Washington Environmental Council - All Healthy Washington Priorities Succeed in State Legislature

Kerry McHugh is a native Northwesterner working for Washington Environmental Council. WEC protects what Washingtonians care about — our land and water, fish and wildlife, and our special way of life by engaging the public and decision makers to improve and enforce protections for the health and well-being of our communities.

This was a banner year for the environmental community of Washington. For the first time, all four of the Priorities for a Healthy Washington, the carefully chosen issues which reflect the most pressing legislative requests of 22 groups working to protect our land, air and water, passed the state Legislature and were signed into law.

Each year for the last five years, the coalition making up the priorities has chosen four issues to focus their energies on. This tactic allows groups to center their efforts, and increases clarity of communication between advocacy groups, legislators, the governor and the public. Once declared a priority, an issue gains momentum and a clearly defined importance in the legislative agenda. By limiting the number of proposals to four and choosing issues that connect with the general public, the Priorities for a Healthy Washington has seen ever-increasing success, reaching a new high this year.

 This year, the ambitious and focused set of four priorities was: Clean Air/Clean Fuels, Save Our Sound, $100 Million for Wildlife and Recreation Program and Eliminating Toxic Flame Retardants.

 “The Legislature has done great work for the environment this year. The success of all four coalition priorities speaks volumes about the priorities in Olympia,” said Clifford Traisman, state lobbyist for Washington Environmental Council and Washington Conservation Voters. “We continue to show how improved protections for the environment go hand in hand with a strong economy.”

The support from Whatcom County legislators was very strong. Both Senators Harriet Spanel and Dale Brandland voted in support of all four priorities. Representatives Dave Quall, Jeff Morris and Kelli Linville voted in support of all four as well. Representative Doug Ericksen voted in favor of all but the Clean Air/Clean Fuels bill.

Clean Air/Clean Fuels legislation will reduce global warming pollution and encourage in-state production of sustainable biofuels, helping build new jobs and a clean energy economy

Passage of this bill will lead to 100 percent biofuels use in state and local fleets by 2015, dramatically increasing the Washington market for cleaner fuels and vehicles. This increased demand for cleaner fuels and vehicles by state and local governments should make both more available to the average consumer, as well as improving air quality.

Under the new law, Washington will create the infrastructure and incentives to produce and use biodiesel and cellulosic ethanol, actions which should reduce our greenhouse gas emissions and improve the quality of the air we breathe.

The governor’s signature of Clean Air/Clean Fuels is a strong addition to past priority-driven climate change efforts, which included Clean Cars and Green Building legislation. It also serves as a kickstart to Governor Gregoire’s Climate Advisory Team’s delivery of climate change goals for the 2008 legislative session.

Save Our Sound legislation establishes a new agency, the Puget Sound Partnership chaired by Bill Ruckelshaus, to return the sound to health by 2020. This agency will establish strong Puget Sound recovery and protection goals, have an independent science advisory committee, and create important accountability measures to make sure state funding delivers action and results.

There will be an emphasis on making sure all money allocated to restore Puget Sound is part of a smart, coordinated and prioritized effort. As part of this effort, the state committed $238 million to various Puget Sound projects, such as helping local government address stormwater pollution, preventing and cleaning up toxic pollution, and restoring shorelines and habitats.

This agency will ensure that our tax dollars are used for solutions for Puget Sound that make a difference, serving as a command center for all Puget Sound related actions. With the newly created independent science panel, it will galvanize Washington’s fight to protect and restore the sound for generations to come.

$100 Million for the Wildlife and Recreation Program doubles the state’s appropriation to this highly effective program, funding 135 new state and local parks, protecting shorelines and wildlife habitat, and providing the state’s first ever funding for a farmland preservation program. This program is pork-free — the administrating body reviews, ranks and distributes Washington Wildlife and Recreation Program (WWRP) grants in a competitive process that guarantees the best projects are funded first.

This appropriation was a huge step, as valuable programs administered by the WWRP have suffered from a stagnant budget since 1990, despite Washington’s population growth of 25 percent and rising land prices in the same time period. As new categories are funded last, without the increased funding, WWRP would have been unable to provide resources for more recent categories, such as farmland preservation.

One of the reasons people love living in Washington is our heritage of natural beauty and easily available outdoor activities — this budget increase will help WWRP ensure that these resources are tended to and remain part of our daily lives. For more information on Whatcom County area projects go to http://www.wildliferecreation.org.

Eliminating Toxic Flame Retardants will ban the use of these particularly toxic chemicals and replace them with safer alternatives that provide fire safety protection, while reducing risks to people and the environment.

Washington is the first state in the nation to ban all types of toxic flame retardants (PBDEs). Despite the existence of safer alternatives, until now, many manufacturers have used PBDEs in ordinary household products: televisions, computers, furniture and carpeting. Unfortunately, like some toxic substances such as mercury, PBDEs build up in the food chain and levels detected in humans, animals and the environment are sharply increasing. Exposure to PBDEs can negatively impact learning, memory and behavior.

This legislation sets commonsense, reachable goals for the phase-out of the penta, octa, and deca forms of PBDE. Starting in 2008, penta and octa PBDEs, with limited exceptions, will be banned and deca PBDEs will be banned in mattresses. In 2011, the deca form will be banned in televisions, computers and upholstered furniture, as long as safe, reasonable and effective alternatives have been identified.

This legislation is an important step toward making Washington safer from toxic elements. It certainly didn’t come easy, as banning toxic flame retardants has been a top priority for three years running, but this year the momentum reached a critical mass and legislation was passed.

The passage of all four Priorities for a Healthy Washington means very positive movements on some of Washington’s most pressing issues. Problems such as climate change and Puget Sound recovery will be ongoing efforts, requiring lots of attention and effort from environmental groups, legislators, and involvement from people all across the state to make sure we are taking the steps necessary to keep our state on track to a healthier future.

For information on the 22 groups involved, votes, sponsors and other key policy aspects of the 2007 priorities, go to http://www.environmentalpriorities.org. §