Washington Code 70A.65.200 – Enforcement

(1) All covered and opt-in entities are required to submit compliance instruments in a timely manner to meet the entities’ compliance obligations and shall comply with all requirements for monitoring, reporting, holding, and transferring emission allowances and other provisions of this chapter.

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Terms Used In Washington Code 70A.65.200

Baseline: Projection of the receipts, outlays, and other budget amounts that would ensue in the future without any change in existing policy. Baseline projections are used to gauge the extent to which proposed legislation, if enacted into law, would alter current spending and revenue levels.
Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
person: may be construed to include the United States, this state, or any state or territory, or any public or private corporation or limited liability company, as well as an individual. See Washington Code 1.16.080
Statute: A law passed by a legislature.

(2) If a covered or opt-in entity does not submit sufficient compliance instruments to meet its compliance obligation by the specified transfer dates, a penalty of four allowances for every one compliance instrument that is missing must be submitted to the department within six months. When a covered entity or opt-in entity reasonably believes that it will be unable to meet a compliance obligation, the entity shall immediately notify the department. Upon receiving notification, the department shall issue an order requiring the entity to submit the penalty allowances.

(3) If a covered entity or opt-in entity fails to submit penalty allowances as required by subsection (2) of this section, the department must issue an order or issue a penalty of up to $10,000 per day per violation, or both, for failure to submit penalty allowances as required by subsection (2) of the section. The order may include a plan and schedule for coming into compliance.

(4) The department may issue a penalty of up to $50,000 per day per violation for violations of RCW 70A.65.100(8) (a) through (e).

(5) Except as provided in subsections (3) and (4) of this section, any person that violates the terms of this chapter or an order issued under this chapter incurs a penalty of up to $10,000 per day per violation for each day that the person does not comply. All penalties under subsections (3) and (4) of this section and this subsection must be deposited into the climate investment account created in RCW 70A.65.250.

(6) Orders and penalties issued under this chapter are appealable to the pollution control hearings board under chapter 43.21B RCW.

(7) For the first compliance period, the department may reduce the amount of the penalty by adjusting the monetary amount or the number of penalty allowances described in subsections (2) and (3) of this section.

(8) An electric utility or natural gas utility must notify its retail customers and the environmental justice council in published form within three months of paying a monetary penalty under this section.

(9)(a) No city, town, county, township, or other subdivision or municipal corporation of the state may implement a charge or tax based exclusively upon the quantity of greenhouse gas emissions.

(b) No state agency may adopt or enforce a greenhouse gas pricing or market-based emissions cap and reduce program for stationary sources, or adopt or enforce emission limitations on greenhouse gas emissions from stationary sources except as:

(i) Provided in this chapter;

(ii) Authorized or directed by a state statute in effect as of July 1, 2022; or

(iii) Required to implement a federal statute, rule, or program.

(10)(a) By December 1, 2023, the office of financial management must submit a report to the appropriate committees of the legislature that summarizes two categories of state laws other than this chapter:

(i) Laws that regulate greenhouse gas emissions from stationary sources, and the greenhouse gas emission reductions attributable to each chapter, relative to a baseline in which this chapter and all other state laws that regulate greenhouse gas emissions are presumed to remain in effect; and

(ii) Laws whose implementation may effectuate reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from stationary sources.

(b) The state laws that the office of financial management may address in completing the report required in this subsection include, but are not limited to:

(i) Chapter 19.27A RCW;

(ii) Chapter 19.280 RCW;

(iii) Chapter 19.405 RCW;

(iv) Chapter 36.165 RCW;

(v) Chapter 43.21F RCW;

(vi) Chapter 70.30 RCW;

(vii) Chapter 70A.15 RCW;

(viii) Chapter 70A.45 RCW;

(ix) Chapter 70A.60 RCW;

(x) Chapter 70A.535 RCW;

(xi) Chapter 80.04 RCW;

(xii) Chapter 80.28 RCW;