Salmon recovery accelerator

AN ACT Relating to the new environmental accelerator for salmon 1
recovery and ecological resiliency projects; amending RCW 43.42.030; 2
adding a new section to chapter 43.42 RCW; adding a new section to 3
chapter 44.28 RCW; and providing an expiration date.4
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:5
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. A new section is added to chapter 43.42 6
RCW to read as follows: 7
(1) An environmental accelerator is established within the office 8
to provide regulatory flexibility for salmon recovery and ecological 9
resiliency projects and programs funded with climate commitment act 10
revenue. 11
(2) The director must appoint an administrator and assign staff 12
to run the environmental accelerator. It is the intent of the 13
legislature that administrative funds for the environmental 14
accelerator be appropriated from climate commitment act auction 15
revenue. 16
(3) Any entity receiving funding for the primary purpose of 17
salmon recovery and ecological resiliency from the climate investment 18
account created in RCW 70A.65.250, the climate commitment account 19
created in RCW 70A.65.260, the natural climate solutions account 20
created in RCW 70A.65.270, or the air quality and health disparities 21
S-0560.2
SENATE BILL 5305
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2025 Regular Session
By Senators Muzzall, Chapman, Dozier, Nobles, and J. Wilson
Read first time 01/16/25. Referred to Committee on Agriculture &
Natural Resources.
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improvement account created in RCW 70A.65.280 is automatically 1
enrolled in the environmental accelerator. 2
(4) The administrator must assist every entity in the 3
environmental accelerator by: 4
(a) Assisting the entity with identifying any regulatory barriers 5
to successfully and efficiently implementing the project or program 6
for which the entity received funding; 7
(b)(i) Working with the relevant regulatory agency to see what, 8
if any, regulatory relief may be granted to the entity by the 9
regulatory agency; 10
(ii) Regulatory relief may be in the form of a waiver of state 11
law or a waiver of a state rule for a trial period. The initial trial 12
period may occur for up to five years and may be extended for the 13
entity by a regulatory agency until the conclusion of the climate 14
commitment act's compliance obligations for covered entities, as 15
defined in RCW 70A.65.010; and 16
(c) When regulatory relief is granted to an entity, providing 17
notice to all entities in the environmental accelerator of this 18
relief. The office shall maintain a registry of enrollees so that 19
those who wish to be notified for request of relief by other entities 20
can update their contact information. 21
(5) Entities enrolled in the environmental accelerator may 22
request regulatory relief, on a form to be prescribed by the 23
administrator of the environmental accelerator, and the relevant 24
agency shall consider and respond to the request within 60 days.25
(6)(a) The administrator or the relevant regulatory agency may 26
rescind a grant of regulatory relief if: 27
(i) The administrator or relevant regulatory agency determines 28
the relief is no longer in the public interest; or29
(ii) The program, project, or other qualifying grant has been 30
terminated. 31
(b) When rescinding regulatory relief, the administrator or the 32
relevant regulatory agency must provide the entity that received the 33
relief with a detailed explanation of the reason for the rescission.34
(7) The office must provide a progress report on the 35
environmental accelerator to the appropriate committees of the 36
legislature by January 1st annually. The report must include:37
(a) The number and type of entities requesting regulatory relief;38
(b) A review and summary of the types of regulatory relief 39
requested; 40
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(c) The details of all regulatory relief granted by regulatory 1
agencies; 2
(d) Recommendations or considerations for amending state law or 3
rules to provide permanent regulatory relief; and 4
(e) Any other information that the department of commerce deems 5
relevant and useful. 6
(8) This section does not limit the authority of any regulatory 7
agency to take any enforcement action, other than a civil penalty, 8
authorized by law. This section does not limit a regulatory agency's 9
authority to issue a civil penalty as authorized by law based upon a 10
person's failure to comply with specific terms and conditions of any 11
permit or license issued by the agency to that person.12
(9) If a regulatory agency determines that any part of this 13
section is in conflict with federal law or program requirements, in 14
conflict with federal requirements that are a prescribed condition to 15
the allocation of federal funds to the state, or in conflict with the 16
requirements for eligibility of employers in this state for federal 17
unemployment tax credits, the conflicting part of this section is 18
inoperative solely to the extent of the conflict. Any rules under 19
this section must meet federal requirements that are a necessary 20
condition to the receipt of federal funds by the state or the 21
granting of federal unemployment tax credits to employers in this 22
state. 23
Sec. 2. RCW 43.42.030 and 2009 c 97 s 3 are each amended to read 24
as follows: 25
The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter 26
unless the context clearly requires otherwise. 27
(1) "Administrator" means the administrator of the environmental 28
accelerator program.29
(2) "Director" means the director of the office of regulatory 30
assistance. 31
(((2))) (3) "Ecological resiliency" means the ability of an 32
ecosystem to withstand and recover from short and long -term impacts 33
of climate change.34
(4) "Fully coordinated permit process" means a comprehensive 35
coordinated permitting assistance approach supported by a written 36
agreement between the project proponent, the office of regulatory 37
assistance, and the agencies participating in the fully coordinated 38
permit process. 39
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(((3))) (5) "General coordination services" means services that 1
bring interested parties together to explore opportunities for 2
cooperation and to resolve conflicts. General coordination services 3
may be provided as a stand-alone event or as an element of broader 4
project assistance, nonproject-related interagency coordination, or 5
policy and planning teamwork. 6
(((4))) (6) "Office" means the office of regulatory assistance 7
established in RCW 43.42.010. 8
(((5))) (7) "Permit" means any permit, license, certificate, use 9
authorization, or other form of governmental review or approval 10
required in order to construct, expand, or operate a project in the 11
state of Washington. 12
(((6))) (8) "Permit agency" means any state, local, or federal 13
agency authorized by law to issue permits. 14
(((7))) (9) "Project" means any activity, the conduct of which 15
requires a permit or permits from one or more permit agencies.16
(((8))) (10) "Project proponent" means a citizen, business, or 17
any entity applying for or seeking a permit or permits in the state 18
of Washington. 19
(((9))) (11) "Project scoping" means the identification of 20
relevant issues and information needs of a project proponent and the 21
permitting agencies, and reaching a common understanding regarding 22
the process, timing, and sequencing for obtaining applicable permits.23
(12) "Salmon recovery" means returning function, value, and 24
access to salmon habitat to support healthy populations.25
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. A new section is added to chapter 44.28 26
RCW to read as follows: 27
(1) The joint committee shall conduct an evaluation of the 28
implementation of the environmental accelerator as described in 29
section 1 of this act and report to the appropriate committees of the 30
legislature by December 1, 2029, on the results of the evaluation.31
(2) The report must include recommendations on whether to 32
continue the environmental accelerator in its existing form and any 33
legislative changes that may be needed to improve the program. 34
Specifically, the report must include a comparison of entities that 35
received regulatory relief to similar entities that either did not 36
request regulatory relief or did not receive regulatory relief.37
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(3) This section expires January 1, 2031. 1
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