wa-law.org > bill > 2023-24 > HB 1554 > Original Bill
The legislature finds that even though lead is a widely recognized hazard to human health and to the environment, and leaded motor vehicle gasoline was phased out across the United States decades ago, leaded gasoline remains in widespread use at general aviation airports by piston engine noncommercial aircraft. Recent studies have found elevated levels of lead in the blood of residents, and particularly worryingly in the blood of children residing in general aviation airport communities, for whom lead is especially harmful to their development. There is consensus among the medical and scientific communities that the levels detected in children living around general airports similar to those in Washington are hazardous. The national academies of sciences, engineering, and medicine in 2015 concluded that lead "is a well-known air pollutant that can lead to a variety of adverse health impacts, including neurological effects in children that lead to behavioral problems, learning deficits, and lowered IQ."
The United States environmental protection agency has recently taken steps towards making an endangerment finding that may eventually lead, through a complex federal regulatory process involving the United States federal aviation administration, to the elimination of lead from aviation gasoline. That unfolding federal process is too slow to adequately protect those currently living near general aviation airports from the harms of lead.
Therefore, it is the intent of the legislature to phase out the use of leaded aviation gasoline at airports in Washington, to take steps to mitigate public health and environmental harms caused by the use of leaded gasoline at airports, and to expedite the transition to the use of unleaded aviation gasoline.
The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter unless the context clearly requires otherwise.
"Airport" has the same meaning as defined in RCW 47.68.020.
"Airport operator" means a county, city, government agency, port district, or other person that owns or operates an airport.
"Aviation gasoline" means gasoline sold for use in an aircraft.
"Aviation retail establishment" means any public or private entity who sells aviation gasoline or offers or otherwise makes available aviation gasoline to a customer, including other businesses or government entities, for use in this state.
"Department" means the department of ecology.
"Leaded aviation gasoline" means aviation gasoline to which lead has been intentionally added.
"Unleaded aviation gasoline" means aviation gasoline to which no lead has been intentionally added.
Airport operators and aviation retail establishments are prohibited from selling, distributing, or otherwise making available to consumers leaded aviation gasoline consistent with the timeline specified in subsection (2) of this section.
The prohibitions on leaded aviation gasoline specified in subsection (1) of this section take effect:
January 1, 2026, for airports and aviation retail establishments located:
On or adjacent to a site identified for remediation under chapter 70A.305 RCW or under the federal cleanup law, as defined in RCW 70A.305.020;
In or adjacent to an overburdened community identified by the department under chapter 70A.02 RCW or an overburdened community highly impacted by air pollution identified by the department under RCW 70A.65.020(1); and
Primarily in a city with a population of at least 700,000 as of January 1, 2023, as determined using the population statistics published by the office of financial management.
January 1, 2028, for airports and aviation retail establishments located within or immediately adjacent to an urban growth area designated under RCW 36.70A.110.
January 1, 2030, for all other airports and aviation retail establishments.
The department, in consultation with the department of health and the department of transportation, must review available information, including publications by the national academies of sciences, engineering, and medicine, the United States environmental protection agency and United States federal aviation administration, and academic publications, to identify best management practices for reducing public health and environmental exposures to lead associated with airport operations. Based on this review, the department, in consultation with the department of health and the department of transportation, must publish initial guidance to airport operators on its website by July 1, 2024, regarding best airport operating practices to minimize environmental and public health impacts of lead exposures. The department must update its review and publish updated guidance under this section by July 1, 2026, and may periodically update its review and guidance thereafter.
In developing the guidance under subsection (1) of this section, the department must consider the inclusion of measures to:
Manage run-up practices, including by increasing the distance between run-up areas and public areas on or off the airport, increasing the size of run-up areas;
Eliminate the cast-off of leaded aviation gasoline and minimize and mitigate other spills and releases of unexpended leaded aviation gasoline;
Minimize airport employee exposures;
Minimize releases of leaded aviation gasoline caused by refueling and maintenance activities at the airport, including processes used to store and dispense aviation gasoline at the airport;
Minimize idle time and engine run-up time; and
Educate and financially incentivize airport fuel consumers that have the option to purchase and use unleaded aviation gasoline at the airport to do so.
By November 1, 2024, each airport operator must submit to the department and begin implementing a plan to implement best practices identified by the national academies of sciences, engineering, and medicine designed to minimize environmental impacts and public health risks associated with leaded aviation gasoline use at general aviation airports. Each airport operator must update its plan by the November 1st following an updated publication of the guidance issued under section 4 of this act. At a minimum, each airport operator must include in its plan:
A description of how the airport operator plans to implement the operational and logistical recommendations contained in the guidance issued under section 4 of this act; and
A plan and budget for the financing of any needed fueling infrastructure improvements at the airport to allow for the airport to begin supplying unleaded aviation gasoline by:
(A) On or adjacent to a site identified for cleanup under chapter 70A.305 RCW or under the federal cleanup law, as defined in RCW 70A.305.020;
(B) In or adjacent to an overburdened community identified by the department under chapter 70A.02 RCW or an overburdened community highly impacted by air pollution identified by the department under RCW 70A.65.020(1); and
(C) Primarily in a city with a population of at least 700,000 as of January 1, 2023, as determined using the population statistics published by the office of financial management;
ii. January 1, 2028, for airports and aviation retail establishments located within or immediately adjacent to an urban growth area designated under RCW 36.70A.110;
iii. January 1, 2030, for all other airports and aviation retail establishments.
