The Washington House of Representatives on Feb. 27 voted 52 to 46 to pass H.B. 1091, a bill that aims to establish a state-wide Clean Fuels Standard. The legislation is currently pending in the Washington Senate.  

The bill, proposed by Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, would require the Washington Department of Ecology to adopt rules to implement a CFS by 2023. The program would limit the aggregate, overall greenhouse gas (GHG) emission per unit of transportation fuel energy to 10 percent below 2017 levels by 2028 and 20 percent below 2017 levels by 2035. Eligible biofuels, renewable natural gas (RNG), hydrogen, and agricultural and forest waste are among the fuels that could be used to comply with the program.

According to the Department of Ecology, transportation currently accounts for approximately 45 percent of the state’s total GHG emissions. The proposed CFS is expected to reduce Washington’s GHG emission y 2.7 million metric tons per year by 2030.

The bill would exclude exported fuel, fuel used by vessels, railroad locomotives, aircraft and certain other categories of transportation fuel from the CFP’s GHG emission intensity reduction requirements.

The Senate Committee on Environment, Energy and Technology is scheduled to hold a hearing on the legislation on March 10. Additional information is available on the Washington Legislature website.