, including: 20
(a) A single-family residence; 21
(b) A multifamily residence; and 22
(c) A public place where a government entity managed recycling 23
collection receptacles as of August 1, 2025, and any additional 24
public place identified in an approved plan. 25
(11)(a) "Covered material" means packaging and paper products 26
introduced into the state. 27
(b) "Covered material" does not include exempt materials.28
(12) "Covered materials type" means a singular and specific type 29
of material, such as paper, plastic, metal, or glass, that is a 30
covered material and that: 31
(a) May be categorized based on distinguishing chemical or 32
physical properties, including properties that allow a covered 33
materials type to be aggregated into a discrete commodity category 34
for purposes of reuse, recycling, or composting; and35
(b) Is based on similar uses in the form of a product or 36
packaging. 37
(13)(a) "Covered services" means collecting, transferring, 38
transporting, sorting, processing, recovering, preparing, or 39
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otherwise managing for purposes of waste reduction, refill, reuse, 1
recycling, composting, or disposal of contamination or residuals.2
(b) Except with regard to contamination, "covered services" do 3
not include: 4
(i) Resource recovery through mixed municipal solid waste 5
composting or incineration; or 6
(ii) Land disposal. 7
(14) "De minimis producer" means a producer that:8
(a) In their most recent fiscal year introduced less than one ton 9
of covered materials; or 10
(b) Has a global gross revenue, not including on-premises alcohol 11
sales, for the prior fiscal year of: 12
(i) Until January 1, 2031, less than $5,000,000; or13
(ii) Beginning January 1, 2031, less than $5,000,000, as adjusted 14
for inflation. The department must use the consumer price index for 15
urban wage earners to calculate the annual rate of inflation 16
adjustment effective January 1st of each year, beginning January 1, 17
2031. 18
(15) "Department" means the department of ecology.19
(16) "Drop-off collection site" means a physical location where 20
covered materials are accepted from the public and that is open a 21
minimum of 12 hours weekly throughout the year. 22
(17) "Exempt materials" means materials, or any portion of 23
materials, that are: 24
(a) Packaging for infant formula, as defined in 21 U.S.C. Sec. 25
321(z); 26
(b) Packaging for medical food, as defined in 21 U.S.C Sec. 27
360ee(b)(3); 28
(c) Packaging for a fortified oral nutritional supplement used by 29
persons who require supplemental or sole source nutrition to meet 30
nutritional needs due to special dietary needs directly related to 31
cancer, chronic kidney disease, diabetes, malnutrition, or failure to 32
thrive, as those terms are defined by the International 33
Classification of Diseases, tenth revision; 34
(d) Packaging for a product regulated as a drug, medical device, 35
or dietary supplement by the United States food and drug 36
administration, including associated components and consumable 37
medical equipment, under the federal food, drug, and cosmetic act (21 38
U.S.C. Sec. 321 et seq.), or a product regulated as a biologic or 39
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vaccine by the United States food and drug administration under the 1
public health service act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 201 et seq.);2
(e) Packaging for a medical equipment or product used in medical 3
settings that is regulated by the United States food and drug 4
administration, including associated components and consumable 5
medical equipment; 6
(f) Packaging for drugs, biological products, parasiticides, 7
medical devices, or in vitro diagnostics that are used to treat, or 8
that are administered to, animals and are regulated by the United 9
States food and drug administration under the federal food, drug, and 10
cosmetic act (21 U.S.C. Sec. 301 et seq.) and by the United States 11
department of agriculture under the federal virus-serum-toxin act (21 12
U.S.C. Sec. 151 et seq.); 13
(g) Packaging for products regulated by the United States 14
environmental protection agency under the federal insecticide, 15
fungicide, and rodenticide act (7 U.S.C. Sec. 136 et seq.);16
(h) Packaging used to contain liquefied petroleum gas and are 17
designed to be refilled; 18
(i) Packaging used to contain hazardous or flammable products 19
classified by the 2012 federal occupational safety and health 20
administration hazard communication standard, 29 C.F.R. Sec. 21
1910.1200 (2024), that prevent the packaging from being reduced or 22
made reusable, recyclable, or compostable, as determined by the 23
department; 24
(j) Packaging that is associated with products managed through a 25
paint stewardship plan approved under chapter 70A.515 RCW;26
(k) Exempt materials, as determined by the department under 27
section 125 of this act; 28
(l) Used to protect or store a durable product for a period of at 29
least five years; 30
(m) Covered materials that: 31
(i) A producer distributes to another producer;32
(ii) Are subsequently used to contain a product and the product 33
is distributed to a commercial or business entity for the production 34
of another product; and 35
(iii) Are not introduced to a person other than the commercial or 36
business entity that first received the product used for the 37
production of another product; and 38
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(n) Covered materials for which the producer demonstrates to the 1
department that the covered material meets all of the following 2
criteria: 3
(i) The material is not collected through a residential recycling 4
collection service; 5
(ii) The material is recycled at a responsible market;6
(iii) The material is intended to be used and collected within a 7
commercial setting; 8
(iv)(A) The producer annually demonstrates to the department that 9
the material has had a state recycling rate of 65 percent for three 10
consecutive years, until December 31, 2029. Beginning January 1, 11
2030, the producer must demonstrate to the department every two years 12
that the material has had a state recycling rate of at least 70 13
percent annually; or 14
(B) The producer annually demonstrates to the department that the 15
material is directly managed by the producer and has had a reuse or 16
recycling rate of 65 percent for three consecutive years, until 17
December 31, 2029. Beginning January 1, 2030, the producer must 18
demonstrate to the department every two years that the material 19
controlled by the producer has had a reuse or recycling rate of at 20
least 70 percent annually; and 21
(v) If only a portion of the material sold in or into the state 22
by a producer meets the criteria of (n)(i) of this subsection, only 23
the portion of the material that meets that criteria is an exempt 24
material and any portion that does not meet the criteria is a covered 25
material for purposes of this chapter. 26
(18) "Government entity" means any: 27
(a) County, city, town, or other local government, including any 28
municipal corporation, quasi-municipal corporation, or special 29
purpose district, or any office, department, division, bureau, board, 30
commission, or agency thereof, or other local public agency;31
(b) State office, department, division, bureau, board, 32
commission, or other state agency; 33
(c) Federally recognized Indian tribe whose traditional lands and 34
territories include parts of Washington; or 35
(d) Federal office, department, division, bureau, board, 36
commission, or other federal agency. 37
(19) "Individual plan" means a plan submitted by a producer that 38
registers with the department as a producer responsibility 39
organization to address the covered materials of the producer.40
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(20) "Introduce" means to sell, offer for sale, distribute, or 1
ship a product within or into this state. 2
(21) "Material recovery facility" means any facility that 3
receives, compacts, repackages, or sorts source separated solid waste 4
for the purpose of recycling. 5
(22) "Overburdened communities" means the overburdened 6
communities identified and prioritized by the department under RCW 7
70A.02.050(1)(a). 8
(23)(a) "Packaging" means a material, substance, or object that 9
is used to protect, contain, transport, serve, or facilitate delivery 10
of a product and is sold or supplied with the product to the consumer 11
for personal, noncommercial use. 12
(b) "Packaging" does not include exempt materials.13
(24) "Paper product" means paper sold or supplied to a consumer 14
for personal, noncommercial use, including flyers, brochures, 15
booklets, catalogs, magazines, printed paper, and all other paper 16
materials except for: (a) Bound books; (b) conservation-grade and 17
archival-grade paper; (c) newspapers, including supplements or 18
enclosures; (d) magazines that have a circulation of fewer than 19
95,000 and that includes content derived from primary sources related 20
to news and current events; (e) copy paper; (f) paper for use in 21
building construction; and (g) paper that could reasonably be 22
anticipated to become unsafe or unsanitary to handle.23
(25)(a) "Plastic source reduction" means the reduction in the 24
amount of covered plastic material introduced by a producer relative 25
to a baseline year of 2023, or relative to an alternative baseline 26
year of no earlier than 2013 where a producer submits data 27
documenting the plastic source reduction to a producer responsibility 28
organization. Methods of source reduction include, but are not 29
limited to, shifting covered material to reusable or refillable 30
packaging or a reusable product, eliminating unnecessary packaging, 31
or reducing the packaging to product ratio. "Plastic source 32
reduction" must include elimination, which means the removal of 33
plastic covered materials. 34
(b) "Plastic source reduction" does not include either of the 35
following: 36
(i) Replacing a recyclable or compostable covered material with a 37
nonrecyclable or noncompostable covered material or a covered 38
material that is less likely to be recycled or composted; or39
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(ii) Switching from virgin covered material to postconsumer 1
recycled content. 2
(26) "Postconsumer recycled content" has the same meaning as 3
defined in RCW 70A.245.010. 4
(27)(a) "Producer" means the following person responsible for 5
compliance with requirements under this chapter for a covered 6
material introduced into the state: 7
(i) For items sold in or with packaging at a physical retail 8
location in this state: 9
(A) If the item is sold in or with packaging under the brand of 10
the item manufacturer or is sold in packaging that lacks 11
identification of a brand, the producer is the person that 12
manufactures the item; 13
(B) If there is no person to which (a)(i)(A) of this subsection 14
applies, the producer is the person that is licensed to manufacture 15
and sell or offer for sale to consumers in this state an item with 16
packaging under the brand or trademark of another manufacturer or 17
person; 18
(C) If there is no person to which (a)(i)(A) or (B) of this 19
subsection applies, the producer is the brand owner of the item;20
(D) If there is no person described in (a)(i)(A), (B), or (C) of 21
this subsection within the United States, the producer is the person 22
who is the importer of record for the item into the United States for 23
use in a commercial enterprise that sells, offers for sale, or 24
distributes the item in this state; or 25
(E) If there is no person described in (a)(i)(A) through (D) of 26
this subsection, the producer is the person that first distributes 27
the item in or into this state; 28
(ii) For items sold or distributed in packaging in or into this 29
state via e-commerce, remote sale, or distribution:30
(A) For packaging used to directly protect or contain the item, 31
the producer of the packaging is the same as the producer identified 32
under (a)(i) of this subsection; and 33
(B) For packaging used to ship the item to a consumer, the 34
producer of the packaging is the person that packages the item to be 35
shipped to the consumer; 36
(iii) For packaging that is a covered material and is not 37
included in (a)(i) and (ii) of this subsection, the producer of the 38
packaging is the person that first distributes the item in or into 39
this state; 40
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(iv) For paper products that are magazines, catalogs, telephone 1
directories, or similar publications, the producer is the publisher;2
(v) For paper products not described in (a)(iv) of this 3
subsection: 4
(A) If the paper product is sold under the manufacturer's own 5
brand, the producer is the person that manufactures the paper 6
product; 7
(B) If there is no person to which (a)(v)(A) of this subsection 8
applies, the producer is the person that is the owner or licensee of 9
a brand or trademark under which the paper product is used in a 10
commercial enterprise, sold, offered for sale, or distributed in or 11
into this state, whether or not the trademark is registered in this 12
state; 13
(C) If there is no person to which (a)(v)(A) or (B) of this 14
subsection applies, the producer is the brand owner of the paper 15
product; 16
(D) If there is no person described in (a)(v)(A), (B), or (C) of 17
this subsection within the United States, the producer is the person 18
that imports the paper product into the United States for use in a 19
commercial enterprise that sells, offers for sale, or distributes the 20
paper product in this state; or 21
(E) If there is no person described in (a)(v)(A) through (D) of 22
this subsection, the producer is the person that first distributes 23
the paper product in or into this state; 24
(vi) A person is the "producer" of a covered material sold, 25
offered for sale, or distributed in or into this state, as defined in 26
(a)(i) through (v) of this subsection, except: 27
(A) Where another person has mutually signed an agreement with a 28
producer as defined in (a)(i) through (v) of this subsection that 29
contractually assigns responsibility to the person as the producer, 30
and the person has joined a registered producer responsibility 31
organization as the responsible producer for that covered material 32
under this chapter. If another person is assigned responsibility as 33
the producer under this subsection, the producer under (a)(i) through 34
(v) of this subsection must provide written certification of that 35
contractual agreement to the producer responsibility organization; 36
and 37
(B) If the producer described in (a)(i) through (v) of this 38
subsection is a business operated wholly or in part as a franchise, 39
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the producer is the franchisor, if that franchisor has franchisees 1
that have a commercial presence within the state. 2
(b) "Producer" does not include: 3
(i) Government entities; 4
(ii) Registered 501 (c)(3) charitable organizations and 501 (c)(4) 5
social welfare organizations; or 6
(iii) De minimis producers. 7
(28) "Producer responsibility organization" means:8
(a) A nonprofit organization that qualifies for a tax exemption 9
under 26 U.S.C. Sec. 501 (c)(3) of the federal internal revenue code 10
and is designated by a producer or group of producers to fulfill the 11
requirements of this chapter; 12
(b) A producer that registers with the department as a producer 13
responsibility organization and implements an individual plan 14
addressing the covered materials of the producer; or15
(c) An organization as defined by the department by rule.16
(29) "Program" means the activities conducted to implement an 17
approved plan. 18
(30)(a) "Public place" means an indoor or outdoor location open 19
to and generally used by the public and to which the public is 20
permitted to have access including, but not limited to, streets, 21
sidewalks, plazas, town squares, public parks, beaches, forests, or 22
other public land open for recreation or other uses, and 23
transportation facilities such as bus and train stations, airports, 24
and ferry terminals. 25
(b) "Public place" does not include a retail establishment or 26
industrial, commercial, or privately owned property that is not 27
required to be accessible to the public. 28
(31) "Recycling" means transforming or remanufacturing covered 29
materials into usable or marketable materials for use other than 30
landfill disposal or incineration and does not include reuse or 31
composting. 32
(32) "Recycling rate" means the amount of covered materials, in 33
aggregate or by individual covered materials type, delivered to 34
responsible markets for recycling in a calendar year divided by the 35
total amount of covered materials introduced by the relevant unit of 36
measurement and excluding covered materials that are reusable or 37
compostable. 38
(33) "Refill" means the continued use of a covered material by a 39
consumer through a system that is: 40
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(a) Intentionally designed and marketed for repeated filling of a 1
covered material to reduce demand for new production of the covered 2
material; 3
(b) Supported by adequate logistics and infrastructure to provide 4
convenient access to consumers; and 5
(c) Compliant with all applicable federal, state, and local 6
statutes, rules, ordinances, and other laws governing health and 7
safety. 8
(34) "Responsible market" means an entity that:9
(a) First produces and sells, transfers, or uses recycled organic 10
product or recycled content feedstock that meets the quality 11
standards necessary to be used in the creation of new or 12
reconstituted products; 13
(b) Complies with all applicable federal, state, and local 14
statutes, rules, ordinances, and other laws governing environmental, 15
health, safety, and financial responsibility; 16
(c) If the market operates in the state, manages waste according 17
to the state's solid waste management hierarchy established in RCW 18
70A.205.005; and 19
(d) Meets the minimum operational standards adopted under a 20
producer responsibility organization plan to protect the environment, 21
public health, worker health and safety, and minimize adverse impacts 22
to socially vulnerable populations. 23
(35) "Responsible producer" means a producer that is not a de 24
minimis producer. 25
(36) "Retail establishment" includes any person, corporation, 26
partnership, business, facility, vendor, organization, or individual 27
that sells or provides merchandise, goods, or materials directly to a 28
customer. 29
(37) "Return rate" means the amount of reusable covered material 30
in aggregate or by individual covered materials type, collected for 31
reuse by a producer or service provider in a calendar year, divided 32
by the total amount of reusable covered materials introduced by the 33
relevant unit of measurement. 34
(38) "Reusable" means capable of reuse. 35
(39) "Reuse" means the return of a covered material to the 36
marketplace and the continued use of the covered material by a 37
producer or service provider when the covered material is:38
(a) Intentionally designed and marketed to be used multiple times 39
for its original intended purpose without a change in form;40
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(b) Designed for durability and maintenance to extend its useful 1
life and reduce demand for new production of the covered material;2
(c) Supported by adequate logistics and infrastructure at a 3
retail location, by a service provider, or on behalf of or by a 4
producer, that provides convenient access for consumers; and5
(d) Compliant with all applicable federal, state, and local 6
statutes, rules, ordinances, and other laws governing health and 7
safety. 8
(40) "Reuse rate" means the share of units of a reusable covered 9
material introduced into the state in a calendar year that are 10
demonstrated and deemed reusable in accordance with an approved plan.11
(41) "Service provider" means an entity that provides covered 12
services for covered materials. A government entity that provides, 13
contracts for, or otherwise arranges for another party to provide 14
