Title 70A — Title 70A ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH AND SAFETY

(1) The department may by rule exempt a solid waste from the permitting requirements of this chapter for one or more beneficial uses. In adopting such rules, the department shall specify both the solid waste that is exempted from the permitting requirements and the beneficial use…

(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, the department may by rule exempt from the requirements to obtain a solid waste handling permit any category of solid waste handling facility that it determines to:(a) Present little or no environmental risk; and(b) Meet th…

(1) By July 1, 2005, the department of ecology and the department of agriculture, in consultation with the department of health, shall make available to livestock producers clearly written guidelines for the composting of bovine and equine carcasses for routine animal disposal.(2…

(1) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter, the department shall adopt rules:(a) Describing when a jurisdictional health department may, at its discretion, waive the requirement that a permit be issued for a facility under this chapter if other air, water, or enviro…

(1) The department may assess a civil penalty in an amount not to exceed one thousand dollars per day per violation to any person exempt from solid waste permitting in accordance with RCW * 70A.205.145, 70A.205.260, 70A.205.265, 70A.205.270, or 70A.205.290 who fails to comply wit…

Nothing in chapter 156, Laws of 1998 may be construed to affect chapter 81.77 RCW and the authority of the utilities and transportation commission.[ 1998 c 156 s 9. Formerly RCW 70.95.320.]

(1) An anaerobic digester that complies with the conditions specified in this section is exempt from the permitting requirements of this chapter. To qualify for the exemption, an anaerobic digester must meet the following conditions:(a) The owner or operator must provide the depa…

(1) For the purposes of this section and RCW 70A.205.310, "transporter" means any person or entity that transports recyclable materials from commercial or industrial generators over the public highways of the state of Washington for compensation, and who are required to possess a…

(1) A transporter may not deliver any recyclable materials for disposal to a transfer station or landfill.(2) A transporter shall keep records of locations and quantities specifically identified in relation to a generator's name, service date, address, and invoice, documenting wh…

Any person damaged by a violation of RCW 70A.205.300 through 70A.205.340 may bring a civil action for such a violation by seeking either injunctive relief or damages, or both, in the superior court of the county in which the violation took place or in Thurston county. The prevail…

(1) All facilities that recycle solid waste, except for those facilities with a current solid waste handling permit issued under RCW 70A.205.120, must notify the department in writing within thirty days prior to operation, or ninety days from July 24, 2005, for existing recycling…

(1) The department may adopt rules that establish financial assurance requirements for recycling facilities that do not already have financial assurance requirements under this chapter, or are not already specifically exempted from financial assurance requirements under this chap…

(1) No person may drop, deposit, discard, or otherwise dispose of vehicle tires on any public property or private property in this state or in the waters of this state whether from a vehicle or otherwise, including, but not limited to, any public highway, public park, beach, camp…

*** CHANGE IN 2026 *** (SEE 2711-S.SL) ****** CHANGE IN 2026 *** (SEE 6113-S.SL) ***(1) There is levied a one dollar per tire fee on the retail sale of new replacement vehicle tires. The fee imposed in this section must be paid by the buyer to the seller, and each seller shall co…

(1) The fee required by this chapter, to be collected by the seller, shall be deemed to be held in trust by the seller until paid to the department of revenue, and any seller who appropriates or converts the fee collected to his or her own use or to any use other than the payment…

The waste tire removal account is created in the state treasury. Expenditures from the account may be used for the cleanup of unauthorized waste tire piles, measures that prevent future accumulation of unauthorized waste tire piles, and road wear related maintenance on state and …

(1) Moneys in the waste tire removal account may be appropriated to the department of ecology:(a) To provide for funding to state and local governments for the removal of discarded vehicle tires from unauthorized tire dump sites; and(b) To accomplish the other purposes of RCW 70A…

(1) All receipts from tire fees imposed under RCW 70A.205.405, except as provided in subsection (2) of this section, must be deposited in the waste tire removal account created under RCW 70A.205.415. Moneys in the account may be spent only after appropriation. Expenditures from t…

(1) Every person engaged in making retail sales of new replacement vehicle tires in this state shall retain ten percent of the collected one dollar fee. The moneys retained may be used for costs associated with the proper management of the waste vehicle tires by the retailer.(2) …

To aid in the statewide tire recycling campaign, the legislature strongly encourages various industry organizations which are active in resource recycling efforts to provide active cooperation with the department of ecology so that additional technology can be developed for the t…

Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the definitions in this section apply throughout RCW 70A.205.445 through 70A.205.455.(1) "Storage" or "storing" means the placing of more than eight hundred waste tires in a manner that does not constitute final disposal of the waste…

Any person engaged in the business of transporting or storing waste tires shall be licensed by the department. To obtain a license, each applicant must:(1) Provide assurances that the applicant is in compliance with this chapter and the rules regarding waste tire storage and tran…

(1) Any person who transports or stores waste tires without a license in violation of RCW 70A.205.445 shall be guilty of a gross misdemeanor and upon conviction shall be punished under RCW 9A.20.021(2).(2) Any person who transports or stores waste tires without a license in viola…

No business may enter into a contract for:(1) Transportation of waste tires with an unlicensed waste tire transporter; or(2) Waste tire storage with an unlicensed owner or operator of a waste tire storage site.[ 1988 c 250 s 6. Formerly RCW 70.95.565.]

