Governor Ferguson signs package of environmental, public‑safety and natural‑resources bills including sweeping recycling reform

Governor Bob Ferguson held a bill‑signing ceremony at the state capitol, where he signed a package of environmental, natural‑resources and public‑safety measures into law and invited sponsors, staff and young participants to join for photos.

The most high‑profile measure was the Recycling Reform Act (Senate Bill 5284). "This is the biggest overhaul of our recycling system in decades," Ferguson said, summarizing the bill as a shift to producer responsibility that expands curbside recycling to hundreds of thousands of households and requires producers to cover most recycling costs by 2032. The governor credited extensive stakeholder work and named Senator Liz Lovett and Representative Liz Berry as the bill's legislative leads.

Other signed measures address pollution, public health and disaster response. Senate Bill 5033 requires wastewater treatment facilities to begin testing biosolids for PFAS chemicals starting in June 2028, a step the governor said will help the state assess the extent of contamination that may be spreading onto farms and forests. House Bill 1409 strengthens the Clean Fuels Program and raises the program's reduction target to support transportation decarbonization. House Bill 1670 directs the Department of Ecology to provide accessible public information about untreated sewage spills, and House Bill 1473 transfers nearly…