covered services for covered materials within its jurisdiction may be 15
a service provider regardless of whether it provided, contracted for, 16
or otherwise arranged for similar services before the approval of the 17
applicable plan. 18
(42) "Socially vulnerable population" means: 19
(a) Any person residing in a census tract that contains a high 20
overall social vulnerability index as measured using the United 21
States center for disease control and the agency for toxic substances 22
and disease registry's social vulnerability index, as it existed as 23
of January 1, 2025, for the most recent year such data are available; 24
or 25
(b) Any person that has an income below the minimum necessary for 26
a household based on family composition in a given geography to 27
adequately meet their basic needs without public or private 28
assistance, as measured by the University of Washington's center for 29
women's welfare, for the most recent year such data are available.30
(43) "Third-party certification" means certification by an 31
accredited independent organization that a standard or process 32
required by this chapter, or by a plan approved under this chapter, 33
has been achieved. 34
(44) "Toxic substance" means chemicals that are regulated under 35
chapter 70A.222, 70A.350, 70A.430, or 70A.560 RCW.36
(45) "Vulnerable populations" has the same meaning as defined in 37
RCW 70A.02.010. 38
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NEW SECTION. Sec. 103. PRODUCER AND PRODUCER RESPONSIBILITY 1
ORGANIZATION REGISTRATION. (1) By January 1, 2026, each producer must 2
appoint a producer responsibility organization or producer 3
responsibility organizations to address its covered materials.4
(2) By March 1, 2026, and annually thereafter, a producer 5
responsibility organization must register with the department on 6
behalf of its producers. A registration submission by a producer 7
responsibility organization must include the following:8
(a) Contact information for a person responsible for implementing 9
an approved plan; 10
(b) A list of all member producers that have entered into written 11
agreements to operate under an approved plan by the producer 12
responsibility organization, copies of the written agreements for 13
each member producer and, except in the first year of registration, a 14
list of all brands of each producer's covered materials introduced;15
(c) A plan for recruiting additional member producers and 16
executing written agreements confirming producers will operate under 17
an approved plan administered by the producer responsibility 18
organization; 19
(d) A list of current board members and the executive director if 20
different than the person responsible for implementing approved 21
plans; and 22
(e) Documentation demonstrating adequate financial responsibility 23
and financial controls to ensure proper management of funds and 24
payment of the annual registration fee to the department.25
(3) Notwithstanding subsections (1), (2), and (4) of this 26
section, for purposes of the first plan implementation period, the 27
department may not allow registration of more than one producer 28
responsibility organization, other than an individual producer 29
registered as a producer responsibility organization.30
(4) By September 1, 2026, and each May 1st thereafter, a producer 31
responsibility organization must submit an annual registration fee to 32
fund all costs of the department to implement, administer, and 33
enforce this chapter. 34
NEW SECTION. Sec. 104. PRODUCER AND PRODUCER RESPONSIBILITY 35
ORGANIZATION RESPONSIBILITIES. (1) A producer must:36
(a) After July 1, 2026, be a member of a producer responsibility 37
organization registered in this state or register as a producer 38
responsibility organization that will implement an individual plan;39
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(b) Through a producer responsibility organization, implement and 1
finance a statewide program for packaging and paper products in 2
accordance with this chapter that encourages redesign to reduce 3
environmental impacts and human health impacts and that reduces 4
generation of covered material waste through waste reduction, refill, 5
reuse, recycling, and composting and by providing for the collection, 6
transportation, and processing of used covered materials for reuse, 7
recycling, and composting; 8
(c) Maintain membership with and pay fees to the producer 9
responsibility organization under which they are registered; and10
(d) Comply with all other applicable requirements under this 11
chapter. 12
(2) Beginning March 1, 2029, a producer that is not a member in 13
good standing with a registered producer responsibility organization 14
or has not submitted an individual plan may not introduce covered 15
materials into the state. 16
(3) A producer responsibility organization must:17
(a)(i) Beginning March 1, 2026, register with the department;18
(ii)(A) Except as provided in (a)(ii)(B) of this subsection, by 19
September 1, 2026, submit a one-time payment to the department, in 20
lieu of the registration fee required in section 103 of this act, in 21
an amount determined by the department, to cover the costs of the 22
department under this chapter from the effective date of this section 23
through June 30, 2027; 24
(B) By September 1, 2026, a producer responsibility organization 25
that is an individual producer registered as a producer 26
responsibility organization must make a one-time payment in an amount 27
determined by the department to cover any incremental costs to the 28
department under this chapter from the effective date of this section 29
through June 30, 2027, associated with the registration of the 30
individual producer as a producer responsibility organization;31
(iii) Beginning May 1, 2027, pay an annual registration fee to 32
the department as required under section 103 of this act;33
(b) Establish an initial producer fee structure to fund the 34
initial implementation of the program, to be used until the producer 35
responsibility program has an approved plan, and collect fees 36
annually from registered producers; 37
(c) By October 1, 2028, and every five years thereafter, submit a 38
plan that meets the requirements of this chapter to the department 39
for approval; 40
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(d) By January 1, 2030, or within six months of plan approval, 1
whichever is later, implement the plan approved by the department;2
(e) By July 1, 2031, and each July 1st thereafter, submit an 3
annual report to the department for the prior calendar year;4
(f) Ensure that each producer operating under a plan administered 5
by the producer responsibility organization complies with the 6
requirements of the plan and this chapter; 7
(g) Expel a producer from the producer responsibility 8
organization if efforts to return the producer to compliance with the 9
plan or the requirements of this chapter are unsuccessful and notify 10
the department of the producer's expulsion; 11
(h) Consider and respond in writing to comments received from the 12
advisory council, including justifications for not incorporating 13
advisory council recommendations; 14
(i) Provide producers with information regarding state and 15
federal laws that prohibit substances in covered materials or require 16
postconsumer recycled content in covered materials, including 17
chapters 70A.222, 70A.245, 70A.350, and 70A.560 RCW;18
(j) Notify the department within 30 days of a change made to the 19
contact information for a person responsible for implementing the 20
plan, to board membership, or to the executive director;21
(k) Assist service providers to identify and use responsible 22
markets; 23
(l) Reimburse service providers in a timely manner, at intervals 24
no longer than monthly unless agreed to by a service provider and a 25
producer responsibility organization; 26
(m) Maintain a website and implement education and outreach 27
activities as required under section 119 of this act; and28
(n) Comply with all other applicable requirements of this 29
chapter. 30
(4) If more than one producer responsibility organization is 31
established under this chapter, the producers and producer 32
responsibility organizations must establish a coordinating body and 33
process to prevent redundancy. The coordinating body must integrate:34
(a) Plans of all producer responsibility organizations into a 35
single plan that implements all requirements of this chapter and 36
encompasses all producers when submitted to the department for 37
approval; 38
(b) Annual reports of all producer responsibility organizations 39
into a single annual report that covers all requirements of this 40
p. 15 SB 5284
chapter and encompasses all producers when submitted to the 1
department; and 2
(c) Payments between all registered producer responsibility 3
organizations to achieve equitable apportionment of funding for the 4
reuse financial assistance program and coordination of the program's 5
administration. 6
(5)(a) Each producer responsibility organization must annually 7
fund and implement a reuse financial assistance program to reduce the 8
negative environmental impacts of covered materials through reuse. 9
The reuse financial assistance program must collectively be funded by 10
registered producer responsibility organizations in the amount of 11
$5,000,000 beginning in 2027 and adjusted annually thereafter for 12
inflation. The department must use the consumer price index for urban 13
wage earners to calculate the annual rate of inflation adjustment 14
effective January 1st of each year. 15
(b) Entities eligible for reuse financial assistance include, but 16
are not limited to: 17
(i) Government entities; 18
(ii) Tribal governments; 19
(iii) Nonprofit organizations; and 20
(iv) Private organizations. 21
(c) In administering the reuse financial assistance program, the 22
producer responsibility organization must solicit applications using 23
an open and competitive process and must select applications through 24
an evaluation that considers criteria including, but not limited to:25
(i) The environmental benefits of the activity;26
(ii) The human health benefits of the activity;27
(iii) The social and economic benefits of the activity;28
(iv) The cost-effectiveness of the activity; and29
(v) The needs of economically distressed or overburdened 30
communities. 31
(d) The producer responsibility organization must consult with 32
the advisory council in determining the criteria in (c) of this 33
subsection, evaluating and selecting applications, and in 34
administering the reuse financial assistance program under this 35
subsection. 36
(6) A producer responsibility organization may not include on its 37
board of directors, or otherwise be governed by, representatives or 38
affiliates of any public or private entities that submit bids to 39
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perform work for the producer responsibility organization or that 1
contract with the producer responsibility organization.2
(7) The activities authorized by this chapter require 3
collaboration among producers. These activities will enable the waste 4
reduction, collection, recycling, composting, and disposal of covered 5
materials in Washington and are therefore in the best interest of the 6
public. The benefits of collaboration, together with active state 7
supervision, outweigh potential adverse impacts. Therefore, the 8
legislature exempts from state antitrust laws, and provides immunity 9
through the state action doctrine from federal antitrust laws, 10
activities that are undertaken in compliance with and pursuant to 11
this chapter, including activities that are reviewed or approved by 12
the department, that might otherwise be constrained by such laws. The 13
legislature does not intend and does not authorize any person or 14
entity to engage in activities not provided for by this chapter, and 15
the legislature neither exempts nor provides immunity for such 16
activities. 17
NEW SECTION. Sec. 105. ADVISORY COUNCIL. (1) The advisory 18
council is established to review all activities conducted by producer 19
responsibility organizations under this chapter and to advise the 20
department and producer responsibility organizations regarding the 21
implementation of this chapter.22
(2) By January 1, 2026, the department must establish and appoint 23
the initial membership of the advisory council. The membership of the 24
advisory council must consist of the following: 25
(a) Two members representing manufacturers of covered materials 26
or a statewide or national trade association representing those 27
manufacturers; 28
(b) Two members representing recycling facilities that manage 29
covered materials; 30
(c) One member representing a solid waste collection company or a 31
statewide association representing solid waste collection companies;32
(d) One member representing retailers of covered materials or a 33
statewide trade association representing those retailers;34
(e) One member representing a statewide nonprofit environmental 35
organization; 36
(f) One member representing a community-based nonprofit 37
environmental justice organization; 38
(g) One member representing a material recovery facility;39
p. 17 SB 5284
(h) One member representing a waste facility that accepts and 1
processes compostable materials for composting or a statewide trade 2
association that represents those facilities; 3
(i) One member representing an entity that develops or offers for 4
sale covered materials that are designed for reuse or refill and 5
maintained through a reuse or refill system or infrastructure or a 6
statewide or national trade association that represents those 7
entities; 8
(j) Three members representing government entities, with at least 9
one member representing counties; 10
(k) One member representing tribal or indigenous solid waste 11
services organizations; 12
(l) Two members representing other interested parties or 13
additional members of interests represented under (a) through (k) of 14
this subsection, as determined by the department; 15
(m) One nonvoting member representing each registered producer 16
responsibility organization; and 17
(n) One member representing the department. 18
(3) In appointing members, the department: 19
(a) May not appoint members who are state legislators or 20
registered lobbyists; 21
(b) May not appoint members who are employees of a producer 22
required to be members of a producer responsibility organization 23
under this chapter; and 24
(c) Must endeavor to appoint members from all regions of the 25
state. 26
(4)(a) The member appointed to represent the department serves at 27
the pleasure of the department. All other members serve for a term of 28
four years, except that the initial term for nine of the initial 29
appointees must be two years so that membership terms are staggered. 30
Members may be reappointed but may not serve more than eight 31
consecutive years. 32
(b) A member may be removed by the department at any time. The 33
chair of the advisory council must inform the department of a member 34
missing three consecutive meetings. After the second consecutive 35
missed meeting, the chair of the advisory council must notify the 36
member in writing that the member may be removed for missing the next 37
meeting. If there is a vacancy on the advisory council for any 38
reason, the department shall make an appointment to become effective 39
immediately for the unexpired term. 40
p. 18 SB 5284
(5) Advisory councilmembers that are representatives of tribes, 1
tribal or indigenous services organizations, community-based 2
organizations, or environmental nonprofit organizations must, if 3
requested, be compensated and reimbursed in accordance with RCW 4
43.03.050, 43.03.060, and 43.03.220. 5
(6)(a) A majority of the voting advisory councilmembers 6
constitutes a quorum. If there is a vacancy in the membership of the 7
advisory council, a majority of the remaining voting members of the 8
council constitutes a quorum. 9
(b) Action by the advisory council requires a quorum and a 10
majority of those present and voting. All members of the advisory 11
council, except the member appointed to represent the department, are 12
voting members of the council. 13
(7)(a) The advisory council must meet at least two times per year 14
and may meet more frequently upon 10 days' written notice at the 15
request of the chair or a majority of its members.16
(b) Meetings of the advisory council must comply with chapter 17
42.30 RCW, the open public meetings act. 18
(8) At its initial meeting, and every two years thereafter, the 19
advisory council must elect a chair and vice chair from among its 20
members. 21
(9) The department shall provide administrative and operating 22
support to the advisory council, including compensation in accordance 23
with subsection (5) of this section, and may contract with a third-24
party facilitator to assist in administering the activities of the 25
advisory council, including establishing a website or landing page on 26
the department website. 27
(10) The department must assist the advisory council in 28
developing policies and procedures governing the disclosure of actual 29
or perceived conflicts of interest that advisory councilmembers may 30
have as a result of their employment or financial holdings with 31
respect to themselves or family members. Each advisory councilmember 32
is responsible for reviewing the conflict-of-interest policies and 33
procedures. An advisory councilmember must disclose any instance of 34
actual or perceived conflicts of interest at each meeting of the 35
advisory council at which recommendations regarding plans, programs, 36
operations, or activities are made by the advisory council.37
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NEW SECTION. Sec. 106. DEPARTMENT'S DUTIES. (1) The department 1
must implement, administer, and enforce this chapter and may adopt 2
rules as necessary for those purposes.3
(2) The department must: 4
(a) By January 1, 2026, appoint the initial membership of the 5
advisory council, as required under section 105 of this act;6
(b) Provide administrative and operating support to the advisory 7
council, as required under section 105 of this act;8
(c) Consider and respond in writing to all written comments 9
received by the advisory council; 10
(d) By January 31, 2026, and annually thereafter, facilitate 11
registration by service providers, as required under section 107 of 12
this act; 13
(e) By March 1, 2026, accept the registration of producer 14
responsibility organizations and, if necessary, select the producer 15
responsibility organization required by subsection (3) of this 16
section; 17
(f) By October 1, 2026, develop the initial statewide collection 18
lists required by section 109 of this act; 19
(g) By December 31, 2026, complete the preliminary needs 20
assessment required by section 111 of this act; 21
(h) By March 31, 2027, determine the annual registration fee in 22
subsection (4)(a) of this section; 23
(i) By December 31, 2027, and every five years thereafter, 24
complete the statewide needs assessment required by section 111 of 25
this act; 26
(j) By 2028, adopt rules to administer and implement this 27
chapter. The department shall seek to adopt rules that are harmonized 28
with other states; 29
(k) Beginning October 1, 2028, and periodically thereafter, 30
review and approve plans, as described in subsection (5) of this 31
section; 32
(l) By January 31, 2029, create a model comprehensive solid waste 33
plan amendment for use by cities and counties in lieu of updating, 34
amending, or revising a plan consistent with RCW 35
70A.205.045(7)(b)(i); 36
(m) Beginning March 1, 2029, implement enforcement on 37
noncompliant producers that are not members of the producer 38
responsibility organization, consistent with section 104 (2) and 123 39
of this act; 40
p. 20 SB 5284
(n) Beginning July 1, 2031, and annually thereafter, review and 1
approve annual reports, as described in subsection (6) of this 2
section; 3
(o) Beginning January 31, 2032, submit the equity study to the 4
legislature required in section 112 of this act; 5
(p) By September 1, 2038, submit the independent review of the 6
program report to the legislature as required in section 121 of this 7