By December 1, 2025, and each December 1st thereafter, each airport operator must provide a status report to the department regarding its implementation of the plan under this section, including the status of planning and investments to facilitate the supply of unleaded aviation gasoline at the airport.
The requirements of this section do not apply to the operator of an airport at which leaded aviation gasoline is not sold, distributed, or otherwise made available. An airport operator at which leaded aviation gasoline ceases to be sold, distributed, or otherwise made available must notify the department within 30 days of the cessation of the use of leaded aviation gasoline at the airport.
The department, in consultation with the department of transportation and the department of health, must offer technical assistance consistent with RCW 43.21A.085 and 43.21A.087 to a person that has not submitted a plan that meets the requirements of section 5 of this act or that does not implement the plan submitted to the department under section 5 of this act in the manner described in the plan.
The department may adopt rules to implement, administer, and enforce the requirements of this section. An air pollution control authority formed under chapter 70A.15 RCW must enforce the requirements of this chapter in areas within its jurisdiction and the department must enforce the requirements of this chapter in areas of the state in which no air pollution control authority has been formed under chapter 70A.15 RCW.
A person in violation of the requirements of section 3 of this act is subject to a civil penalty of up to $1,000 per day in which restricted fuels were sold, distributed, or supplied.
A person who remains in violation of the requirements of section 5 of this act 30 days after the offer of technical assistance under subsection (1) of this section is subject to a civil penalty of up to $1,000 per day of continued noncompliance.
The department must update its blood lead testing guidance for health care providers to include children living within one kilometer of a general aviation airport among the high-risk populations broadly recommended for a blood lead test, without respect to the clinical judgment of the health care provider.
An activated authority has a duty to enforce the requirements of chapter 70A.--- RCW (the new chapter created in section 11 of this act) in the areas within its jurisdiction.
The hearings board shall only have jurisdiction to hear and decide appeals from the following decisions of the department, the director, local conservation districts, the air pollution control boards or authorities as established pursuant to chapter 70A.15 RCW, local health departments, the department of natural resources, the department of fish and wildlife, the parks and recreation commission, and authorized public entities described in chapter 79.100 RCW:
Civil penalties imposed pursuant to RCW 18.104.155, 70A.15.3160, 70A.300.090, 70A.20.050, 70A.530.040, 70A.350.070, 70A.515.060, 70A.245.040, 70A.245.050, 70A.245.070, 70A.245.080, 70A.65.200, 70A.455.090, section 6 of this act, 76.09.170, 77.55.440, 78.44.250, 88.46.090, 90.03.600, 90.46.270, 90.48.144, 90.56.310, 90.56.330, and 90.64.102.
Orders issued pursuant to RCW 18.104.043, 18.104.060, 43.27A.190, 70A.15.2520, 70A.15.3010, 70A.300.120, 70A.350.070, 70A.245.020, 70A.65.200, 86.16.020, 88.46.070, 90.14.130, 90.46.250, 90.48.120, and 90.56.330.
Except as provided in RCW 90.03.210(2), the issuance, modification, or termination of any permit, certificate, or license by the department or any air authority in the exercise of its jurisdiction, including the issuance or termination of a waste disposal permit, the denial of an application for a waste disposal permit, the modification of the conditions or the terms of a waste disposal permit, or a decision to approve or deny an application for a solid waste permit exemption under RCW 70A.205.260.
Decisions of local health departments regarding the grant or denial of solid waste permits pursuant to chapter 70A.205 RCW.
Decisions of local health departments regarding the issuance and enforcement of permits to use or dispose of biosolids under RCW 70A.226.090.
Decisions of the department regarding waste-derived fertilizer or micronutrient fertilizer under RCW 15.54.820, and decisions of the department regarding waste-derived soil amendments under RCW 70A.205.145.
Decisions of local conservation districts related to the denial of approval or denial of certification of a dairy nutrient management plan; conditions contained in a plan; application of any dairy nutrient management practices, standards, methods, and technologies to a particular dairy farm; and failure to adhere to the plan review and approval timelines in RCW 90.64.026.
Any other decision by the department or an air authority which pursuant to law must be decided as an adjudicative proceeding under chapter 34.05 RCW.
