Washington counties see limited wins in short session; EPR and a county funding bill are the items to watch

Travis Dutton, who works with the Washington State Association of Counties (WASAC), briefed SWAC on the recent short legislative session and the interim work that counties and affiliates will pursue before the 2027 long session.

Dutton said the short session is compressed and fast-moving: more than 3,000 bills were introduced across the biennium and about 267 bills passed during the short session. For solid waste specifically, he said, "there wasn't a lot that made our world better. But there wasn't a lot that made things worse either." He highlighted several county-relevant items that did move or will reappear in future sessions.

Key items Dutton identified:

- HB2018 (county funding bill): Drafted by county solid-waste managers to use the existing solid-waste collection tax to fund county implementation needs; it reached the finance committee in 2025 but did not advance this session. Dutton said the bill could reappear in 2027 as counties press for implementation funding.

- Extended-producer-responsibility (EPR) programs: The state is rolling out EPR for packaging and batteries and stakeholders are pursuing additional EPR concepts for textiles, mattresses, tobacco/vape products and other items. Dutton said counties are represented on rulemaking and advisory groups to help shape EPR implementation and to identify what county responsibilities and funding support will be required.

- Bottle-deposit proposals (HB6007): Dutton said sponsors of recurring bottle-deposit bills have grown wary; Ecology has been tasked to study what a bottle-deposit program would look like and a resident/municipal survey is open to inform that work. He called the bill—s future "uncertain" and said some advocates want the state to evaluate EPR outcomes before adopting a bottle-deposit system.

- Waste-to-energy: A narrowly tailored bill (referenced as 2416) eased certain Climate Commitment Act fee obligations for a municipally owned mass-burn facility in Spokane, giving that plant more time to meet carbon-reduction requirements. Dutton said the bill was targeted to a facility-specific issue rather than creating a broad new incentive for incineration.

Dutton also described interim activities: WASAC participation in EPR rulemaking, a financial-health survey of county solid-waste operations to develop legislative outreach and advocacy materials, and workshops (May and November events) to prepare counties for the 2027 session (which opens Jan. 11, 2027). He encouraged SWAC members to engage with the survey and with local legislators on priorities.

Committee members asked several follow-ups, including whether the bottle-deposit topic would reappear; Dutton named Representative Monica Stonier and Representative Kevin Waters as sponsors and said industry groups and environmental organizations remain active on the issue. A separate exchange clarified that the Spokane waste-to-energy provision reduced certain fees under the Climate Commitment Act for that facility to allow time for compliance planning.

Dutton emphasized the policy tradeoffs counties face as recycling and organics programs reduce landfill tonnage while fixed costs remain: "we really have a backwards funding system," he said, noting the need to identify funding mechanisms that do not punish jurisdictions for successful waste reduction.

No legislative actions were taken by SWAC at the meeting. Dutton said staff and county managers will continue to participate in rulemaking and advisory groups and will return with more detailed summaries and recommendations as statewide rules and funding proposals take shape.