act; 8
(q) Establish statewide requirements as required under section 9
115(10) of this act; 10
(r) Review and make determinations on proposals related to 11
alternative recycling processes, as described in section 115 (5) of 12
this act; 13
(s) Review confidentiality requests submitted under section 122 14
of this act; 15
(t) Enforce the requirements of this chapter, as required by 16
section 123 of this act; 17
(u) Review petitions to exempt materials, as required by section 18
125 of this act; and 19
(v) Establish a public website that includes: 20
(i) The most recent registration materials submitted by producer 21
responsibility organizations; 22
(ii) A list of registered service providers; 23
(iii) The most recent needs assessment; 24
(iv) Any plan or amendment submitted by a producer responsibility 25
organization that is in draft form during the public comment period;26
(v) The most recent lists under section 109 of this act;27
(vi) The list of exempt materials; 28
(vii) Links to producer responsibility organization websites;29
(viii) Comments of the public, advisory council, and producer 30
responsibility organizations on the items listed in (v)(iii) through 31
(vi) of this subsection and, if any, the responses of the department 32
to those comments; and 33
(ix) Links to adopted rules implementing this chapter.34
(3) By March 1, 2026, if registrations for more than one producer 35
responsibility organization, other than producers registering as 36
producer responsibility organizations, are submitted to the 37
department, the department must determine which proposed producer 38
responsibility organization can most effectively implement this 39
chapter until the first approved plan period ends. Until the 40
p. 21 SB 5284
conclusion of the initial plan implementation period, producers of 1
covered materials that do not register as producer responsibility 2
organizations must join the producer responsibility organization 3
whose registration is approved by the department. This limitation 4
only applies for the purposes of program development and the initial 5
plan implementation period. After the first plan approved by the 6
department expires, the department may allow registration of more 7
than one producer responsibility organization. 8
(4)(a) By March 31, 2027, and every March 31st thereafter, the 9
department must: 10
(i) Determine a total annual registration fee to be paid by each 11
producer responsibility organization that is adequate to cover, but 12
not exceed, the costs to implement, administer, and enforce this 13
chapter in the next fiscal year; 14
(ii) By 2028, adopt rules to equitably determine annual 15
registration fees by producer responsibility organizations if the 16
department has approved the registration of more than one producer 17
responsibility organization; and 18
(iii) Send notice to each producer responsibility organization of 19
fee amounts due. 20
(b) The department must: 21
(i) In the March 31, 2027, producer responsibility organization 22
annual registration fee determination under (a) of this subsection, 23
adjust the fee to account for funds received on September 1, 2026;24
(ii) Apply any remaining annual fee payment funds from the 25
current year to the annual fee for the coming fiscal year, if the 26
collected annual fee exceeds the costs identified under (a)(ii) of 27
this subsection for a given year; and 28
(iii) Increase annual fees for the coming fiscal year to cover 29
the costs identified under (a)(ii) of this subsection, if the 30
collected annual fee was less than the amount required to cover those 31
costs for a given year. 32
(5) The department must review and approve, deny, or request 33
additional information for a draft plan or draft amendment, including 34
a contingency plan as required in section 114 of this act, submitted 35
by a producer responsibility organization or coordinating body, 36
within 120 days of receipt. 37
(a) The department must post the draft plan or plan amendment 38
update on the department's website and allow public comment for no 39
p. 22 SB 5284
less than 45 days before approving, denying, or requesting additional 1
information on the draft plan or amendment. 2
(b) If the department denies or requests additional information 3
for a draft plan or amendment, the department must provide the 4
producer responsibility organization with the reasons, in writing, 5
that the plan or amendment does not meet the plan requirements of 6
section 113 of this act. The producer responsibility organization has 7
60 days from the date that the rejection or request for additional 8
information is received to submit to the department any additional 9
information necessary for the department's approval. The department 10
must review and approve or disapprove the revised draft plan or 11
amendment no later than 60 days after the department receives it.12
(c) Upon recommendation of the advisory council, or upon the 13
department's initiative, the department may require an amendment to 14
the plan if the department determines that an amendment is necessary 15
to ensure that the producer responsibility organization maintains 16
compliance with the requirements of this chapter. 17
(6) The department must review annual reports and:18
(a) Make annual reports available for public review and comment 19
for at least 30 days; 20
(b) Review within 120 days of receipt of a complete annual 21
report; 22
(c) Determine whether an annual report meets the requirements of 23
this chapter, considering comments received under (a) of this 24
subsection, and notify the producer responsibility organization of 25
the approval or reasons for denial. The producer responsibility 26
organization must submit a revised annual report within 60 days after 27
receipt of the denial letter; and 28
(d) Notify a producer responsibility organization if the annual 29
report demonstrates that a plan fails to achieve the requirements 30
under this chapter. 31
(7) Upon request of the department for purposes of determining 32
compliance with this chapter, or for purposes of implementing this 33
chapter, a person must furnish to the department any information that 34
the person has or may reasonably obtain. 35
NEW SECTION. Sec. 107. SERVICE PROVIDER REGISTRATION. (1) By 36
January 31, 2026, and annually thereafter, each service provider 37
seeking reimbursement for services provided under an approved plan 38
p. 23 SB 5284
must register with the department by submitting the following 1
information: 2
(a) The contact information for a person representing the service 3
provider; 4
(b) The address of the service provider; 5
(c) Identification of service areas where covered services are to 6
be provided to covered entities; 7
(d) Identification of the covered services to be provided to 8
covered entities, by service area; and 9
(e) If applicable to services provided, a report of the number of 10
covered entities currently provided service, the number of covered 11
entities eligible to receive service, and the total amount billed for 12
collection for covered entities, processing services, transfer 13
station operations provided, and tons managed during the preceding 14
calendar year, by covered entity type and by service area. When 15
possible, values must be separated for collection, transfer, and 16
processing. 17
(2)(a) Material recovery facilities receiving covered materials 18
collected from covered entities must register as service providers as 19
described in subsection (1) of this section and must additionally 20
report annually to the department by commodity type and covered 21
material type, in a form and format created by the department, on the 22
following: 23
(i) Tons received and processed, by jurisdiction and service 24
provider; 25
(ii) Inbound material quality and contamination;26
(iii) Outbound material quality and contamination;27
(iv) Outbound material tons, destinations, and final use by 28
commodity type, including each destination company and location. If 29
exported outside of the United States, the destination country must 30
be listed. Beginning in 2031, material recovery facilities must 31
submit certification for each destination to which commodities 32
containing covered materials were sent that the destination is a 33
responsible market; 34
(v) Methods of managing contaminants and residue to avoid 35
negative impacts on other waste streams or facilities;36
(vi) Residuals, including residue rate, composition, and disposal 37
location; 38
(vii) Any violations of existing permits, regarding emissions to 39
air and water, and the status of those permit violations; and40
p. 24 SB 5284
(viii) Labor metrics including wages, unions, and workforce 1
demographics. 2
(b) All data reported by material recovery facilities under this 3
subsection must, at the request of the department, be audited by an 4
independent third party. 5
(c) The requirements of (a) and (b) of this subsection do not 6
apply to any facility operated by a scrap metal business as defined 7
in RCW 19.290.010 that holds a current scrap metal license unless the 8
covered materials were received directly from collection services for 9
which a producer responsibility organization has provided 10
reimbursement. 11
NEW SECTION. Sec. 108. SERVICE PROVIDER RESPONSIBILITIES. A 12
service provider receiving reimbursement or funding under an approved 13
plan must:14
(1) Provide covered services for covered materials included on 15
the statewide collection lists, covered services for a refill system, 16
or covered services for reusable covered materials, as applicable to 17
the services offered by and service area of the service provider;18
(2) Register annually with the department; 19
(3) Submit invoices to the producer responsibility organization 20
for reimbursement for services rendered; 21
(4) Meet performance standards established in an approved plan;22
(5) Ensure that covered materials are sent to responsible 23
markets; 24
(6) Provide documentation to the producer responsibility 25
organization of the amounts, covered material types, and volumes of 26
covered materials by covered service method; 27
(7) Display the service provider's price, minus the reimbursement 28
from the producer responsibility organization, when invoicing 29
customers; and 30
(8) Comply with all other applicable requirements of this 31
chapter. 32
NEW SECTION. Sec. 109. STATEWIDE COLLECTION LISTS. (1)(a) The 33
department must develop a list of covered materials determined to be 34
recyclable or compostable statewide. By October 1, 2026, the 35
department must develop an initial list for use and evaluation in the 36
needs assessment described in section 111 of this act. The department 37
must also publish lists no later than 30 days after approving a plan, 38
p. 25 SB 5284
taking into account proposed changes in the plan. In the development 1
of the lists, the department must distinguish between:2
(i) Materials determined to be suitable for residential recycling 3
collection, whether in a commingled or in a separate container;4
(ii) Materials determined to be suitable for residential 5
composting collection; 6
(iii) Materials suitable for public place collection; and7
(iv) Materials suitable for alternative collection at locations 8
other than residential. 9
(b) In determining whether a material is suitable for 10
residential, public place, or alternative collection, the department 11
may consider the following criteria: 12
(i) The stability, maturity, accessibility, and viability of 13
responsible markets; 14
(ii) Environmental health and safety considerations;15
(iii) The anticipated yield loss for the material during the 16
recycling or composting process; 17
(iv) The material's compatibility with existing recycling 18
infrastructure; 19
(v) Whether the material adheres to published design guidelines 20
for recyclability or compostability; 21
(vi) The amount of the material available; 22
(vii) The practicalities of sorting and storing the material;23
(viii) The potential to cause or be impacted by contamination;24
(ix) The ability for waste generators to easily identify and 25
properly prepare the material; 26
(x) Economic factors; 27
(xi) Environmental factors from a life-cycle perspective;28
(xii) The policy expressed in RCW 70A.205.010; or29
(xiii) Other criteria or factors, as determined by the 30
department. 31
(2) A producer responsibility organization may propose a covered 32
material for addition to or removal from the lists under this section 33
as part of a plan or as a plan amendment. In considering the 34
proposal, the department may consider the same criteria as those 35
established under subsection (1)(b) of this section.36
(3) In developing lists under this section, the department must 37
consult with the advisory council, producer responsibility 38
organizations, service providers, government entities, and other 39
interested parties. The department must consider any requests 40
p. 26 SB 5284
received for the inclusion or removal of a covered material or 1
covered material type on a list under this section. The department 2
may select a third-party consultant to assist with the development of 3
the lists. 4
(4)(a) Except as described in (b) of this subsection, a material 5
that is not identified as suitable for residential collection may not 6
be collected as part of a residential recycling program.7
(b) A covered material that is not identified as suitable for 8
residential collection may be temporarily collected as part of a 9
residential recycling program and qualify for reimbursement if:10
(i) The covered material is collected as part of a pilot program 11
agreed to by the service provider, the government entity under whose 12
authority the service is provided, and the producer responsibility 13
organization; 14
(ii) The pilot program is of limited duration; and15
(iii) The pilot program is conducted in a limited area.16
NEW SECTION. Sec. 110. CONVENIENCE STANDARDS — ALTERNATIVE 17
COLLECTION. (1) Collection services for covered materials determined 18
to be suitable for residential recycling collection under section 109 19
of this act must be available wherever residential garbage collection 20
services are available, except in areas subject to a county ordinance 21
as specified in RCW 70A.205.045(7)(b)(i)(C).22
(2) A producer responsibility organization must implement an 23
alternative collection program for covered materials included on the 24
alternative collection list that: 25
(a) Provides year-round, convenient, statewide collection 26
opportunities, including at least one drop-off collection site 27
located in each county; 28
(b) Provides tiers of service for collection, convenience, number 29
of drop-off collection sites, and additional collection systems based 30
on: 31
(i) County population size; 32
(ii) County population density; and 33
(iii) Each class of city or town under chapter 35.01 RCW;34
(c) Ensures materials are sent to responsible markets;35
(d) Uses education and outreach strategies that can be expected 36
to significantly increase consumer awareness of the program 37
throughout the state; and 38
p. 27 SB 5284
(e) Accurately measures the amount of each covered material 1
collected and the applicable performance target and statewide 2
requirement. 3
(3) A plan for an alternative collection program must include:4
(a) The number, type, and location of each collection 5
opportunity; 6
(b) A description of how each of the program requirements in (a) 7
of this subsection will be met; and 8
(c) Performance targets for each covered material, as applicable, 9
to be managed through an alternative collection program.10
(4) Every subsequent needs assessment after the first needs 11
assessment must include a review of alternative collection programs 12
for each covered material on the statewide list to determine if the 13
program is meeting the criteria established in subsection (2) of this 14
section. 15
(5) A retail establishment may choose to serve as a drop-off 16
location or collection event as part of an alternative collection 17
program, through mutual agreement with a producer responsibility 18
organization. 19
NEW SECTION. Sec. 111. STATEWIDE NEEDS ASSESSMENTS. (1)(a) By 20
December 31, 2026, the department must complete a preliminary 21
assessment consistent with subsection (3) of this section.22
(b) By December 31, 2027, and every five years thereafter, the 23
department must complete a needs assessment consistent with 24
subsection (4) of this section. The department may adjust the 25
required content in a specific needs assessment to inform the next 26
plan. 27
(2) In conducting a needs assessment, the department must:28
(a) Initiate a consultation process to obtain recommendations 29
from the advisory council, government entities, service providers, 30
producer responsibility organizations, the utilities and 31
transportation commission, and other interested parties, regarding 32
the type and scope of information that should be collected and 33
analyzed in the needs assessments required by this section;34
(b) Contract with a third party who is not a producer, a producer 35
responsibility organization, or a member of the advisory council to 36
conduct the needs assessment; 37
(c) Prior to finalizing the needs assessment, make the draft 38
needs assessment available for comment by the advisory council, 39
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producer responsibility organizations, the utilities and 1
transportation commission, and the public. The department must 2
respond in writing to the comments and recommendations of the 3
advisory council and producer responsibility organizations; and4
(d)(i) Consider information from studies related to recycling 5
conducted by the department after 2019; and 6
(ii) Use the department's statewide collection lists for covered 7
materials as established under section 109 of this act.8
(3) A preliminary needs assessment must be completed for a 9
preceding period of no less than 12 months and no more than 36 months 10
that includes: 11
(a) Identification of currently or recently introduced covered 12
materials and covered material types; 13
(b) Tons of collected covered materials; 14
(c) The characteristics of recycling and composting programs, 15
including a description of single-stream and dual-stream recycling 16
systems offered in the state and prevalence of their use, average 17
frequency of collection of covered materials for recycling and 18
composting, types of collection containers used, commonly accepted 19
materials for recycling and composting, and total costs by type of 20
covered entity; 21
(d) Processing capacity at material recovery facilities, 22
including total tons processed and sold, composition of tons 23
processed and sold, current technologies utilized, and facility 24
processing fees charged to collectors delivering covered materials 25
for recycling; 26
(e) Capacity of, including total tons processed and sold, 27
technology used by, and characteristics of compost facilities to 28
process and recover compostable covered materials, and facility 29
processing fees charged to collectors delivering covered materials 30
for composting; 31
(f) Capacity and number of drop-off collection sites;32
(g) Capacity and number of transfer stations and transfer 33
locations; 34
(h) Average term length of residential recycling and composting 35
collection contracts issued by government entities and an assessment 36
of contract cost structures; 37
(i) An estimate of the total annual collection and processing 38
service costs based on registered service provider costs;39
p. 29 SB 5284
(j) Available markets in Washington for covered materials and the 1
capacity of those markets; and 2
(k) Covered material sales by volume, weight, and covered 3
material types introduced by producers. 4
(4) Each needs assessment after the preliminary needs assessment 5
must include at least the following: 6
(a) An evaluation of: 7
(i) Existing waste reduction, refill, reuse, recycling, and 8
composting, as applicable, for each covered material type, including 9
collection rates, recycling rates, composting rates, reuse rates, and 10
return rates, as applicable, for each covered material type;11
(ii) Overall recycling rate, composting rate, reuse rate, and 12
return rate for all covered material types; and 13
