Title 70A — Title 70A ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH AND SAFETY
87 chapters · 1,249 sections in this title.
RCW 70A.208.010 Findings—Intent.
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(1) The legislature finds that, as of 2025:(a) Washington's statewide waste recovery rate has been generally static since 2011 and Washington is not meeting the statewide goal of 50 percent recycling established in 1989; and(b) Many residents, particularly those who live in rural…
RCW 70A.208.020 Definitions.
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The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter unless the context clearly requires otherwise.(1) "Advisory council" means the council established in RCW 70A.208.050.(2) "Alternative recycling process" means a recycling process that occurs other than through purely …
RCW 70A.208.030 Producer and producer responsibility organization registration.
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(1) By January 1, 2026, each producer must appoint a producer responsibility organization or producer responsibility organizations to address its covered materials.(2) By March 1, 2026, and annually thereafter, a producer responsibility organization must register with the departm…
RCW 70A.208.040 Producer and producer responsibility organization responsibilities.
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(1) A producer must:(a) After July 1, 2026, be a member of a producer responsibility organization registered in this state or register as a producer responsibility organization that will implement an individual plan;(b) Through a producer responsibility organization, implement an…
RCW 70A.208.050 Advisory council.
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(1) The advisory council is established to review all activities conducted by producer responsibility organizations under this chapter and to advise the department and producer responsibility organizations regarding the implementation of this chapter.(2) By January 1, 2026, the d…
RCW 70A.208.060 Duties of department.
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(1) The department must implement, administer, and enforce this chapter and may adopt rules as necessary for those purposes.(2) The department must:(a) By January 1, 2026, appoint the initial membership of the advisory council, as required under RCW 70A.208.050;(b) Provide admini…
RCW 70A.208.070 Service provider registration.
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(1) By January 31, 2026, and annually thereafter, each service provider that intends to seek reimbursement for services provided under an approved plan must register with the department by submitting the following information:(a) The contact information for a person representing …
RCW 70A.208.080 Service provider responsibilities.
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A service provider receiving reimbursement or funding under an approved plan must:(1) Provide covered services for covered materials included on the statewide collection lists, covered services for a refill system, or covered services for reusable covered materials, as applicable…
RCW 70A.208.090 Statewide collection lists.
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(1)(a) The department must develop lists of covered materials determined to be recyclable or compostable statewide. By October 1, 2026, the department must develop initial lists for use and evaluation in the needs assessment described in RCW 70A.208.110. The department must also …
RCW 70A.208.100 Convenience standards—Alternative collection.
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(1) Collection services for covered materials determined to be suitable for residential recycling collection under RCW 70A.208.090 must be available wherever residential garbage collection services are available, except in areas subject to a county ordinance as specified in RCW 7…
RCW 70A.208.110 Statewide needs assessments.
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(1)(a) By December 31, 2026, the department must complete a preliminary assessment consistent with subsection (3) of this section.(b) By December 31, 2027, and every five years thereafter, the department must complete a needs assessment consistent with subsection (4) of this sect…
RCW 70A.208.120 Equity study.
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(1) By January 31, 2032, the department must complete a study, conducted by a contracted third party that is not a producer or producer responsibility organization, of facilities operating in the state that manage covered materials and at facilities operating in the state that re…
RCW 70A.208.130 Producer responsibility organization—Plan.
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(1) By October 1, 2028, and every five years thereafter, each registered producer responsibility organization must submit a plan to the department that describes the proposed operation by the organization of programs to fulfill the requirements of this chapter and that incorporat…
RCW 70A.208.140 Producer responsibility organization—Contingency plan.
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(1) A producer responsibility organization must submit to the department a contingency plan demonstrating how the activities in the plan will continue to be carried out by some other entity, such as an escrow company, if needed:(a) Until such time as a new or updated plan is subm…
RCW 70A.208.150 Producer responsibility organization—Performance targets.
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(1) Each producer responsibility organization must propose performance targets based on the needs assessment that meet the statewide requirements in subsection (10) of this section that must be included in an approved plan. Performance targets must include reuse rates, return rat…
RCW 70A.208.160 Producer fees.
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(1) A registered producer responsibility organization may charge each member producer a fee according to each producer's unit-based, weight-based, volume-based, or sales-based market share or by another method it determines to be an equitable determination of each producer's paym…
RCW 70A.208.170 Service provider reimbursement.
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(1) The reimbursements provided for covered services to covered entities under an approved plan must only be provided to service providers that, at a minimum, meet the performance standards established under an approved plan.(2)(a) A plan must provide a methodology for reimbursem…
RCW 70A.208.180 Infrastructure investments.
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(1) For infrastructure investments, a producer responsibility organization must use a competitive bidding process and publicly post bid opportunities, except that preference must be given to existing facilities and providers of services in the state for waste reduction, refill, r…
RCW 70A.208.190 Education and outreach.
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(1) A producer responsibility organization must develop and maintain a public website that uses best practices for accessibility and contains, at a minimum:(a) Information regarding a process that members of the public may use to contact the producer responsibility organization w…
RCW 70A.208.200 Producer responsibility organization—Annual report.
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(1) By July 1, 2031, and each July 1st thereafter, a producer responsibility organization must submit an annual report to the department that contains, at a minimum, the following information for the previous calendar year:(a) The amount of covered materials introduced, by covere…
RCW 70A.208.210 Independent review of program.
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(1)(a) By January 1, 2028, the department must contract with an independent consultant to carry out a one-time ex-ante analysis of each draft plan submitted to the department by October 1, 2028, that addresses:(i) The impact of the proposed program on the consumer prices of cover…
RCW 70A.208.220 Confidential information submission.
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A producer responsibility organization, service provider, material recovery facility, organic material management facility, responsible market, or other entity that submits information or records to the department under this chapter may request that the information or records, in…
RCW 70A.208.230 Enforcement authority—Penalties.
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(1)(a) The department may administratively impose a civil penalty of up to $1,000 per violation per day on any producer who violates this chapter and up to $10,000 per violation per day for the second and each subsequent violation.(b) For a producer out of compliance with the req…
RCW 70A.208.240 Study of deposit return system.
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(1) The department shall contract with an independent consultant to conduct two studies on the potential statewide impacts of a recycling refunds program, also known as a beverage container deposit return system, in Washington state. The studies must prioritize equity, accessibil…
RCW 70A.208.250 Deposit return system—Intent—Implementation.
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(1) It is the intent of the legislature that if a bottle deposit return system is enacted in the future, it will be harmonized with this chapter in a manner that ensures that:(a) Materials covered in that system are exempt from this chapter or related financial obligations are re…
RCW 70A.208.260 Petition for the exclusion of certain products.
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(1) Except as provided in subsection (4) of this section, one year prior to the submission of a plan, a producer, group of producers, or a producer responsibility organization may submit a petition to the department to request for reasons of public health or safety the temporary …
RCW 70A.208.270 Identification of socially vulnerable populations.
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(1) The department must periodically assess the availability of, and methodology used by, the United States centers for disease control and the agency for toxic substances and disease registry's social vulnerability index, as compared to how it existed as of January 1, 2025.(2) I…
RCW 70A.208.280 Responsible recycling management account.
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The responsible recycling management account is created in the custody of the state treasurer. All receipts received by the department under this chapter must be deposited in the account. Only the director of the department or the director's designee may authorize expenditures fr…
RCW 70A.208.900 Construction—2025 c 316.
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(1) Nothing in chapter 316, Laws of 2025 impacts an entity's eligibility for any state or local incentive or assistance program to which they are otherwise eligible. Nothing in chapter 316, Laws of 2025 limits the authority of private parties or government entities to enter into …