Climate Action This Week: 
  • Residential Housing Regulations
  • Oppose Hog Fuel Tax Exemption
  • Electric Power System Transmission Planning
  • Transforming & Growing Washington State Manufacturing
  • Oppose Aviation & Aerospace Advisory Committee
  • Washington Climate Response Strategy
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* Your information

Pick as many or as few as you’d like. Remember to scroll down and click Done when you finish. Thank you for taking action with the Civic Action Team!
We think these first two actions will take about 10-15 minutes.

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* 📜 1. Residential housing regulations - HB 1167

This bill requires cities and counties to update their zoning laws concerning ‘middle housing’ to match requirements for single-family homes and provides funding for cities to upgrade their codes.

This bill works in collaboration with HB 1110 (the “missing middle” housing bill) by focusing on the review processes. It mandates that missing middle housing goes through administrative review rather than design review. Design Review Boards have often been a place where housing projects have been slowed down and costs have increased while projects are required to make often very small, cosmetic design changes.

350 WA CAT recommends this action.

Scheduled for a public hearing in the House Committee on Housing on Thursday, January 19, 8:00 AM.

✏️ Please sign in here to support HB 1167 before Thursday, January 19, 7:00AM and select “Pro” in the position button.

This time is not a typo - the sign-in must be sent at least one hour BEFORE the hearing.

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* 📜 2. Change hog fuel tax exemption expiration date - HB 1018

This bill extends the sales and use tax exemption for hog fuel for ten years, to June 30, 2034. "Hog fuel" is defined as wood waste and other wood residuals, including “forest derived biomass” and excluding firewood or wood pellets. Hog fuel is used to produce electricity, steam, heat, or biofuel and is exempt from sales and use tax.

The 14 facilities that burn hog fuel contribute 5% of state emissions. We recommend the opposition of this bill as those emissions should be reduced, not encouraged through the extension of tax exemptions, and corporations that harvest biomass already have record profits and do not need this tax exemption.

We are following the lead of the WA State Lands Working Group on this bill.

Scheduled for executive session in the House Committee on Finance on Thursday, January 19, 1:30 PM.

✏️ Please call or email the following members of the Committee and ask them to OPPOSE HB 1018.

Click here to send an email to key members of the committee.

If the above link did not work, please address your emails to: 

Chair Rep. April Berg, (D-44) – (360) 786-7892 – April.Berg@leg.wa.gov
Vice Chair Rep. Chipalo Street, (D-37) – (360) 786-7838 – Chipalo.Street@leg.wa.gov
Rep. Frank Chopp, (D-43) – (360) 786-7920 – Frank.Chopp@leg.wa.gov
Rep. Alex Ramel, (D-40) – (360) 786-7970 – Alex.Ramel@leg.wa.gov

If you’re calling and you reach voicemail, be sure to speak slowly and clearly and say the bill number (HB 1040). Be sure to let them know if you are a constituent of their district!

📑 Script: I’m writing/calling to ask Rep. [Name] to OPPOSE HB 1018.

Then choose 1-2 additional sentences from the options below or feel free to write your own:
  • According to the Department of Ecology's 2019 greenhouse gas inventory, the 14 facilities that burn hog fuel contribute 5% of state emissions. Those emissions should be reduced, not encouraged through tax exemptions.
  • The corporations harvesting biomass have record profits and do not need this tax exemption. 
  • “Hog fuel” should be more precisely defined to exclude trees. Exempting hog fuel from state use tax could incentivize the further degradation of our forests.
  • Biomass is not carbon neutral in the short time we have left to mitigate climate change. Please review the up-to-date science conveyed to you by the League of Women Voters.
  • I agree with HB 1018's stated goal of ensuring rural workers have the health and retirement benefits that come from good paying union jobs. But those benefits are the result of labor negotiations, not HB 1018's tax exemption.
  • The Joint Legislative Audit and Review Committee (JLARC) should use a lifecycle analysis of the relative benefits of burning hog fuel versus composting it to determine whether the hog fuel tax exemption is a benefit to the citizens of Washington.

  I called I emailed
Chair Rep. April Berg, (D-44)
Vice Chair Rep. Chipalo Street, (D-37)
Rep. Frank Chopp, (D-43)
Rep. Alex Ramel, (D-40)
All done? Don’t forget to scroll to the bottom and click the orange “DONE” button to submit your actions!

We think these next two actions will take 5-10 minutes.

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* 📜 3. Electric power system transmission planning - HB 1192

This bill requires both public and investor-owned utilities to create 20-year plans that incorporate state emission reduction goals to make more effective use of existing grid capacity. This would be accomplished by increasing energy efficiency, demand responsiveness, grid modernization, and the electrification of transportation and other end uses historically met using fossil fuels.

Washington must reduce its greenhouse gas emissions under state law, and this will require a significant increase in the use of renewable or non-emitting electricity. Expanded transmission capacity coupled with more effective use of existing transmission capacity, will enhance the reliability of the electric power system and increase access to more affordable sources of electricity within the state.

350 WA CAT recommends this action.

Scheduled for a public hearing in the House Committee on Environment & Energy, Thursday, January 19, 8:00 AM.

