Committee keeps greenhouse-gas inventory on a biennial schedule through 2030, sets transition to annual reporting

On March 20, 2025, the House Environment & Energy Committee adopted striking amendment H2060.2 to Senate Bill 5,036 and voted 19-2 to report the bill out of committee with a due-pass as amended recommendation.

The striking amendment restores the current biennial reporting cycle for the statewide greenhouse-gas inventory through 2030 and requires two one-time summary notifications to the legislature in 2027 and 2029 that are less comprehensive than the full inventory. Beginning in 2031 the statute transitions to annual reporting. The amendment also requires Ecology to post the reports and summary notifications to the department website and narrows certain data submission requirements for natural gas utilities to information submitted under state Clean Air Act authorities rather than EPA-specific standards. The amendment clarified that data in reports should reflect the most recent years for which data are available rather than the two preceding calendar years.

Sponsor and committee members said they were seeking a balance between timely data for policymakers and the practical availability of the underlying data: Representative Hunt urged adoption as a way to preserve data availability and public posting; Representative Dye said he preferred timelier reporting but supported the compromise.

After adoption of the striker, the committee voted to report the amended bill out of committee with a due-pass as amended recommendation; staff announced the vote as 19 ayes, 2 nays. The bill gives Ecology responsibility for reporting and posting inventory data and summary notifications on its website and adjusts the timing of the shift to annual reporting to 2031.