(iii) The extent to which postconsumer recycled content, by the 14
best estimate, is or could be incorporated into each covered 15
materials type, as applicable, including a review of North American 16
sources and markets and technical barriers to incorporating 17
postconsumer materials into covered materials; 18
(b) An evaluation of covered materials in the disposal, 19
recycling, and composting streams to determine the covered materials 20
types and amounts within each stream, using new studies conducted by 21
the department or publicly available and applicable studies;22
(c) Proposals for a range of outcomes for each covered materials 23
type to be accomplished within a five-year time frame in multiple 24
units of measurement including, but not limited to, unit-based, 25
weight-based, and volume-based, for each of the following:26
(i) Plastic source reduction rates, including elimination 27
targets; 28
(ii) Reuse rates and return rates; 29
(iii) Recycling rates; 30
(iv) Composting rates; and 31
(v) Postconsumer recycled content, if applicable;32
(d) Proposals for a range of outcomes for the categories 33
established in section 115(10) of this act that consider:34
(i) Information contained in or used to prepare a needs 35
assessment under this section; 36
(ii) Goals and requirements of chapters 70A.205 and 70A.245 RCW;37
(iii) The statewide greenhouse gas emissions limits of chapter 38
70A.45 RCW; 39
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(iv) The need for continuous progress toward overall reduction in 1
the generation of covered material waste, the reuse, recycling, or 2
composting of covered materials to reduce environmental impacts and 3
human health impacts, and progress to incorporate postconsumer 4
content to replace virgin materials and to support more regional 5
markets; 6
(v) A preference for statewide requirements that accomplish and 7
further the goals and requirements in (d)(ii), (iii), and (iv) of 8
this subsection as soon as practicable and to the maximum extent 9
achievable; and 10
(vi) Information from paper and packaging producer responsibility 11
programs operating in other jurisdictions; 12
(e) An evaluation of the criteria used for developing the list of 13
covered materials determined to be recyclable or compostable 14
statewide as established in section 109 of this act;15
(f) Recommended collection methods by covered materials type to 16
maximize collection efficiency, maximize feedstock quality, and 17
optimize service and convenience for collection of covered materials 18
to be considered or that are included on lists established in section 19
109 of this act; 20
(g) Proposed plans and metrics for how to measure progress in 21
achieving performance targets and statewide requirements;22
(h) An evaluation of options for third-party certification of 23
activities to meet obligations of this chapter; 24
(i) An inventory of the current system, including:25
(i) Infrastructure, capacity, performance, funding level, and 26
method and source of financing for the existing covered services for 27
covered materials operating in the state; 28
(ii) An estimate of total annual costs of covered services based 29
on registered service provider costs; and 30
(iii) Availability and cost of covered services for covered 31
materials to covered entities and any other location where covered 32
materials are introduced, including identification of disparities in 33
the availability of these services in overburdened communities 34
compared with other areas and to socially vulnerable populations as 35
compared to other populations and proposals for reducing or 36
eliminating those disparities; 37
(j) An evaluation of investments needed to increase waste 38
reduction, refill, reuse, recycling, and composting rates of covered 39
materials according to the range of proposed performance targets and 40
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statewide requirements, including investments in existing and new 1
infrastructure that would also: 2
(i) Maintain or improve operations of existing infrastructure and 3
accounts for waste reduction, refill, reuse, recycling, and 4
composting of covered materials statewide; 5
(ii) Expand the availability and accessibility of recycling 6
collection services for covered materials to all places required 7
under this chapter and expand the availability and accessibility of 8
composting collection services where feasible; and 9
(iii) Establish and expand the availability and accessibility of 10
reuse services for reusable covered materials; 11
(k) A recommended methodology for applying criteria and formulas 12
to establish reimbursement rates as described in section 117 of this 13
act; 14
(l) An assessment of the viability and robustness of markets for 15
recyclable and compostable covered materials and the degree to which 16
these markets can be considered responsible markets;17
(m) An assessment of the level and causes of contamination of 18
source separated recyclable materials, source separated compostable 19
materials, and collected reusables, and the impacts of contamination 20
on service providers, including the cost to manage this 21
contamination; 22
(n) An assessment of toxic substances intentionally added to or 23
residual from manufacturing in covered materials, whether this limits 24
one or more covered material types from being used as a marketable 25
feedstock, and best practices producers can implement to reduce 26
intentionally added or residual toxic substances in covered materials 27
that could be verified through suppliers' certificates of compliance, 28
testing, or other analytical and scientifically demonstrated 29
technology; 30
(o) An assessment and evaluation of current best practices and 31
efforts on: 32
(i) Public awareness, education, and outreach activities 33
accounting for culturally responsive materials and methods and an 34
evaluation of the efficacy of those efforts; 35
(ii) Using product or packaging labels as a means of informing 36
consumers about environmentally sound use and management of covered 37
materials; 38
(iii) Increasing public awareness of how to use and manage 39
covered materials in an environmentally sound manner and how to 40
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access waste reduction, refill, reuse, recycling, and composting 1
services; and 2
(iv) Encouraging behavior change to increase participation in 3
waste reduction, refill, reuse, recycling, and composting programs;4
(p) Identification of the covered materials with the most 5
significant environmental impact, including assessing each covered 6
material's generation of hazardous waste, generation of greenhouse 7
gases, environmental justice impacts, public health impacts, and 8
other impacts; 9
(q) Recommendations for meeting the criteria for an alternative 10
collection program; and 11
(r) Other items identified by the department that would aid the 12
creation of the plan, the implementation of the plan, and the 13
enforcement of this chapter. 14
(5) When determining the extent to which any statewide 15
requirement or performance target under this chapter has been 16
achieved, information contained in a needs assessment must serve as 17
the baseline for that determination, when applicable.18
(6)(a) A service provider or other person with data or 19
information necessary to complete a needs assessment must provide the 20
data or information to the department upon request.21
(b) A service provider or other person providing the data or 22
information may submit a request to the department consistent with 23
section 122 of this act that the data or information be considered 24
confidential and not made public. 25
(c) The contractor conducting the needs assessment must aggregate 26
and anonymize the nonpublic data or information, excluding location 27
data as necessary to assess needs, received from all parties under 28
this section and must then include the aggregated anonymized data in 29
the needs assessment. 30
NEW SECTION. Sec. 112. EQUITY STUDY. (1) By January 31, 2032, 31
the department must complete a study, conducted by a contracted third 32
party that is not a producer or producer responsibility organization, 33
of facilities operating in the state that manage covered materials. 34
The study must analyze, at a minimum, information about:35
(a) Working conditions, wage and benefit levels, and employment 36
levels of minorities and women at those facilities;37
(b) Barriers to ownership of recycling, composting, and reuse 38
operations faced by women and minorities; 39
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(c) The degree to which residents of multifamily buildings have 1
less convenient access to recycling, composting, and reuse 2
opportunities than those living in single-family homes;3
(d) The degree to which individuals living in overburdened 4
communities have access to fewer recycling, composting, and reuse 5
opportunities compared to other parts of the state;6
(e) The degree to which programs to increase access, convenience, 7
and education are successful in raising reuse, recycling, and 8
composting rates in areas where participation in these activities is 9
low; 10
(f) Strategies to increase participation in reuse, recycling, and 11
composting; and 12
(g) The degree to which residents and workers in overburdened 13
communities are impacted by emissions, toxic substances, and other 14
pollutants from solid waste facilities in comparison to other areas 15
of the state and recommendations to mitigate those impacts.16
(2) The producer responsibility organization registered under 17
this chapter must cover the cost of conducting the study through the 18
fee under section 116 of this act, and recommended actions identified 19
in the study must be considered for inclusion as part of future plans 20
required under this chapter, including adjustments to service 21
provider reimbursements under section 117 of this act.22
NEW SECTION. Sec. 113. PLAN. (1) By October 1, 2028, and every 23
five years thereafter, a producer responsibility organization must 24
submit a plan to the department that describes the proposed operation 25
by the organization of programs to fulfill the requirements of this 26
chapter and that incorporates the findings and results of needs 27
assessments.28
(2) A producer responsibility organization must submit a draft 29
plan or draft amendment to the advisory council at least 60 days 30
prior to submitting to the department to allow the advisory council 31
to submit comments and must address advisory council comments and 32
recommendations prior to the submission of the draft plan or draft 33
plan amendment to the department. 34
(3) A draft plan must include at a minimum: 35
(a) Performance targets established under section 115 of this act 36
as applicable to each covered materials type to be accomplished 37
within a five-year period; 38
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(b) Any proposals for additions or removal of covered materials 1
to the lists established under section 109 of this act;2
(c) A description of the methods of collection, how collection 3
service convenience metrics in section 110 of this act will be met, 4
and a description of processing infrastructure and covered services 5
to be used for each covered materials type for persons and locations 6
receiving services, at a minimum, and how these will meet the 7
performance targets established in section 115 of this act for 8
covered materials that are: 9
(i) Included or proposed to be included on lists established in 10
section 109 of this act; 11
(ii) Reusable covered materials managed through a reuse system; 12
and 13
(iii) Capable of refill and managed through a refill system;14
(d) A description of how, for each covered materials type, the 15
producer responsibility organization will measure recycling, plastic 16
source reduction, reuse, composting, and the inclusion of 17
postconsumer recycled content, in accordance with the methodology 18
established in section 115 of this act; 19
(e) Third-party certifications as required by the department or 20
voluntarily undertaken; 21
(f) A budget identifying funding needs for each of the plan's 22
five calendar years, producer fees, a description of the process used 23
to calculate the fees, and an explanation of how the fees meet the 24
requirements of section 116 of this act; 25
(g) A description of infrastructure investments, including:26
(i) Goals and outcomes and a description of how the process to 27
offer and select opportunities will be conducted in an open, 28
competitive, and fair manner; 29
(ii) How the infrastructure investments will address gaps in the 30
system not met by service providers; and 31
(iii) Potential financial and legal instruments to be used;32
(h) An explanation of how the plan will be paid for by the 33
producer responsibility organization solely through fees from 34
producers. This restriction does not apply to refundable deposits 35
made in connection with a product's refill, reuse, or recycling that 36
can be redeemed by a consumer; 37
(i) A description of activities to be undertaken by the producer 38
responsibility organization during each year to: 39
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(i) Minimize the environmental impacts and human health impacts 1
of covered materials, including assessing each covered material 2
type's generation of hazardous waste, generation of greenhouse gases, 3
environmental justice impacts, public health impacts, and other 4
impacts; 5
(ii) Foster the improved design of covered materials, as 6
identified under section 116(2)(c) of this act; 7
(iii) Provide funding to expand and increase the convenience of 8
waste reduction, refill, reuse, collection, recycling, and composting 9
services to covered entities, at a minimum, according to the order of 10
the state's solid waste management hierarchy established in RCW 11
70A.205.005; 12
(iv) Provide for reimbursement rates to service providers for 13
statewide coverage of covered services on the lists established in 14
section 109 of this act; and 15
(v) Monitor to ensure that postconsumer materials are delivered 16
to responsible markets; 17
(j) A description of how the producer responsibility organization 18
will promote the opportunity for all service providers to register 19
with the department and to submit invoices for reimbursement with the 20
producer responsibility organization; 21
(k) A description of how the program will reimburse service 22
providers under an approved plan including, but not limited to, a 23
description of how the program will establish: 24
(i) A methodology to calculate differentiated reimbursement rates 25
as provided in sections 116 and 117 of this act; 26
(ii) A process for service providers to submit invoices and be 27
reimbursed for covered services provided to covered entities;28
(iii) Clear and reasonable timelines for reimbursement, at 29
intervals no longer than monthly unless agreed to by a service 30
provider and a producer responsibility organization; and31
(iv) A process that utilizes a third-party mediator to resolve 32
disputes that arise between the producer responsibility organization 33
and a service provider regarding the determination of reimbursement 34
rates and payment of reimbursements; 35
(l) Performance standards for service providers as applicable to 36
the service provided including, but not limited to:37
(i) Requirements that service providers must accept all covered 38
materials on the applicable list established by the department under 39
section 109(1)(a) of this act; 40
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(ii) Requirements that service providers must offer residential 1
recycling collection for materials on the applicable list established 2
by the department under section 109 (1)(a) of this act to covered 3
entities wherever they offer residential garbage collection services, 4
except in areas subject to a county ordinance as specified in RCW 5
70A.205.045(7)(b)(i)(C); 6
(iii) Requirements that service must be provided in a manner 7
consistent with the requirements of: (A) Chapter 70A.205 RCW for 8
curbside collection services of source separated recyclable materials 9
from residences; and (B) chapter 81.77 RCW; 10
(iv) Requirements that service providers must manage covered 11
materials in a manner consistent with the state's solid waste 12
management hierarchy established in RCW 70A.205.005; and13
(v) Requirements that service providers comply with all 14
applicable federal, state, and local laws governing health and 15
safety; 16
(m) A requirement that owners or operators of a material recovery 17
facility that manages covered materials under this chapter comply 18
with the compensation requirements specified in section 304 of this 19
act; 20
(n) A description of how the producer responsibility organization 21
will treat and protect nonpublic data submitted by service providers;22
(o) A description of how the producer responsibility organization 23
will provide technical assistance to: 24
(i) Service providers in order to assist them in delivering 25
covered materials to responsible markets; 26
(ii)(A) Producers regarding intentionally added toxic substances 27
and residual toxic substances from manufacturing in covered 28
materials; (B) best practices identified in the needs assessment that 29
producers can take to reduce intentionally added or residual toxic 30
substances in covered materials; and (C) best practices for verifying 31
reduction through suppliers' certificates of compliance, testing, or 32
other analytical and scientifically demonstrated methodology; and33
(iii) Producers to make changes in product design that reduce the 34
environmental impact of covered materials or that increase the 35
recoverability or marketability of covered materials for reuse, 36
recycling, or composting; 37
(p) A description of how the producer responsibility organization 38
will increase public awareness, educate, and complete outreach 39
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activities that meet the requirements of section 119 of this act and 1
will evaluate the efficacy of these efforts; 2
(q) A description of how the producer responsibility organization 3
will reduce or eliminate disparities in the availability of covered 4
services for covered materials by socially vulnerable populations;5
(r) Proposed alternative collection programs as required under 6
section 110 of this act; 7
(s) A description of how producers can purchase postconsumer 8
materials from service providers at market prices if the producer is 9
interested in obtaining recycled feedstock to achieve minimum 10
postconsumer recycled content performance targets and statewide 11
requirements; 12
(t) A summary of consultations held with the advisory council and 13
other interested parties to provide input to the plan, a list of 14
recommendations that were incorporated into the plan as a result, and 15
a list of rejected recommendations and the reasons for rejection;16
(u) Strategies to incorporate findings from any relevant studies 17
required by the legislature; and 18
(v) Any other information required by the department by rule.19
NEW SECTION. Sec. 114. CONTINGENCY PLAN. (1) A producer 20
responsibility organization must submit to the department a 21
contingency plan demonstrating how the activities in the plan will 22
continue to be carried out by some other entity, such as an escrow 23
company, if needed:24
(a) Until such time as a new or updated plan is submitted and 25
approved by the department; 26
(b) Upon the expiration of an approved plan; 27
(c) If the producer responsibility organization notifies the 28
department that it will cease to implement an approved plan; or29
(d) In any other event that the producer responsibility 30
organization can no longer carry out plan implementation.31
(2) The contingency plan must be submitted to the department as a 32
component of the producer responsibility organization's initial plan. 33
The department may require a producer responsibility organization to 34
revise the contingency plan coincident with any plan submittal.35
(3) The requirements of this section do not require a producer 36
responsibility organization to hold funds in a dedicated account 37