No person or business, having documented proof that it legally transferred possession of waste tires to a validly licensed transporter or storer of waste tires or to a validly permitted recycler, has any further liability related to the waste tires legally transferred.[ 2005 c 35…

At the request of a local government jurisdiction, the department or a producer responsibility organization implementing a plan under chapter 70A.208 RCW may periodically provide educational material promoting household waste reduction and recycling to public and private refuse h…

(1) No person may knowingly dispose of a vehicle battery except by delivery to: A person or entity selling lead acid batteries, a person or entity authorized by the department to accept the battery, or to a secondary lead smelter.(2) No owner or operator of a solid waste disposal…

The department shall establish a procedure to identify, on an annual basis, those persons accepting used vehicle batteries from retail establishments.[ 1989 c 431 s 38. Formerly RCW 70.95.620.]

A person selling vehicle batteries at retail in the state shall:(1) Accept, at the time of purchase of a replacement battery, in the place where the new batteries are physically transferred to the purchasers, and in a quantity at least equal to the number of new batteries purchas…

Each retail sale of a vehicle battery shall include, in the price of the battery for sale, a core charge of not less than five dollars. When a purchaser offers the seller a used battery of equivalent size, the seller shall omit the core charge from the price of the battery.[ 1989…

(1) A person selling vehicle batteries at wholesale to a retail establishment in this state shall accept, at the time and place of transfer, used vehicle batteries in a quantity at least equal to the number of new batteries purchased, if offered by the purchaser.(2) When a batter…

The department shall produce, print, and distribute the notices required by RCW 70A.205.515 to all places where vehicle batteries are offered for sale at retail and in performing its duties under this section the department may inspect any place, building, or premise governed by …

The department shall adopt rules providing for the implementation and enforcement of RCW 70A.205.505 through 70A.205.530.[ 2020 c 20 s 1201; 1989 c 431 s 43. Formerly RCW 70.95.670.]

(1) Except as provided in subsection (3) of this section, in each jurisdiction that implements a local solid waste plan under RCW 70A.205.040:(a) Beginning April 1, 2027, source separated organic solid waste collection services are required to be provided year-round to:(i) All si…

(1)(a) Beginning July 1, 2023, and each July 1st thereafter, the department must determine which counties and any cities preparing independent solid waste management plans:(i) Provide for businesses to be serviced by providers that collect food waste and organic material waste fo…

(1) In order to obtain data as necessary to support the goals of the Washington center for sustainable food management created in RCW 70A.207.020 and to achieve the goals of RCW 70A.205.715(1), the department may establish a voluntary reporting protocol for the receipt of reports…

No solid waste incineration or energy recovery facility shall be operated prior to the completion of an environmental impact statement containing the considerations required under RCW 43.21C.030(2)(c) and prepared pursuant to the procedures of chapter 43.21C RCW. This section doe…

Incineration of medical waste shall be conducted under sufficient burning conditions to reduce all combustible material to a form such that no portion of the combustible material is visible in its uncombusted state.[ 1989 c 431 s 77. Formerly RCW 70.95.710.]

(1) A solid waste planning jurisdiction may designate sharps waste container drop-off sites.(2) A pharmacy return program shall not be considered a solid waste handling facility and shall not be required to obtain a solid waste permit. A pharmacy return program is required to reg…

The department shall require energy recovery and incineration facilities to retain records of monitoring and operation data for a minimum of ten years after permanent closure of the facility.[ 1990 c 114 s 4. Formerly RCW 70.95.720.]

By July 1, 2010, each state agency shall develop and implement:(1) A paper conservation program. Each state agency shall endeavor to conserve paper by at least thirty percent of their current paper use.(2) A paper recycling program to encourage recycling of all paper products wit…

(1) The department of transportation and its implementation partners must collaboratively develop and establish objectives and strategies for the reuse and recycling of construction aggregate and recycled concrete materials. This process must include the development of criteria f…

(1) In order to establish the feasibility of composting food and yard wastes, the department shall provide funds, as available, to local governments submitting a proposal to compost such wastes.(2) The department, in cooperation with the department of commerce, may approve an app…

(1) A goal is established for the state to reduce by fifty percent the amount of food waste generated annually by 2030, relative to 2015 levels. A subset of this goal must include a prevention goal to reduce the amount of edible food that is wasted.(2) The department may estimate…

(1)(a) Legislation enacted in 2022, chapter 180, Laws of 2022, contains numerous provisions intended to decrease the generation of methane gas in landfills from organic materials, by increasing the diversion of organic materials to compost and other organic materials management f…

(1) This section establishes a cooperative program of solid waste handling facility management between local government and the state. Local government shall have the primary responsibility for issuing the permits required by this chapter, administering the regulatory program con…

(1) In addition to the provisions of RCW 70A.205.140, and in accordance with the procedures described in RCW 70A.205.730, for any person engaged in solid waste handling subject to permitting under this chapter, the enforcement authority may:(a) Impose a civil penalty not to excee…

(1)(a) Except as provided in (b) and (d) of this subsection, beginning January 1, 2028, in each jurisdiction planning under this chapter, the indoor or outdoor containers, including lids, smaller than 101 gallons provided to customers for collection services, including multifamil…

The governing body of each county or city may require the owners or operators of new or existing multifamily residential buildings to do any combination of the following:(1) Provide adequate space for the colocation of organic materials waste and recycling collection containers w…

Nothing in this act shall be deemed to change the authority or responsibility of the Washington utilities and transportation commission to regulate all intrastate carriers.[ 1969 ex.s. c 134 s 27. Formerly RCW 70.95.900.]