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Committee advances bill easing siting rules for small solar arrays, agrivoltaics and counting some conservation toward clean-energy targets
Summary
The Washington State House Environment & Energy Committee advanced substitute Senate Bill 5,445 on March 27 with amendments that clarify a limited SEPA exemption for small solar arrays, allow certain agrivoltaics on enrolled farmland without back taxes so long as agricultural production continues, and limit how long accelerated conservation measures count toward Energy Independence Act obligations.
March 27 — The Washington State House Environment & Energy Committee on March 27 advanced substitute Senate Bill 5,445, which creates new exemptions and incentives for certain distributed solar projects, clarifies how agrivoltaics can be sited on farmland enrolled in open-space tax programs, and changes how accelerated conservation measures are counted toward the Energy Independence Act.
Committee staff Jacob (staff) summarized the amended measure, saying, “Senate Bill 5,445 deals with distributed energy generation. It amends the State Environmental Policy Act to create a categorical exemption for certain new solar energy generation. It amends the Open Space Land Use Taxation Act to provide for the siting of agrivoltaics on…
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