until such time as the contingency plan must be implemented.38
p. 38 SB 5284
(4) The department must follow the same process and timelines for 1
reviewing and approving the contingency plan as it follows for the 2
plan. 3
NEW SECTION. Sec. 115. PERFORMANCE TARGETS. (1) The producer 4
responsibility organization must propose performance targets based on 5
the needs assessment that meet the statewide requirements in 6
subsection (10) of this section that must be included in an approved 7
plan. Performance targets must include reuse rates, return rates, 8
recycling rates for materials delivered to responsible markets, 9
composting rates, and targets for plastic source reduction and 10
postconsumer recycled content by covered materials type, as 11
applicable. For products for which postconsumer recycled content 12
rates are established in RCW 70A.245.010 through 70A.245.050 and 13
70A.245.090 (1), (2), and (4), those rates must be included in an 14
approved plan. The producer responsibility organization must propose 15
the unit or units that are most appropriate to measure each 16
performance target as informed by the needs assessment.17
(2) The department may require that a producer responsibility 18
organization obtain third-party certification of any activity or 19
achievement of any performance target required by this chapter if a 20
third-party certification is readily available, deemed applicable, 21
and of reasonable cost. The department must provide the producer 22
responsibility organization with notice of at least one year prior to 23
requiring use of third-party certification under this subsection.24
(3) Proposed targets must demonstrate continuous improvement in 25
reducing environmental impacts and human health impacts of covered 26
materials over time. 27
(4) For purposes of determining whether recycling performance 28
targets are being met, except as modified by the department, a plan 29
must provide a methodology for measuring the amount of covered 30
material sent for recycling at the point at which material leaves a 31
material recovery facility or other processing facility and must 32
account for: 33
(a) Levels and types of estimated contamination documented by the 34
facility; 35
(b) Any exclusions for fuel or energy capture; and36
(c) Compliance with all state laws pertaining to toxic substances 37
in covered materials, including chapters 70A.222, 70A.350, 70A.430, 38
and 70A.560 RCW. 39
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(5)(a) The department must, in consultation with representatives 1
from overburdened communities, the advisory council, service 2
providers, municipalities, state agencies, alternative recycling 3
technology providers, and others, approve or deny a proposal by a 4
producer responsibility organization to count towards recycling 5
performance targets the materials sent to facilities that use an 6
alternative recycling process for conversion of plastic covered 7
materials for the purpose of producing recycled material.8
(b) The department must establish a process by which a producer 9
responsibility organization may annually propose to count towards 10
recycling performance targets the materials sent to a facility that 11
uses an alternative recycling process. 12
(c) The department may only approve the producer responsibility 13
organization's proposal to count towards recycling performance 14
targets the materials sent to a facility that uses an alternative 15
recycling process if the department determines that the alternative 16
recycling process: 17
(i) Does not include combustion, fuel production, and other forms 18
of energy recovery of plastic covered materials in processing or 19
disposal; 20
(ii) Provides protection for the environment and human health 21
with consideration of inputs and outputs, including as measured 22
against all of the following criteria: 23
(A) Environmental release of air and water pollutants or any 24
hazardous pollutants; 25
(B) Generation of hazardous waste; 26
(C) Energy use and generation of greenhouse gases;27
(D) Environmental impacts on overburdened communities and 28
vulnerable populations; 29
(E) Water usage including, but not limited to, impacts to local 30
water resources and sewage infrastructure; 31
(F) Public health impacts; and 32
(G) Capture and recycling rates; 33
(iii) Reduces gaps in collection, recycling, and composting 34
services at covered entities; 35
(iv) Meets an unmet need in the state that will result in meeting 36
recycling performance targets, including creating new recycling 37
markets for materials currently disposed of in landfills or 38
incinerated; 39
(v) Provides third-party certification of recycled content; and40
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(vi) Addresses those other environmental impacts as determined by 1
the department. 2
(d)(i) In making its determination under (c) of this subsection, 3
the department must take into consideration any local, state, or 4
federal environmental permitting requirements that govern the 5
operation of an alternative recycling process that reduces air and 6
water pollutants or the generation of hazardous waste or pollutants. 7
The department must also take into consideration whether the 8
alternative process produces food-grade or pharmaceutical-grade 9
recycled content. 10
(ii) The department must publish a determination on the producer 11
responsibility organization's proposal, detailing why it was approved 12
or denied and how it measured against the criteria listed in (c) of 13
this subsection. The department must also conduct a public review 14
process for at least 60 days. 15
(e) A person may appeal a decision by the department under (d) of 16
this subsection to the pollution control hearings board.17
(f) The department must, no more frequently than every five 18
years, require the producer responsibility organization to provide 19
any updated information deemed necessary that demonstrates that an 20
approved alternative recycling process is continuing to meet the 21
requirements of this section. If the facility fails to meet the 22
requirements of this section, the department shall prohibit the 23
producer responsibility organization from counting material sent to 24
the alternative recycling facility towards recycling performance 25
targets. 26
(g) Nothing in this chapter prohibits or affects the use of any 27
alternative recycling process for products or packaging that are not 28
covered materials under this chapter. 29
(6) For purposes of determining whether plastic source reduction 30
performance targets are being met, a plan must provide a methodology 31
for measuring the amount of plastic source reduction of covered 32
materials in a manner that can be used to determine the extent to 33
which the amount of material used for a covered material can be 34
reduced to what is necessary to efficiently deliver a product without 35
damage or spoilage, or other means of covered material redesign to 36
reduce overall use and environmental impacts and maintain 37
recyclability, compostability, or reusability. 38
(7) For purposes of determining whether reuse performance targets 39
are being met, a plan must provide a methodology for measuring the 40
p. 41 SB 5284
amount of reusable covered materials at the point at which reusable 1
covered materials meet the following criteria as demonstrated by the 2
producer and approved by the department whether the:3
(a) Average minimum number of cycles of reuses within a 4
recognized reuse system has been met based on the number of times an 5
item must be reused for it to have lower environmental impacts than 6
the single-use versions of those items based on accepted industry 7
standards; and 8
(b) Demonstrated or research-based anticipated return rate of the 9
covered material to the reuse system has been met.10
(8) For purposes of determining whether postconsumer recycled 11
content performance targets are being met under this chapter, a plan 12
must provide a methodology for measuring postconsumer recycled 13
content across all producers for a covered materials type where 14
producers may determine their postconsumer recycled content based on 15
their United States market territory if state-specific postconsumer 16
recycled content is impractical to determine. 17
(9) For other performance targets, the producer responsibility 18
organization must propose methodologies for review and approval as 19
part of the plan based on findings from the needs assessment.20
(10)(a) The department must establish statewide requirements and 21
a date by which those requirements must be met for each of the 22
following categories: 23
(i) Recycling rate; 24
(ii) Composting rate; 25
(iii) Reuse rate; 26
(iv) Return rate; 27
(v) The percentage of covered materials introduced that must be 28
plastic source reduced; and 29
(vi) The percentage of postconsumer recycled content that covered 30
materials must contain, including an overall percentage for all 31
covered materials, as applicable, excluding compostable materials 32
that cannot include postconsumer recycled content due to unique 33
chemical or physical properties or health or safety requirements that 34
prohibit introduction of postconsumer recycled content.35
(b) The department may use the following information and criteria 36
when establishing statewide requirements under (a) of this 37
subsection: 38
(i) The needs assessment; 39
(ii) The goals and requirements of chapter 70A.205 RCW;40
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(iii) The greenhouse gas emissions limits of chapter 70A.45 RCW;1
(iv) The need for continuous progress towards overall reduction 2
in the generation of covered materials waste, the reuse, recycling, 3
or composting of covered materials to reduce environmental impacts 4
and human health impacts, and progress to incorporate postconsumer 5
recycled content to replace virgin materials and support more 6
regional markets; 7
(v) A preference for statewide requirements that accomplish and 8
further the goals and requirements in (b)(ii) through (iv) of this 9
subsection as soon as practicable and to the maximum extent 10
achievable; and 11
(vi) Information from packaging and paper product producer 12
responsibility programs operating in other jurisdictions.13
(c) The department must consult with producer responsibility 14
organizations on establishing statewide requirements, submit proposed 15
statewide requirements for review by the advisory council, and 16
consider the advisory council's recommendations before finalizing the 17
statewide requirements. 18
(d) Every five years, the department must review the statewide 19
requirements established under this subsection. If the department 20
decides an update is not warranted at that time, the department must 21
submit the reasoning to the advisory council and consider the 22
advisory council's recommendations before making a final decision. If 23
the department decides an update is warranted, the department must 24
follow the process specified in (b) and (c) of this subsection.25
(e) Producer responsibility organizations must ensure the 26
statewide requirements are met. 27
NEW SECTION. Sec. 116. PRODUCER FEES. (1) A registered producer 28
responsibility organization may charge each member producer a fee 29
according to each producer's unit-based, weight-based, volume-based, 30
or sales-based market share or by another method it determines to be 31
an equitable determination of each producer's payment obligation, so 32
that the aggregate fees charged to member producers is sufficient to 33
pay the producer responsibility organization's costs in full until 34
the producer responsibility organization has an approved plan.35
(2) A producer responsibility organization with an approved plan 36
must annually collect a fee from each member producer that must:37
p. 43 SB 5284
(a) Vary based on the total amount of covered materials each 1
producer introduces in the prior year calculated on a per unit basis, 2
such as per ton, per item, or another unit of measurement;3
(b) Reflect program costs for each covered materials type, net of 4
commodity value for that covered materials type, as well as allocated 5
fixed costs that do not vary based on covered materials type. Any 6
membership fees charged for different covered material types, 7
materials, and formats must: 8
(i) For covered materials that are on the statewide lists 9
established under section 109 of this act, be proportional to the 10
costs to the producer responsibility organization for that covered 11
material type, covered material, or format; and 12
(ii) Discourage the use of covered materials that are not on the 13
statewide lists established under section 109 of this act;14
(c) Incentivize using materials and design attributes that reduce 15
the environmental impacts and human health impacts of covered 16
materials by: 17
(i) Eliminating intentionally added toxic substances or residual 18
toxic substances from manufacturing in covered materials;19
(ii) Reducing the amount of: 20
(A) Packaging per individual covered material that is necessary 21
to efficiently deliver a product without damage or spoilage and 22
without reducing its ability to be recycled or composted; and23
(B) Paper used to manufacture individual paper products;24
(iii) Increasing the amount of covered materials managed in a 25
reuse system; 26
(iv) Increasing the proportion of postconsumer material in 27
covered materials; 28
(v) Enhancing the recyclability or compostability of a covered 29
material; 30
(vi) Increasing the amounts of inputs derived from renewable and 31
sustainable sources without reducing its ability to be recycled; and32
(vii) Other means, as approved by the department;33
(d) Discourage using materials and design attributes in covered 34
materials whose environmental impacts and human health impacts can be 35
reduced by the methods listed in (c) of this subsection;36
(e) Prioritize reuse by charging covered materials that are 37
managed through a reuse system only once, upon initial entry into the 38
marketplace; and 39
(f) Generate revenue sufficient to pay in full:40
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(i) The fee to the department required under section 106 of this 1
act; 2
(ii) The financial obligations to complete activities described 3
in an approved plan and to reimburse service providers under section 4
117 of this act; 5
(iii) The funding required under section 104 of this act for the 6
reuse financial assistance program; 7
(iv) The operating costs of the producer responsibility 8
organization; and 9
(v) For establishment and maintenance of a financial reserve that 10
is sufficient to operate the program in a fiscally prudent and 11
responsible manner. 12
(3) Revenues collected under this section that exceed the amount 13
needed to pay the costs described in subsection (2)(f) of this 14
section must be used to improve or enhance program outcomes or to 15
reduce producer fees according to provisions of an approved plan.16
(4) Fees collected under this section may not be used for 17
lobbying or political advocacy activities that would require 18
reporting under chapter 42.17A RCW. 19
NEW SECTION. Sec. 117. SERVICE PROVIDER REIMBURSEMENT. (1) The 20
reimbursements provided for covered services to covered entities 21
under an approved plan must only be provided to service providers 22
that, at a minimum, meet the performance standards established under 23
an approved plan.24
(2)(a) A plan must provide a methodology for reimbursement rates 25
for covered services for covered materials, exclusive of exempt 26
materials. The methodology for reimbursement rates must consider 27
estimated revenue received by service providers from the sale of 28
covered materials based on relevant material indices and incorporate 29
relevant cost information identified by the needs assessment. 30
Reimbursement rates must be annually updated and reflect the net 31
costs for covered services for covered materials from entities 32
receiving services under this chapter, at a minimum. Reimbursement 33
rates must be established equivalent to net costs.34
(b) Reimbursement rates must be based on the following, as 35
applicable by the service provided: 36
(i) The cost to collect covered material for recycling, a 37
proportional share of composting, or reuse adjusted to reflect 38
conditions that affect those costs, varied by region or jurisdiction 39
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in which the covered services are provided including, but not limited 1
to: 2
(A) The number and type of covered entities; 3
(B) Population density; 4
(C) Collection methods employed; 5
(D) Distance traveled by collection vehicles to consolidation or 6
transfer facilities, to reuse, recycling, or composting facilities, 7
and to responsible markets; 8
(E) Other factors that may contribute to regional or 9
jurisdictional cost differences; 10
(F) The proportion of covered compostable materials within all 11
source separated compostable materials collected or managed through 12
composting; and 13
(G) The general quality of covered materials collected by service 14
providers; 15
(ii) The cost to transfer collected covered materials from 16
consolidation or transfer facilities to reuse, processing, recycling, 17
or composting facilities or to responsible markets;18
(iii) The cost to: 19
(A) Sort and process covered materials for sale or use and remove 20
contamination from covered materials by a recycling or composting 21
facility, minus the average fair market value for that covered 22
material based on market indices for the region; and23
(B) Manage contamination removed from collected covered material;24
(iv) The administrative costs of service providers, including 25
education, public awareness campaigns, and outreach program costs as 26
applicable; and 27
(v) The costs of covered services for a refill system or covered 28
services provided for reusable covered materials and management of 29
contamination. 30
(c) A service provider retains all revenue from the sale of 31
covered materials unless otherwise agreed upon by the service 32
provider. Nothing in this chapter may restrict a service provider 33
from charging a fee for covered services of covered materials to the 34
extent that reimbursement from a producer responsibility organization 35
does not cover all costs of services, including continued investment 36
and innovation in operations, operating profits, and returns on 37
investments required by a service provider to provide sustainability 38
of the services. 39
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(d) Reimbursement rates may be calculated per ton, by household, 1
or by another unit of measurement. 2
(3)(a) Nothing in this section may be construed to require a 3
government entity to agree to operate under a plan. Any government 4
entity that is also a service provider is eligible to be registered 5
with the department and reimbursed per the rates and schedule 6
established in accordance with this section. 7
(b) Nothing in this chapter restricts the authority of a 8
political subdivision of the state to provide waste management 9
services to residents, to contract with any entity to provide waste 10
management services, or to exercise its authority granted under RCW 11
35.21.120, 35.21.130, 35.21.152, or 36.58.040. A producer 12
responsibility organization may not restrict or otherwise interfere 13
with a government entity exercising its authority under RCW 14
35.21.120, 35.21.130, 35.21.152, or 36.58.040 to organize collection 15
of solid waste, including materials collected for recycling or 16
composting, or to extend, renew, or otherwise manage any contracts 17
entered into as a result of exercising such authority or otherwise 18
resulting from a competitive procurement process. 19
(4) A producer responsibility organization must establish a 20
dispute resolution process utilizing third-party mediators for 21
disputes related to reimbursements. 22
NEW SECTION. Sec. 118. INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENTS. (1) For 23
infrastructure investments, a producer responsibility organization 24
must use a competitive bidding process and publicly post bid 25
opportunities, except that preference must be given to existing 26
