OLYMPIA, WA – Recently the Washington State Legislature enacted a Clean Fuel Standard program, which directs fuel providers to reduce the carbon intensity in their product such as gasoline and diesel. Now, the original bill sponsor for that program wants to modify it in a way that supporters believe will improve implementation.
However, some opposed to Second Substitute House Bill 1409 say it’s a sign the program itself is fundamentally flawed and should be scrapped.
“It’s only in the second year of implementation, and yet, even supporters admit that it has already deeply flawed,” Washington Policy Center Vice President of Research Todd Myers said during a Wednesday morning Senate Environment, Energy & Technology Committee public hearing. “The Clean Fuel Standard should not be fixed, it should be eliminated.”
The Clean Fuel Standard law requires fuel suppliers to reduce the carbon intensity of transportation fuels so that they are 20% below 2017 levels by 2034. Several pathways towards complying with the law are providing or blending biofuels into their own fuel, or purchasing credits generated by fuel providers whose product is below the thresholds, which can include entities that own and operate electric vehicle charging stations.
The program is the result of repeated legislative efforts to get a low carbon fuel standard imposed, with backers finally achieving success in 2021.
SSHB 1409’s sponsor Rep. Joe Fitzgibbon, D-Seattle, told the Environment, Energy & Technology Committee that “this program would benefit from a more tailored enforcement structure rather than relying on the existing Clean Air Act enforcement structure, which includes criminal penalties. I don’t think we ever want to have criminal penalties be applied for the enforcement of this program.”
Aside from removing criminal penalties, the bill requires that carbon intensity in transportation fuels be reduced by 45% below 2017 levels by Jan. 1, 2038. It also requires the state Department of Ecology to publish an analysis and forecast of the program’s credit market.
Speaking in favor of the bill was Logan Bahr with Tacoma Public Utilities. He told the committee that “Washington is on a bold path to decarbonize its transportation sector and a well-functioning clean fuels program is essential to ensuring the reliable investments needed to realize this transformation.”
He added that the bill “accomplishes this by stabilizing credit prices and giving utilities like ours the certainty to move forward with critical projects.”
While concerns were raised about the impact of the bill on gas prices, Leah Missik with Climate Solutions said, “I actually think this will help put some downward pressure on prices overall. it spurs these reinvestments in opening access to cleaner fuels that actually cost people less over the long run in a way that doesn’t draw on the state budget. And it helps with compliance.”
However, Jeff pack Washington with Citizens Against Unfair Taxes spoke against the bill, saying that as a farmer and contractor “I used to pay $2 a gallon for farm diesel. Now I pay $4.29. We voted this stuff down and yet you folks did it anyways.”
He added that he’s having “injectors regularly … replaced because of the lower quality of the fuel.”
SSHB 1409 originally passed in the House on March 10 54-41 vote. It is not currently scheduled for any further committee action.
Originally published by The Center Square on March 19, 2025. Read the original article at The Center Square.