✏️ Please sign in here to support HB 1192 before Thursday, January 19, 7:00AM and select “Pro” in the position button.

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* 📜 4. Transforming and growing Washington state manufacturing - SB 5269

This bill requires the Department of Commerce to commission an independent assessment of opportunities for Washington to capture new and emerging industries and strengthen its manufacturing base while meeting greenhouse gas reduction requirements set in statute. The assessment must include how the transition to net-zero emissions by 2050 will impact the potential futures of manufacturing in Washington, identify opportunities to build a circular economy, and more. The bill also requires that the Department of Commerce appoint an industrial policy advisor to meet its economic and climate statutory goals and guide the implementation of its industrial strategy.

The bill requires a workforce assessment that would examine how to maximize use of the existing workforce’s transferable skills as well as identify opportunities to build a manufacturing workforce that ensures all current and future Washingtonians have fair access to a manufacturing career.

350 WA CAT recommends this action.

Scheduled for a public hearing in the Senate Committee on Business, Financial Services, Gaming & Trade on Thursday, January 19, 10:30 AM.

✏️ Please sign in here to support SB 5269 before Thursday, January 19, 9:30 AM and select “Pro” in the position button.

Got time for more? We think these last two actions will take about 10-15 minutes.

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* 📜 5. Establishing an aviation and aerospace advisory committee - HB 1040

This bill requires the Director of the Department of Commerce to appoint and maintain an aviation and aerospace advisory committee. This committee would advise the Director of the Department of Commerce and the Secretary of the Department of Transportation on matters including emerging technologies, new federal regulations, funding priorities, policy considerations, methods to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and workforce development opportunities.

We recommend opposing this bill and are following the lead of South Seattle Climate Action and the 350 Seattle Aviation Team. Currently, the proposed list of committee members does not include individuals impacted by air and noise pollution from airports. Additionally, an Environmental Justice lens has not been applied to this bill, as the HEAL Act requires.

Scheduled for executive session in the House Committee on Innovation, Community & Economic Development, & Veterans on January 20th at 10:30 AM.

✏️ Please call or email the following members of the Committee and ask them to OPPOSE HB 1040.

Click here to send an email to key members of the committee.

If the above link did not work, please address your emails to:
Chair Rep. Cindy Ryu, (D-32) - (360) 786-7880 - Cindy.Ryu@leg.wa.gov
Vice Chair Rep. Brandy Donaghy, (D-44) - (360) 786-7804 - Brandy.Donaghy@leg.wa.gov
Rep. Tana Senn, (D-41) - (360) 786-7894 - Tana.Senn@leg.wa.gov
Rep. Chipalo Street, (D-37) - (360) 786-7838 - Chipalo.Street@leg.wa.gov

If you’re calling and if you reach voicemail, be sure to speak slowly and clearly and say the bill number (HB 1040). Be sure to let them know if you are a constituent of their district!

📑 Script: I’m writing/calling to ask Rep. [Name] to OPPOSE HB 1040.

Then choose 1-2 additional sentences from the options below or feel free to write your own:
  • I am concerned about the proposed list of committee members which is heavily weighted towards individuals from the aviation and aerospace industry and which doesn't include individuals who are impacted by air and noise pollution from airports.
  • The HEAL Act requires an Environmental Justice lens to be applied to all bills in this session and going forward. It has not been applied here.
  • Research shows that living near airports substantially reduces lifespans and is linked with a wide range of negative health impacts, including low birth weights, premature births, learning problems in children, and respiratory and metabolic harms. These harms fall disproportionately on people of color and people of lower income.
  • The expansion of cargo aviation, which is forecast to double, has already resulted in large areas of forest being cut down near SeaTac Airport and other communities in order to build warehouses, roads, and parking lots. The loss of this forest, which cleans and cools the air, is a major blow to climate resiliency.

  I called I emailed
Chair Rep. Cindy Ryu, (D-32)
Vice Chair Rep. Brandy Donaghy, (D-44)
Rep. Tana Senn, (D-41)
Rep. Chipalo Street, (D-37)

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* 📜 6. Improving climate resilience through updates to the state's integrated climate response strategy - SB 5093

We know that Washington is already experiencing the negative community and environmental impacts of climate change, with disproportionate impacts falling heavily on vulnerable communities. Actions that increase climate resilience can help to prevent and reduce impacts to communities and ecosystems.

This bill updates and modernizes the state’s 2012 climate response plan, requiring key state agencies to work together to address and reduce the highest risks and greatest vulnerabilities, foster more equitable outcomes, and provide for greater accountability. It includes guidance from the Climate Impacts Group at the University of Washington and provides coordination to improve access to unprecedented levels of federal funding for climate resilience.

350 WA CAT recommends this action.

Scheduled for a public hearing in the Senate Committee on Environment, Energy, & Technology on Friday, January 20, 8:00 AM.

✏️ Please sign in here to support SB 5093 before Friday, January 20, 7:00AM and select “Pro” in the position button.

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* Phew! You made it! Thank you for taking action! Let us know if you had any issues, thanks.

-- The 350 WA Civic Action Team

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