facilities and providers of services in the state for waste 27
reduction, refill, reuse, collection, recycling, and composting of 28
covered materials.29
(2) A producer or producer responsibility organization may not 30
own or partially own infrastructure that is used to fulfill 31
obligations under this chapter, except in the following 32
circumstances: 33
(a) A producer may hold an ownership stake in infrastructure used 34
to fulfill obligations under this chapter as long as the stake was 35
held before the effective date of this section and the ownership 36
state is fully disclosed by the producer to the producer 37
responsibility organization; 38
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(b) After a bidding process described in subsection (1) of this 1
section under which no service provider bids on the contract, the 2
producer responsibility organization may make infrastructure 3
investments to implement the requirements of this chapter; or4
(c) A producer or producer responsibility organization may own or 5
partially own infrastructure that is used solely for purposes of the 6
reuse financial assistance program. 7
(3) The direct or indirect receipt of funds from a producer 8
responsibility organization under this chapter does not confer any 9
inherent ownership or interest in any asset or company to which funds 10
are directed and does not confer any inherent right to control use of 11
any asset or company operations. 12
NEW SECTION. Sec. 119. EDUCATION AND OUTREACH. (1) A producer 13
responsibility organization must develop and maintain a public 14
website that uses best practices for accessibility and contains, at a 15
minimum:16
(a) Information regarding a process that members of the public 17
may use to contact the producer responsibility organization with 18
questions; 19
(b) A directory of all service providers operating under the plan 20
administered by the producer responsibility organization, grouped by 21
location or government entity; 22
(c) Registration materials submitted to the department;23
(d) The draft and approved plan and any draft and approved 24
amendments; 25
(e) The list of exempt materials under this chapter;26
(f) Current and all past needs assessments; 27
(g) Annual reports submitted to the department by the producer 28
responsibility organization; 29
(h) A link to administrative rules implementing this chapter;30
(i) Comments of the advisory council on the documents listed in 31
(d) and (f) of this subsection and the responses of the producer 32
responsibility organization to those comments; 33
(j) The names of producers and brands that are not in compliance 34
with the requirements of this chapter; 35
(k) A list, updated at least monthly, of all member producers 36
that will operate under the plan administered by the producer 37
responsibility organization and, for each producer, a list of all 38
brands of the producer's covered materials; and 39
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(l) Education materials on waste reduction, refill, reuse, 1
recycling, and composting for producers and the general public.2
(2) A producer responsibility organization must implement 3
education and outreach activities that effectively reach diverse 4
residents and include culturally responsive materials and methods, 5
are accessible, clear, and support the achievement of the performance 6
targets, including by developing and providing educational materials, 7
resources, and campaigns that encourage and support recycling, 8
composting, and reuse behaviors by residents and visitors. Activities 9
must: 10
(a) Assist producers in improving product labels as a means of 11
informing consumers about refill, reuse, recycling, composting, and 12
other environmentally sound methods of managing covered materials;13
(b) Increase public awareness of how to use and manage covered 14
materials in an environmentally sound manner and how to access waste 15
reduction, refill, reuse, recycling, and composting services;16
(c) Encourage behavior change to increase participation in waste 17
reduction, refill, reuse, recycling, and composting programs;18
(d) Reduce resident confusion regarding the appropriate solid 19
waste collection container or end-of-life management option for each 20
type of covered material; and 21
(e) Develop and provide education and outreach materials that are 22
able to be used by retail establishments, collectors, government 23
entities, service providers, schools, institutions, youth 24
organizations, and nonprofit organizations. 25
(3) A producer responsibility organization must coordinate with 26
registered service providers and any government entities that choose 27
to participate in carrying out education and outreach consistent with 28
the plan. 29
NEW SECTION. Sec. 120. ANNUAL REPORT. (1) By July 1, 2031, and 30
each July 1st thereafter, a producer responsibility organization must 31
submit an annual report to the department that contains, at a 32
minimum, the following information for the previous calendar year:33
(a) The amount of covered materials introduced, by covered 34
materials type, reported in the same units used to establish producer 35
fees established under this chapter; 36
(b) Progress made toward the performance targets reported in the 37
same units used to establish producer fees established under this 38
chapter, and reported statewide and for each county, including:39
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(i) The amount of covered materials successfully source reduced, 1
reused, recycled, and composted by covered materials type and the 2
strategies or collection methods used; and 3
(ii) Information about third-party certifications obtained;4
(c) The total cost to implement the program and a detailed 5
description of program expenditures by category, including:6
(i) The total amount of producer fees collected;7
(ii) A description of infrastructure investments made; and8
(iii) A breakdown of reimbursements by covered services, entities 9
receiving covered services, and regions of the state;10
(d) A copy of a financial audit of program operations conducted 11
by an independent auditor approved by the department that meets the 12
requirements of the Financial Accounting Standards Board's Accounting 13
Standards update 2016-14, not-for-profit entities (Topic 958), as it 14
existed as of January 1, 2025; 15
(e) A description of the program performance problems that 16
emerged in specific locations and efforts taken or proposed by the 17
producer responsibility organization to address them;18
(f) A discussion of technical assistance provided to producers 19
regarding toxic substances in covered materials and actions taken by 20
producers to reduce intentionally added toxic substances and residual 21
toxic substances from manufacturing in covered materials beyond 22
compliance with prohibitions already established in law;23
(g) A description of public awareness, education, and outreach 24
activities undertaken, including any evaluations conducted of their 25
efficacy, plans for next calendar year's activities, and an 26
evaluation of the process established by the producer responsibility 27
organization to answer questions from consumers regarding collection, 28
recycling, composting, waste reduction, and reuse activities;29
(h) A description, which includes quantitative measurements, of 30
changes in levels of access to covered services for covered materials 31
by socially vulnerable populations relative to levels of access to 32
and participation in covered services for covered materials by 33
socially vulnerable populations prior to the implementation of the 34
first plan under this chapter; 35
(i) A summary of consultations held with the advisory council and 36
how any feedback was incorporated into the report as a result, 37
together with a list of rejected recommendations and the reasons for 38
rejection; 39
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(j) A list of producers found to be out of compliance with this 1
chapter and actions taken by the producer responsibility organization 2
to return producers to compliance, and notification of any producers 3
that are no longer participating in the producer responsibility 4
organization or who have been expelled due to their lack of 5
compliance; 6
(k) Proposed amendments to the plan to improve program 7
performance or reduce costs, including changes to producer fees, 8
infrastructure investments, or reimbursement rates;9
(l) Recommendations for additions or removal of covered materials 10
to or from the recyclable or compostable covered materials lists 11
established under section 109 of this act; and 12
(m) Information requested by the department to evaluate the 13
effectiveness of the program as it is described in the plan and to 14
assist with determining compliance with this chapter.15
(2) A producer responsibility organization that fails to meet a 16
performance target approved in a plan must, within 90 days of filing 17
an annual report under this section, file with the department an 18
explanation of the factors contributing to the failure and propose an 19
amendment to the plan specifying changes in operations, including 20
education and outreach, that the producer responsibility organization 21
will make that are designed to achieve the performance targets. If a 22
performance target is unmet due to the lack of government entity 23
participation in the program, the department may revise the statewide 24
requirements. If a revision to the statewide requirements is 25
completed by the department, the producer responsibility organization 26
may revise the performance targets at the same time. An amendment 27
filed under this subsection must be reviewed by the advisory council 28
and approved by the department in the manner specified in section 106 29
of this act. 30
NEW SECTION. Sec. 121. INDEPENDENT REVIEW OF PROGRAM. (1) By 31
September 1, 2038, the department must contract with an independent 32
consultant to analyze the impacts of the initial seven years of 33
program implementation and must submit a report summarizing the 34
analysis to the appropriate committees of the legislature. The 35
analysis must include the effects of the program on:36
(a) Solid waste, composting, or recycling costs;37
(b) Recycling rates and composting rates; and 38
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(c) The availability and convenience of recycling, composting, 1
and reuse services, including specific analysis of the availability 2
and convenience of recycling, composting, and reuse services used by 3
socially vulnerable populations. 4
(2)(a) The independent consultant, for purposes of the 5
independent review of the program carried out under this section, may 6
review: 7
(i) Information submitted to the department under section 120 of 8
this act; and 9
(ii) Producer or producer responsibility organization data or 10
information pertinent to the program. 11
(b) The independent consultant must treat confidential records in 12
a manner consistent with the department's policy under section 122 of 13
this act. 14
(3) To the extent that sufficient state-level data is not 15
available to complete the analyses required in subsection (1) of this 16
section, the independent consultant may review data or studies from 17
states with similar programs. 18
NEW SECTION. Sec. 122. CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION SUBMISSION. A 19
producer responsibility organization, service provider, material 20
recovery facility, organic material management facility, responsible 21
market, or other entity that submits information or records to the 22
department under this chapter may request that the information or 23
records, including data related to business profits, service rates, 24
fees, or business expenses or private data on individuals, be made 25
available only for the confidential use of the department, the 26
director of the department, the appropriate division of the 27
department, or the independent consultant carrying out the 28
independent review of the program in section 121 of this act. The 29
director of the department must consider the request and if this 30
action is not detrimental to the public interest and is otherwise in 31
accordance with the policies and purposes of chapter 43.21A RCW, the 32
director must grant the request for the information to remain 33
confidential as authorized in RCW 43.21A.160.34
NEW SECTION. Sec. 123. ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITY. (1)(a) The 35
department may administratively impose a civil penalty of up to 36
$1,000 per violation per day on any producer who violates this 37
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chapter and up to $10,000 per violation per day for the second and 1
each subsequent violation. 2
(b) For a producer out of compliance with the requirements of 3
this chapter, the department shall provide written notification and 4
offer information. For the purposes of this section, written 5
notification serves as notice of the violation. The department must 6
issue at least one notice of violation by certified mail prior to 7
assessing a penalty and the department may only impose a penalty on a 8
producer that has not met the requirements of this chapter 60 days 9
following the date the written notification of the violation was 10
sent. 11
(2)(a) The department may administratively impose a civil penalty 12
of up to $1,000 per violation per day on any producer responsibility 13
organization that violates this chapter and up to $10,000 per 14
violation per day for the second and each subsequent violation.15
(b) The department may, in addition to assessing the penalties 16
provided in (a) of this subsection, take any combination of the 17
following actions: 18
(i) Issue a corrective action order to a producer responsibility 19
organization; 20
(ii) Issue an order to a producer responsibility organization to 21
provide for the continued implementation of the program in the 22
absence of an approved plan; 23
(iii) Revoke the producer responsibility organization's plan 24
approval and require implementation of the contingency plan;25
(iv) Require a producer responsibility organization to revise or 26
resubmit a plan within a specified time frame; or 27
(v) Require additional reporting related to the area of 28
noncompliance. 29
(c) Prior to taking an action described in this subsection, the 30
department must provide the producer responsibility organization an 31
opportunity to respond to or rebut the written finding upon which the 32
action is predicated. 33
(3) A person may not sell or distribute in or into the state a 34
covered material of a producer that is not participating in a 35
producer responsibility organization or that is not in compliance 36
with the requirements of this chapter or rules adopted under this 37
chapter. 38
(a) The department shall serve, or send with delivery 39
confirmation, a written warning explaining the violation to a person 40
p. 53 SB 5284
distributing or selling covered materials of a producer that is not 1
in compliance with this chapter. 2
(b) The department may assess a penalty on a person that 3
continues to sell or distribute covered materials of a producer that 4
is in violation of this chapter 60 days after receipt of the written 5
warning under this subsection. The amount of the penalty that the 6
department may assess under this subsection is twice the value of the 7
covered materials sold in violation of this chapter or $500, 8
whichever is greater. The department must waive the penalty upon 9
verification that the person has discontinued distribution or sales 10
of the covered material within 30 days of the date the penalty is 11
assessed. 12
(4) Any person who incurs a penalty or receives an order may 13
appeal the penalty or order to the pollution control hearings board 14
established in chapter 43.21B RCW. 15
(5) Penalties levied under this section must be deposited in the 16
recycling enhancement account created in RCW 70A.245.100.17
(6) Upon receipt of a request from the advisory council, the 18
department must consider the appropriateness of the use of 19
enforcement authority authorized in this section. 20
NEW SECTION. Sec. 124. DEPOSIT RETURN SYSTEM. (1) It is the 21
intent of the legislature that if a bottle deposit return system is 22
enacted in the future, it will be harmonized with this chapter in a 23
manner that ensures that:24
(a) Materials covered in that system are exempt from this chapter 25
or related financial obligations are reduced; 26
(b) Colocation of drop-off collection sites is maximized;27
(c) Education and outreach are integrated between the two 28
programs; and 29
(d) Waste reduction and reuse strategies are prioritized between 30
the two programs. 31
(2) Any implementation of a bottle deposit return system must 32
include a two-year transition period before the expiration of the 33
currently approved plan and be conducted in a manner that does not 34
create sudden and significant operational or financial disruption to 35
the implementation of a plan under this chapter, including provisions 36
of recycling or reuse services contained in the plan.37
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NEW SECTION. Sec. 125. PETITION FOR THE EXCLUSION OF CERTAIN 1
PRODUCTS. (1) Except as provided in subsection (4) of this section, 2
one year prior to the submission of a plan, a producer, group of 3
producers, or a producer responsibility organization may submit a 4
petition to the department to request for reasons of public health or 5
safety the temporary exclusion of packaging used to contain the 6
following categories of products, subcategories of the following 7
categories of products, or individual products:8
(a) Products regulated under the poison prevention packaging act 9
of 1970; and 10
(b) Products subject to requirements under federal laws that make 11
their inclusion in the requirements of this chapter infeasible or 12
inadvisable. 13
(2) A petition must provide information that is necessary and 14
sufficient for the department to make a determination including, at a 15
minimum, the following: 16
(a) The technical feasibility of including the category of 17
product, subcategory of product, or individual product in the program 18
created by this chapter, and in recycling the packaging of the 19
product or products; 20
(b) An analysis of any potential risks to public health and 21
safety associated with the inclusion of a category of product, 22
subcategory of product, or individual product in the program created 23
by this chapter, and in recycling the packaging of the product or 24
products; and 25
(c) The progress made by producers in achieving the goals of this 26
chapter, including by reducing the amount of packaging used with the 27
products, increasing the recycled content of the product packaging, 28
and increasing the ability of the products' packaging to be reused, 29
composted, or recycled if appropriate. 30
(3) The department must make a determination and notify the 31
petitioner within 90 days of receipt of the petition.32
(4) The producer of a product that is temporarily excluded from 33
the requirements of this chapter under this section must report, 34
directly to the department in a form created by the department, the 35
information related to the temporarily excluded product that is 36
required to be reported to the department by producer responsibility 37
organizations under sections 103 and 120 of this act.38
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NEW SECTION. Sec. 126. OTHER. (1) Nothing in this act impacts 1
an entity's eligibility for any state or local incentive or 2
assistance program to which they are otherwise eligible. Nothing in 3
this act limits the authority of private parties or government 4
entities to enter into contracts.5
(2) Nothing in this chapter authorizes the department or a 6
producer responsibility organization to impose any requirement, in 7
direct conflict with a federal law or regulation including, but not 8
limited to: 9
(a) Laws or regulations covering tamper-evident packaging 10
pursuant to 21 C.F.R. Sec. 211.132; 11
(b) Laws or regulations covering child-resistant packaging 12
pursuant to 16 C.F.R. Sec. 1700.1, et seq.; 13
(c) Regulations, rules, or guidelines issued by the United States 14