Decisions of the department of natural resources, the department of fish and wildlife, and the department that are reviewable under chapter 76.09 RCW, and the department of natural resources' appeals of county, city, or town objections under RCW 76.09.050(7).
Forest health hazard orders issued by the commissioner of public lands under RCW 76.06.180.
Decisions of the department of fish and wildlife to issue, deny, condition, or modify a hydraulic project approval permit under chapter 77.55 RCW, to issue a stop work order, to issue a notice to comply, to issue a civil penalty, or to issue a notice of intent to disapprove applications.
Decisions of the department of natural resources that are reviewable under RCW 78.44.270.
Decisions of an authorized public entity under RCW 79.100.010 to take temporary possession or custody of a vessel or to contest the amount of reimbursement owed that are reviewable by the hearings board under RCW 79.100.120.
Decisions of the department of ecology that are appealable under RCW 70A.245.020 to set recycled minimum postconsumer content for covered products or to temporarily exclude types of covered products in plastic containers from minimum postconsumer recycled content requirements.
Orders by the department of ecology under RCW 70A.455.080.
The following hearings shall not be conducted by the hearings board:
Hearings required by law to be conducted by the shorelines hearings board pursuant to chapter 90.58 RCW.
Hearings conducted by the department pursuant to RCW 70A.15.3010, 70A.15.3070, 70A.15.3080, 70A.15.3090, 70A.15.3100, 70A.15.3110, and 90.44.180.
Appeals of decisions by the department under RCW 90.03.110 and 90.44.220.
Hearings conducted by the department to adopt, modify, or repeal rules.
Review of rules and regulations adopted by the hearings board shall be subject to review in accordance with the provisions of the administrative procedure act, chapter 34.05 RCW.
Any civil penalty provided in RCW 18.104.155, 70A.15.3160, 70A.205.280, 70A.300.090, 70A.20.050, 70A.245.040, 70A.245.050, 70A.245.070, 70A.245.080, 70A.65.200, 70A.455.090, section 6 of this act, 88.46.090, 90.03.600, 90.46.270, 90.48.144, 90.56.310, 90.56.330, and 90.64.102 and chapter 70A.355 RCW shall be imposed by a notice in writing, either by certified mail with return receipt requested or by personal service, to the person incurring the penalty from the department or the local air authority, describing the violation with reasonable particularity. For penalties issued by local air authorities, within 30 days after the notice is received, the person incurring the penalty may apply in writing to the authority for the remission or mitigation of the penalty. Upon receipt of the application, the authority may remit or mitigate the penalty upon whatever terms the authority in its discretion deems proper. The authority may ascertain the facts regarding all such applications in such reasonable manner and under such rules as it may deem proper and shall remit or mitigate the penalty only upon a demonstration of extraordinary circumstances such as the presence of information or factors not considered in setting the original penalty.
Any penalty imposed under this section may be appealed to the pollution control hearings board in accordance with this chapter if the appeal is filed with the hearings board and served on the department or authority 30 days after the date of receipt by the person penalized of the notice imposing the penalty or 30 days after the date of receipt of the notice of disposition by a local air authority of the application for relief from penalty.
A penalty shall become due and payable on the later of:
Thirty days after receipt of the notice imposing the penalty;
Thirty days after receipt of the notice of disposition by a local air authority on application for relief from penalty, if such an application is made; or
Thirty days after receipt of the notice of decision of the hearings board if the penalty is appealed.
If the amount of any penalty is not paid to the department within 30 days after it becomes due and payable, the attorney general, upon request of the department, shall bring an action in the name of the state of Washington in the superior court of Thurston county, or of any county in which the violator does business, to recover the penalty. If the amount of the penalty is not paid to the authority within 30 days after it becomes due and payable, the authority may bring an action to recover the penalty in the superior court of the county of the authority's main office or of any county in which the violator does business. In these actions, the procedures and rules of evidence shall be the same as in an ordinary civil action.
All penalties recovered shall be paid into the state treasury and credited to the general fund except those penalties imposed pursuant to RCW 18.104.155, which shall be credited to the reclamation account as provided in RCW 18.104.155(7), RCW 70A.15.3160, the disposition of which shall be governed by that provision, RCW 70A.245.040 and 70A.245.050, which shall be credited to the recycling enhancement account created in RCW 70A.245.100, RCW 70A.300.090, which shall be credited to the model toxics control operating account created in RCW 70A.305.180, RCW 70A.65.200, which shall be credited to the climate investment account created in RCW 70A.65.250, RCW 90.56.330, which shall be credited to the coastal protection fund created by RCW 90.48.390, and RCW 70A.355.070, which shall be credited to the underground storage tank account created by RCW 70A.355.090.
If any provision of this act or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the act or the application of the provision to other persons or circumstances is not affected.
This act is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety, or support of the state government and its existing public institutions, and takes effect immediately.