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Committee advances bill to study solar-panel stewardship after debate over industry compliance
Summary
The Environment & Energy Committee reported out Substitute Senate Bill 5,175 with a due-pass recommendation after members debated industry compliance with existing stewardship rules and agreed to form an advisory process and receive a report from Ecology.
The Washington State Environment & Energy Committee voted to report out Substitute Senate Bill 5,175 with a "do pass" recommendation after members debated how to ensure manufacturers take responsibility for solar panels at the end of their life.
The bill would convene an advisory committee of stakeholders to identify barriers to implementing extended producer responsibility and direct the Department of Ecology to report back with recommendations. Committee members said current rules dating to 2017 call for producer responsibility but that few manufacturers have submitted stewardship plans.
"We currently have rules in place since 2017 that, require extended producer responsibility for manufacturers of solar panels. And, solar panels last for a very long time," Representative Clobagh said, adding that "almost no manufacturers of panels that are currently in use here in Washington have created these plans." Clobagh described the absence of consistent manufacturer labeling as a barrier to assigning responsibility.
Opponents said the bill would try to solve a problem that industry is already addressing in practice and that setting up a new stewardship program for a relatively small stream of material could be burdensome. "There are solar panels that are being decommissioned, solar panels that have failed, solar panels that have been hit by hailstorms ... and we are not happy about the fact that we cannot do the simplest thing, which is to identify the companies that are manufacturing and create a stewardship take back program," Representative Dye said before registering a no vote.
Representative Ramel urged support, saying committee testimony showed Washington's solar industry "is currently recycling many, if not most of the panels that are damaged when they're shipped" and that the bill focuses a study effort on a narrow amount of material while creating a stakeholder process interrupted by COVID-era delays.
Committee staff called the roll after brief discussion. The clerk announced the tally as 12 ayes, 7 nays, with two members excused; staff then reported that "by your vote, substitute Senate Bill 5,175 is reported out of the committee with a due pass recommendation." The committee adjourned.
The action does not itself create a stewardship program; it directs formation of an advisory process and a report from Ecology to inform next steps.