department of agriculture or the United States food and drug 15
administration related to packaging agricultural commodities; and16
(d) Requirements for microbial contamination, structural 17
integrity, or safety of packaging, where no viable recyclable or 18
compostable packaging that can meet the requirements exists, pursuant 19
to: 20
(i) The federal food, drug, and cosmetic act (21 U.S.C. Sec. 301, 21
et seq.); 22
(ii) 21 U.S.C. Sec. 2101, et seq.; 23
(iii) The federal food and drug administration food safety 24
modernization act (21 U.S.C. Sec. 2201, et seq.); 25
(iv) The federal poultry products inspection act (21 U.S.C. Sec. 26
451, et seq.); 27
(v) The federal meat inspection act (21 U.S.C. Sec. 601, et 28
seq.); or 29
(vi) The federal egg products inspection act (21 U.S.C. Sec. 30
1031, et seq.). 31
(3) No penalty may be assessed under this chapter on an 32
individual or resident for the improper disposal of covered materials 33
in a noncommercial or residential setting. 34
(4) Nothing in this chapter limits the authority of the utilities 35
and transportation commission to regulate collection of solid waste, 36
including curbside collection of residential recyclable materials, in 37
accordance with chapter 81.77 RCW. 38
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NEW SECTION. Sec. 127. ACCOUNT. The responsible recycling 1
management account is created in the custody of the state treasurer. 2
All receipts received by the department under this chapter must be 3
deposited in the account. Only the director of the department or the 4
director's designee may authorize expenditures from the account. The 5
account is subject to the allotment procedures under chapter 43.88 6
RCW, but an appropriation is not required for expenditures. 7
Expenditures from the account may be used by the department only for 8
implementing, administering, and enforcing the requirements of this 9
chapter. It is the intent of the legislature that the portion of the 10
producer responsibility organization fee received in 2026 for the 11
costs of the department in fiscal year 2026 be transferred to 12
whichever state account was used to cover the costs of the department 13
prior to the payment of the producer responsibility organization fee 14
in 2026.15
Part Two16
Amendments to Existing Solid Waste Management Laws17
Sec. 201. RCW 70A.205.045 and 2020 c 20 s 1163 are each amended 18
to read as follows: 19
Each county and city comprehensive solid waste management plan 20
shall include the following: 21
(1) A detailed inventory and description of all existing solid 22
waste handling facilities including an inventory of any deficiencies 23
in meeting current solid waste handling needs. 24
(2) The estimated long-range needs for solid waste handling 25
facilities projected ((twenty)) 20 years into the future.26
(3) A program for the orderly development of solid waste handling 27
facilities in a manner consistent with the plans for the entire 28
county which shall: 29
(a) Meet the minimum functional standards for solid waste 30
handling adopted by the department and all laws and regulations 31
relating to air and water pollution, fire prevention, flood control, 32
and protection of public health; 33
(b) Take into account the comprehensive land use plan of each 34
jurisdiction; 35
(c) Contain a six year construction and capital acquisition 36
program for solid waste handling facilities; and 37
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(d) Contain a plan for financing both capital costs and 1
operational expenditures of the proposed solid waste management 2
system. 3
(4) A program for surveillance and control. 4
(5) A current inventory and description of solid waste collection 5
needs and operations within each respective jurisdiction which shall 6
include: 7
(a) Any franchise for solid waste collection granted by the 8
utilities and transportation commission in the respective 9
jurisdictions including the name of the holder of the franchise and 10
the address of his or her place of business and the area covered by 11
the franchise; 12
(b) Any city solid waste operation within the county and the 13
boundaries of such operation; 14
(c) The population density of each area serviced by a city 15
operation or by a franchised operation within the respective 16
jurisdictions; 17
(d) The projected solid waste collection needs for the respective 18
jurisdictions for the next six years. 19
(6) A comprehensive waste reduction and recycling element that, 20
in accordance with the priorities established in RCW 70A.205.005, 21
provides programs that (a) reduce the amount of waste generated, (b) 22
provide incentives and mechanisms for source separation, and (c) 23
establish recycling opportunities for the source separated waste.24
(7) The waste reduction and recycling element shall include the 25
following: 26
(a) Waste reduction strategies, which may include strategies to 27
reduce wasted food and food waste that are designed to achieve the 28
goals established in RCW 70A.205.715(1) and that are consistent with 29
the plan developed in RCW 70A.205.715(3); 30
(b) Source separation strategies, including: 31
(i) Programs for the collection of source separated materials 32
from residences ((in urban and rural areas. In urban areas, these)).33
(A) Until January 1, 2030, these programs shall include 34
collection of source separated recyclable materials from single and 35
multiple-family residences, in urban areas, unless the department 36
approves an alternative program, according to the criteria in the 37
planning guidelines. Such criteria shall include: Anticipated 38
recovery rates and levels of public participation, availability of 39
environmentally sound disposal capacity, access to markets for 40
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recyclable materials, unreasonable cost impacts on the ratepayer over 1
the six-year planning period, utilization of environmentally sound 2
waste reduction and recycling technologies, and other factors as 3
appropriate. In rural areas, these programs shall include but not be 4
limited to drop-off boxes, buy-back centers, or a combination of 5
both, at each solid waste transfer, processing, or disposal site, or 6
at locations convenient to the residents of the county. The drop-off 7
boxes and buy-back centers may be owned or operated by public, 8
nonprofit, or private persons; 9
(B) Except as provided in (b)(i)(C) of this subsection, beginning 10
January 1, 2030, these programs shall:11
(I) Provide curbside collection of source separated recyclable 12
materials from single-family and multiple-family residences wherever 13
curbside garbage collection services are provided to these entities;14
(II) Include materials on the statewide collection list 15
designated for residential collection established by the department; 16
and17
(III) Include service standards for curbside collection 18
frequency, container size, and method of collection, established 19
under plans approved by the department under chapter 70A.--- RCW (the 20
new chapter created in section 401 of this act);21
(C) A county may, by ordinance, direct that the full list of 22
materials on the statewide collection list identified as suitable for 23
residential collection be collected exclusively through drop-off 24
locations in areas regulated by the utilities and transportation 25
commission under the provisions of chapter 81.77 RCW if the areas 26
were designated as rural in the county solid waste management plan 27
and no curbside recycling collection service was offered within those 28
areas as of January 1, 2025. Where a county has adopted such an 29
ordinance, the provisions of (b)(i)(B) of this subsection do not 30
apply;31
(D) Comprehensive solid waste management plans may incorporate by 32
reference programs described in an approved producer responsibility 33
organization plan under chapter 70A.--- RCW (the new chapter created 34
in section 401 of this act) to fulfill the requirements of this 35
subsection (7)(b)(i) in whole or in part;36
(E) Before January 1, 2030, each comprehensive solid waste 37
management plan must be amended, revised, or updated by a 38
jurisdiction consistent with the requirements of this subsection 39
(7)(b)(i). If a comprehensive solid waste management plan has not 40
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been amended, revised, or updated before January 1, 2030, to be 1
consistent with the requirements of this subsection (7)(b)(i), 2
beginning January 1, 2030, the model comprehensive solid waste plan 3
amendment provided by the department under section 106 of this act 4
applies in the jurisdiction; 5
(ii) Programs to monitor the collection of source separated waste 6
at nonresidential sites where there is sufficient density to sustain 7
a program; 8
(iii) Programs to collect yard waste and food waste, if the 9
county or city submitting the plan finds that there are adequate 10
markets or capacity for composted yard waste and food waste within or 11
near the service area to consume the majority of the material 12
collected; and 13
(iv) Programs to educate and promote the concepts of waste 14
reduction, refill, reuse, and recycling; 15
(c) Recycling strategies for materials not covered under chapter 16
70A.--- RCW (the new chapter created in section 401 of this act) , 17
including a description of markets for recyclables, a review of waste 18
generation trends, a description of waste composition, a discussion 19
and description of existing programs and any additional programs 20
needed to assist public and private sector recycling, and an 21
implementation schedule for the designation of specific materials to 22
be collected for recycling, and for the provision of recycling 23
collection services; 24
(d) Other information the county or city submitting the plan 25
determines is necessary. 26
(8) An assessment of the plan's impact on the costs of solid 27
waste collection. The assessment shall be prepared in conformance 28
with guidelines established by the utilities and transportation 29
commission. The commission shall cooperate with the Washington state 30
association of counties and the association of Washington cities in 31
establishing such guidelines. 32
(9) A review of potential areas that meet the criteria as 33
outlined in RCW 70A.205.110. 34
(10) A contamination reduction and outreach plan. The 35
contamination reduction and outreach plan must address reducing 36
contamination in recycling. Except for counties with a population of 37
((twenty-five thousand )) 25,000 or fewer, by July 1, 2021, a 38
contamination reduction and outreach plan must be included in each 39
solid waste management plan by a plan amendment or included when 40
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revising or updating a solid waste management plan developed under 1
this chapter. Jurisdictions may adopt the state's contamination 2
reduction and outreach plan as developed under RCW 70A.205.070 or 3
participate in a producer responsibility organization's plan under 4
chapter 70A.--- RCW (the new chapter created in section 401 of this 5
act) in lieu of creating their own plan. A recycling contamination 6
reduction and outreach plan must include the following:7
(a) A list of actions for reducing contamination in recycling 8
programs for single-family and multiple-family residences, commercial 9
locations, and drop boxes depending on the jurisdictions system 10
components; 11
(b) A list of key contaminants identified by the jurisdiction or 12
identified by the department; 13
(c) A discussion of problem contaminants and the contaminants' 14
impact on the collection system; 15
(d) An analysis of the costs and other impacts associated with 16
contaminants to the recycling system; and 17
(e) An implementation schedule and details of how outreach is to 18
be conducted. Contamination reduction education methods may include 19
sharing community-wide messaging through newsletters, articles, 20
mailers, social media, websites, or community events, informing 21
recycling drop box customers about contamination, and improving 22
signage. 23
Sec. 202. RCW 70A.205.500 and 1988 c 175 s 3 are each amended to 24
read as follows: 25
((The department of ecology, at )) At the request of a local 26
government jurisdiction, the department or a producer responsibility 27
organization implementing a plan under chapter 70A.--- RCW (the new 28
chapter created in section 401 of this act) may periodically provide 29
educational material promoting household waste reduction and 30
recycling to public and private refuse haulers. The educational 31
material shall be distributed to households receiving refuse 32
collection service by local governments or the refuse hauler 33
providing service. The refuse hauler may distribute the educational 34
material by any means that assures timely delivery.35
Reasonable expenses incurred in the distribution of this material 36
shall be considered, for rate-making purposes, as legitimate 37
operating expenses of garbage and refuse haulers regulated under 38
chapter 81.77 RCW. 39
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Sec. 203. RCW 81.77.030 and 2020 c 20 s 1467 are each amended to 1
read as follows: 2
(1) The commission shall supervise and regulate every solid waste 3
collection company in this state, 4
(((1))) (a) By fixing and altering its rates, charges, 5
classifications, rules and regulations; 6
(((2))) (b) By regulating the accounts, service, and safety of 7
operations; 8
(((3))) (c) By requiring the filing of annual and other reports 9
and data; 10
(((4))) (d) By supervising and regulating such persons or 11
companies in all other matters affecting the relationship between 12
them and the public which they serve; 13
(((5))) (e) By requiring compliance with local solid waste 14
management plans and related implementation ordinances;15
(((6))) (f) By reviewing producer responsibility organization 16
reimbursement of regulated service providers consistent with the 17
requirements of chapter 70A.--- RCW (the new chapter created in 18
section 401 of this act);19
(g) By requiring certificate holders under this chapter ((81.77 20
RCW)) to use rate structures and billing systems consistent with the 21
solid waste management priorities set forth under RCW 70A.205.005 and 22
the minimum levels of solid waste collection and recycling services 23
pursuant to local comprehensive solid waste management plans. The 24
commission may order consolidated billing and provide for reasonable 25
and necessary expenses to be paid to the administering company if 26
more than one certificate is granted in an area; and27
(h) By requiring certificate holders under this chapter to 28
deliver covered materials only to responsible markets, as those terms 29
are defined in section 102 of this act. 30
(2) The commission, on complaint made on its own motion or by an 31
aggrieved party, at any time, after providing the holder of any 32
certificate with notice and an opportunity for a hearing at which it 33
shall be proven that the holder has willfully violated or refused to 34
observe any of the commission's orders, rules, or regulations, or has 35
failed to operate as a solid waste collection company for a period of 36
at least one year preceding the filing of the complaint, may suspend, 37
revoke, alter, or amend any certificate issued under the provisions 38
of this chapter. 39
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Sec. 204. RCW 81.77.160 and 1997 c 434 s 1 are each amended to 1
read as follows: 2
(1) The commission, in fixing and altering collection rates 3
charged by every solid waste collection company under this section, 4
shall include in the base for the collection rates:5
(a) All charges for the disposal of solid waste at the facility 6
or facilities designated by a local jurisdiction under a local 7
comprehensive solid waste management plan or ordinance; ((and))8
(b) All known and measurable costs related to implementation of 9
the approved county or city comprehensive solid waste management 10
plan; and11
(c) All costs related to the implementation of curbside recycling 12
collection services performed by a solid waste collection company 13
consistent with chapter 70A.--- RCW (the new chapter created in 14
section 401 of this act). 15
(2) If a solid waste collection company files a tariff to recover 16
the costs specified under this section, and the commission suspends 17
the tariff, the portion of the tariff covering costs specified in 18
this section shall be placed in effect by the commission at the 19
request of the company on an interim basis as of the originally filed 20
effective date, subject to refund, pending the commission's final 21
order. The commission may adopt rules to implement this section.22
(3) This section applies to a solid waste collection company that 23
has an affiliated interest under chapter 81.16 RCW with a facility, 24
if the total cost of disposal, including waste transfer, transport, 25
and disposal charges, at the facility is equal to or lower than any 26
other reasonable and currently available option. 27
Sec. 205. RCW 81.77.185 and 2010 c 154 s 3 are each amended to 28
read as follows: 29
(1) The commission shall allow solid waste collection companies 30
collecting recyclable materials other than covered materials 31
collected under an approved plan in chapter 70A.--- RCW (the new 32
chapter created in section 401 of this act) to retain up to ((fifty)) 33
50 percent of the revenue paid to the companies for the material if 34
the companies submit a plan to the commission that is certified by 35
the appropriate local government authority as being consistent with 36
the local government solid waste plan and that demonstrates how the 37
revenues will be used to increase recycling. The remaining revenue 38
shall be passed to residential customers. 39
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(2) By December 2, 2005, the commission shall provide a report to 1
the legislature that evaluates: 2
(a) The effectiveness of revenue sharing as an incentive to 3
increase recycling in the state; and 4
(b) The effect of revenue sharing on costs to customers.5
Part Three6
Other Conforming Amendments and Miscellaneous Provisions7
Sec. 301. RCW 43.21B.110 and 2024 c 347 s 5, 2024 c 340 s 4, and 8
2024 c 339 s 16 are each reenacted and amended to read as follows:9
(1) The hearings board shall only have jurisdiction to hear and 10
decide appeals from the following decisions of the department, the 11
director, local conservation districts, the air pollution control 12
boards or authorities as established pursuant to chapter 70A.15 RCW, 13
local health departments, the department of natural resources, the 14
department of fish and wildlife, the parks and recreation commission, 15
and authorized public entities described in chapter 79.100 RCW:16
(a) Civil penalties imposed pursuant to chapter 70A.230 RCW and 17
RCW 18.104.155, 70A.15.3160, 70A.300.090, 70A.20.050, 70A.230.020, 18
70A.205.280, 70A.355.070, 70A.430.070, 70A.500.260, 70A.505.100, 19
70A.505.110, 70A.530.040, 70A.350.070, 70A.515.060, 70A.245.040, 20
70A.245.050, 70A.245.070, 70A.245.080, 70A.245.130, 70A.245.140, 21
70A.65.200, 70A.455.090, 70A.550.030, 70A.555.110, 70A.560.020, 22
section 123 of this act, 70A.565.030, 76.09.170, 77.55.440, 23
78.44.250, 88.46.090, 90.03.600, 90.46.270, 90.48.144, 90.56.310, 24
90.56.330, and 90.64.102. 25
(b) Orders issued pursuant to RCW 18.104.043, 18.104.060, 26
18.104.130, 43.27A.190, 70A.15.2520, 70A.15.3010, 70A.15.4530, 27
70A.15.6010, 70A.205.280, 70A.214.140, 70A.300.120, 70A.350.070, 28
70A.245.020, 70A.65.200, 70A.505.100, 70A.555.110, 70A.560.020, 29
section 123 of this act, 70A.565.030, 86.16.020, 88.46.070, 30
90.03.665, 90.14.130, 90.46.250, 90.48.120, 90.48.240, 90.56.330, and 31
90.64.040. 32
(c) Except as provided in RCW 90.03.210(2), the issuance, 33
modification, or termination of any permit, certificate, or license 34
by the department or any air authority in the exercise of its 35
jurisdiction, including the issuance or termination of a waste 36
disposal permit, the denial of an application for a waste disposal 37
permit, the modification of the conditions or the terms of a waste 38
p. 64 SB 5284
disposal permit, a decision to approve or deny a solid waste 1
management plan under RCW 70A.205.055, approval or denial of an 2
application for a beneficial use determination under RCW 70A.205.260, 3
an application for a change under RCW 90.03.383, or a permit to 4
distribute reclaimed water under RCW 90.46.220. 5
(d) Decisions of local health departments regarding the granting 6
or denial of solid waste permits pursuant to chapter 70A.205 RCW, 7
including appeals by the department as provided in RCW 70A.205.130.8
(e) Decisions of local health departments regarding the issuance 9
and enforcement of permits to use or dispose of biosolids under RCW 10
70A.226.090. 11
(f) Decisions of the department regarding waste-derived 12
fertilizer or micronutrient fertilizer under RCW 15.54.820.13
(g) Decisions of local conservation districts related to the 14
denial of approval or denial of certification of a dairy nutrient 15
management plan; conditions contained in a plan; application of any 16
dairy nutrient management practices, standards, methods, and 17
technologies to a particular dairy farm; and failure to adhere to the 18
plan review and approval timelines in RCW 90.64.026 as provided in 19
RCW 90.64.028. 20
(h) Any other decision by the department or an air authority 21
which pursuant to law must be decided as an adjudicative proceeding 22
under chapter 34.05 RCW. 23
(i) Decisions of the department of natural resources, the 24
department of fish and wildlife, and the department that are 25
reviewable under chapter 76.09 RCW, and the department of natural 26
resources' appeals of county, city, or town objections under RCW 27
76.09.050(7). 28
(j) Forest health hazard orders issued by the commissioner of 29
public lands under RCW 76.06.180. 30
(k) Decisions of the department of fish and wildlife to issue, 31
deny, condition, or modify a hydraulic project approval permit under 32
chapter 77.55 RCW, to issue a stop work order, to issue a notice to 33
comply, to issue a civil penalty, or to issue a notice of intent to 34
disapprove applications. 35
(l) Decisions of the department of natural resources that are 36
reviewable under RCW 78.44.270. 37
(m) Decisions of an authorized public entity under RCW 79.100.010 38
to take temporary possession or custody of a vessel or to contest the 39
p. 65 SB 5284
amount of reimbursement owed that are reviewable by the hearings 1
board under RCW 79.100.120. 2
(n) Decisions of the department of ecology that are appealable 3
under RCW 70A.245.020 to set recycled minimum postconsumer content 4
for ((covered)) products or to temporarily exclude types of 5
((covered)) products in plastic containers from minimum postconsumer 6
recycled content requirements. 7
(o) Orders by the department of ecology under RCW 70A.455.080.8
(p) Decisions by the department of ecology under section 115 (5) 9
of this act regarding a proposal by a producer responsibility 10
organization to count materials sent to an alternative recycling 11
facility towards recycling performance targets.12
(2) The following hearings shall not be conducted by the hearings 13
board: 14
(a) Hearings required by law to be conducted by the shorelines 15
hearings board pursuant to chapter 90.58 RCW, except where appeals to 16
the pollution control hearings board and appeals to the shorelines 17
hearings board have been consolidated pursuant to RCW 43.21B.340.18
(b) Hearings conducted by the department pursuant to RCW 19
70A.15.3010, 70A.15.3070, 70A.15.3080, 70A.15.3090, 70A.15.3100, 20
70A.15.3110, and 90.44.180. 21
(c) Appeals of decisions by the department under RCW 90.03.110 22
and 90.44.220. 23
(d) Hearings conducted by the department to adopt, modify, or 24
repeal rules. 25
(3) Review of rules and regulations adopted by the hearings board 26
shall be subject to review in accordance with the provisions of the 27
administrative procedure act, chapter 34.05 RCW. 28
Sec. 302. RCW 43.21B.300 and 2024 c 347 s 6 and 2024 c 340 s 5 29
are each reenacted and amended to read as follows:30
(1) Any civil penalty provided in RCW 18.104.155, 70A.15.3160, 31
70A.205.280, 70A.230.080, 70A.300.090, 70A.20.050, 70A.245.040, 32
70A.245.050, 70A.245.070, 70A.245.080, 70A.245.130, 70A.245.140, 33
70A.65.200, 70A.430.070, 70A.455.090, 70A.500.260, 70A.505.110, 34
70A.555.110, 70A.560.020, section 123 of this act, 70A.565.030, 35
86.16.081, 88.46.090, 90.03.600, 90.46.270, 90.48.144, 90.56.310, 36
90.56.330, and 90.64.102 and chapter 70A.355 RCW shall be imposed by 37
a notice in writing, either by certified mail with return receipt 38
requested or by personal service, to the person incurring the penalty 39
p. 66 SB 5284
from the department or the local air authority, describing the 1
violation with reasonable particularity. For penalties issued by 2
local air authorities, within 30 days after the notice is received, 3
the person incurring the penalty may apply in writing to the 4
authority for the remission or mitigation of the penalty. Upon 5
receipt of the application, the authority may remit or mitigate the 6
penalty upon whatever terms the authority in its discretion deems 7
proper. The authority may ascertain the facts regarding all such 8
applications in such reasonable manner and under such rules as it may 9
deem proper and shall remit or mitigate the penalty only upon a 10
demonstration of extraordinary circumstances such as the presence of 11
information or factors not considered in setting the original 12
penalty. 13
(2) Any penalty imposed under this section may be appealed to the 14
pollution control hearings board in accordance with this chapter if 15
the appeal is filed with the hearings board and served on the 16
department or authority 30 days after the date of receipt by the 17
person penalized of the notice imposing the penalty or 30 days after 18
the date of receipt of the notice of disposition by a local air 19
authority of the application for relief from penalty.20
(3) A penalty shall become due and payable on the later of:21
(a) 30 days after receipt of the notice imposing the penalty;22
(b) 30 days after receipt of the notice of disposition by a local 23
air authority on application for relief from penalty, if such an 24
application is made; or 25
(c) 30 days after receipt of the notice of decision of the 26
hearings board if the penalty is appealed. 27
(4) If the amount of any penalty is not paid to the department 28
within 30 days after it becomes due and payable, the attorney 29
general, upon request of the department, shall bring an action in the 30
name of the state of Washington in the superior court of Thurston 31
county, or of any county in which the violator does business, to 32
recover the penalty. If the amount of the penalty is not paid to the 33
authority within 30 days after it becomes due and payable, the 34
authority may bring an action to recover the penalty in the superior 35
court of the county of the authority's main office or of any county 36
in which the violator does business. In these actions, the procedures 37
and rules of evidence shall be the same as in an ordinary civil 38
action. 39
p. 67 SB 5284
(5) All penalties recovered shall be paid into the state treasury 1
and credited to the general fund except the following:2
(a) Penalties imposed pursuant to RCW 18.104.155 must be credited 3
to the reclamation account as provided in RCW 18.104.155(7);4
(b) Penalties imposed pursuant to RCW 70A.15.3160 must be 5
disposed of pursuant to RCW 70A.15.3160; 6
(c) Penalties imposed pursuant to RCW 70A.230.080, 70A.300.090, 7
70A.430.070, 70A.555.110, ((and)) 70A.560.020, and 70A.565.030 must 8
be credited to the model toxics control operating account created in 9
RCW 70A.305.180; 10
(d) Penalties imposed pursuant to RCW 70A.245.040 and 70A.245.050 11
must be credited to the recycling enhancement account created in RCW 12
70A.245.100; 13
(e) Penalties imposed pursuant to RCW 70A.500.260 must be 14
deposited into the electronic products recycling account created in 15
RCW 70A.500.130; 16
(f) Penalties imposed pursuant to RCW 70A.65.200 must be credited 17
to the climate investment account created in RCW 70A.65.250;18
(g) Penalties imposed pursuant to RCW 90.56.330 must be credited 19
to the coastal protection fund established in RCW 90.48.390; ((and))20
(h) Penalties imposed pursuant to RCW 70A.355.070 must be 21
credited to the underground storage tank account created in RCW 22
70A.355.090; and23
(i) Penalties imposed pursuant to chapter 70A.--- RCW (the new 24
chapter created in section 401 of this act), which shall be credited 25
to the recycling enhancement account created in RCW 70A.245.100.26
NEW SECTION. Sec. 303. LITTER TAX STUDY. (1) In consultation 27
with producer responsibility organizations registered with the 28
department of ecology under chapter 70A.--- RCW (the new chapter 29
created in section 401 of this act), the department of ecology and, 30
for the purposes of (c) of this subsection, the department of revenue 31
must study:32
(a) The impacts of producer requirements under chapter 70A. --- 33
RCW (the new chapter created in section 401 of this act) on the 34
litter rates of covered materials under that chapter;35
(b) The extent to which covered materials contribute to litter 36
and marine debris for the purpose of informing how a producer 37
responsibility organization implementing a plan can support litter 38
and marine debris prevention as it relates to activities required 39
p. 68 SB 5284
under chapter 70A.--- RCW (the new chapter created in section 401 of 1
this act). The assessment should draw on available data, assess gaps, 2
and identify strategies for improving prevention and cleanup of 3
litter and marine debris from covered materials; and4
(c) Possible improvements to the structure of the litter tax 5
under chapter 82.19 RCW including administration, compliance, and 6
distribution of the tax and application of the tax to certain 7
products, for achieving the purpose of chapter 82.19 RCW. The 8
improvements to the structure of the litter tax to be studied under 9
this section may not include an increase in the rate of the litter 10
tax under chapter 82.19 RCW or an expansion of the types of covered 11
materials under chapter 70A.--- RCW (the new chapter created in 12
section 401 of this act) that are subject to the litter tax.13
(2) By January 1, 2030, the department of ecology, in 14
consultation with the department of revenue, must provide 15
recommendations to the appropriate committees of the legislature on:16
(a) Applicability of the litter tax to covered materials, based 17
on whether the purpose of the litter tax under chapter 82.19 RCW is 18
being achieved for those materials by the requirements of producers 19
under chapter 70A. --- RCW (the new chapter created in section 401 of 20
this act); and 21
(b) Improvements to the structure of the litter tax for meeting 22
the purposes of chapter 82.19 RCW. 23
(3) This section expires July 1, 2030. 24
NEW SECTION. Sec. 304. A new section is added to chapter 49.46 25
RCW to read as follows: 26
(1) Owners or operators of a material recovery facility that 27
manages covered materials under chapter 70A.--- RCW (the new chapter 28
created in section 401 of this act) must ensure that workers at the 29
facility receive minimum industry standard compensation.30
(2) Employers are not required to establish "usual benefit" 31
programs. However, if an employer chooses not to provide such 32
benefits, wages paid must be at the full minimum industry standard 33
rate. 34
(3) If more than one collective bargaining agreement exists that 35
covers similar or equivalent work in the same geographic area, the 36
higher rate applies. 37
(4) The minimum industry standard compensation requirements of 38
this section constitute a wage payment requirement as defined in RCW 39
p. 69 SB 5284
49.48.082. The department of labor and industries may otherwise 1
enforce this provision as a wage under RCW 49.48.040 through 2
49.48.080 and the applicable provisions of chapter 49.52 RCW.3
(5)(a) The director may initiate an investigation without an 4
employee's complaint to ensure compliance with this section. The 5
department of labor and industries may also initiate an investigation 6
on behalf of one or more employees when the director has reason to 7
believe that a violation has occurred or will occur.8
(b) The department of labor and industries may conduct a 9
consolidated investigation for any alleged violation identified under 10
this section, or associated rules, when there are common questions of 11
law or fact. If the department of labor and industries consolidates 12
such matters into a single investigation, the department of labor and 13
industries must provide notice to the employer. 14
(c) The department of labor and industries may request that an 15
employer perform a self-audit of any records relating to this 16
section, which must be provided within a reasonable time. Reasonable 17
timelines will be specified in the self-audit request. The department 18
of labor and industries must determine reasonable time based on the 19
number of affected employees and the period of time covered by the 20
self-audit. The records examined by the employer in order to perform 21
the self-audit must be made available to the department of labor and 22
industries upon request. 23
(d) Upon request of the department of labor and industries, an 24
employer must notify affected employees in writing that the 25
department is conducting an investigation. The department of labor 26
and industries may require the employer to include a general 27
description of each investigation as part of the notification, 28
including the allegations and whether the notified employee may be 29
affected. The employer may consult with the department of labor and 30
industries to provide the information for the description of the 31
notification of investigation. 32
(e) Upon receiving a complaint, the department of labor and 33
industries may request or subpoena the records of the material 34
recovery facility. 35
(f) In addition to any enforcement authority provided in this 36
section or applicable rules, the department of labor and industries 37
may enforce any violation under this section or applicable rules by 38
filing an action in the superior court for the county in which the 39
violation is alleged to have occurred. If the department of labor and 40
p. 70 SB 5284
industries prevails, the department is entitled to reasonable 1
attorneys' fees and costs, in the amount to be determined by the 2
court. 3
(6) The department of labor and industries may adopt rules to 4
implement this section. 5
(7) The definitions in this subsection apply throughout this 6
section unless the context clearly requires otherwise.7
(a) "Minimum industry standard compensation" means a wage and 8
usual benefits package equal to or greater than the combined hourly 9
wage and usual benefits package set by a collective bargaining 10
agreement that covers similar or equivalent work in a geographic 11
area. 12
(b) "Rate of contribution" means the effective annual rate of 13
usual benefit contributions for all hours, public and private, worked 14
during the year by an employee (commonly referred to as 15
"annualization" of benefits). The only exemption to the annualization 16
requirements is for defined contribution pension plans that have 17
immediate participation and vesting. 18
(c)(i) "Usual benefits" includes the amount of:19
(A) The rate of contribution irrevocably made by an employer to a 20
trustee or to a third person pursuant to a fund, plan, or program; 21
and 22
(B) The rate of costs to the employer, which may be reasonably 23
anticipated in providing benefits to workers pursuant to an 24
enforceable commitment to carry out a financially responsible plan or 25
program that was communicated in writing to the workers affected, for 26
medical or hospital care, pensions on retirement or death, 27
compensation for all injuries or illness resulting from occupational 28
activity, or insurance to provide any of the foregoing, for 29
unemployment benefits, life insurance, disability and sickness 30
insurance, or accident insurance, for vacation and holiday pay, for 31
defraying costs of apprenticeship or other similar programs, or for 32
other bona fide fringe benefits, but only where the employer is not 33
required by other federal, state, or local law to provide any of 34
these benefits. 35
(ii) To be deemed a "usual benefit," both of the following 36
requirements must be satisfied: 37
(A) Employer payments for the usual benefit are made only in 38
conformance with all applicable federal and state laws, including the 39
p. 71 SB 5284
requirements of the employment retirement income security act of 1
1974, as amended, and of the internal revenue service; and2
(B) Employee payments toward the usual benefit, through self-3
contribution, payroll deduction, or otherwise, do not constitute a 4
credit to the employer for minimum industry standard compensation 5
purposes. 6
Sec. 305. RCW 49.48.082 and 2010 c 42 s 1 are each reenacted and 7
amended to read as follows: 8
The definitions in this section apply throughout this section and 9
RCW 49.48.083 through 49.48.086: 10
(1) "Citation" means a written determination by the department 11
that a wage payment requirement has been violated.12
(2) "Department" means the department of labor and industries.13
(3) "Determination of compliance" means a written determination 14
by the department that wage payment requirements have not been 15
violated. 16
(4) "Director" means the director of the department of labor and 17
industries, or the director's authorized representative.18
(5) "Employee" has the meaning provided in: (a) RCW 49.46.010 for 19
purposes of a wage payment requirement set forth in RCW 49.46.020 or 20
49.46.130; and (b) RCW 49.12.005 for purposes of a wage payment 21
requirement set forth in RCW 49.48.010, 49.52.050, or 49.52.060.22
(6) "Employer" has the meaning provided in RCW 49.46.010 for 23
purposes of a wage payment requirement set forth in RCW 49.46.020, 24
49.46.130, 49.48.010, 49.52.050, or 49.52.060. 25
(7) "Notice of assessment" means a written notice by the 26
department that, based on a citation, the employer shall pay the 27
amounts assessed under RCW 49.48.083. 28
(8) "Repeat willful violator" means any employer that has been 29
the subject of a final and binding citation and notice of assessment 30
for a willful violation of a wage payment requirement within three 31
years of the date of issue of the most recent citation and notice of 32
assessment for a willful violation of a wage payment requirement.33
(9) "Successor" means any person to whom an employer quitting, 34
selling out, exchanging, or disposing of a business sells or 35
otherwise conveys in bulk and not in the ordinary course of the 36
employer's business, more than ((fifty)) 50 percent of the property, 37
whether real or personal, tangible or intangible, of the employer's 38
business. 39
p. 72 SB 5284
(10) "Wage" has the meaning provided in RCW 49.46.010.1
(11) "Wage complaint" means a complaint from an employee to the 2
department that asserts that an employer has violated one or more 3
wage payment requirements and that is reduced to writing.4
(12) "Wage payment requirement" means a wage payment requirement 5
set forth in RCW 49.46.020, 49.46.130, 49.48.010, 49.52.050, ((or)) 6
49.52.060, or section 304 of this act , and any related rules adopted 7
by the department. 8
(13) "Willful" means a knowing and intentional action that is 9
neither accidental nor the result of a bona fide dispute, as 10
evaluated under the standards applicable to wage payment violations 11
under RCW 49.52.050(2). 12
NEW SECTION. Sec. 306. If any provision of this act or its 13
application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the 14
remainder of the act or the application of the provision to other 15
persons or circumstances is not affected.16
NEW SECTION. Sec. 307. If specific funding for the purposes of 17
this act, referencing this act by bill or chapter number, is not 18
provided by June 30, 2025, in the omnibus appropriations act, this 19
act is null and void.20
Part Four21
Codification Directives22
NEW SECTION. Sec. 401. Sections 101 through 127 of this act 23
constitute a new chapter in Title 70A RCW.24
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p. 73 SB 5284