wa-law.org > bill > 2025-26 > HB 1630 > Original Bill
The legislature finds that methane is a potent greenhouse gas, and that Washington continues to experience the dangerous impacts of climate change from greenhouse gas emissions, including devastating fires, drought conditions, and record-breaking summer temperatures.
The legislature finds cattle release significant amounts of methane through their digestion process and manure production.
The legislature further finds that dairies and feed lots in the state are not currently required to report any information regarding the level of their methane emissions and, therefore, there is a notable gap in the state's knowledge of the contribution of this industry to greenhouse gas emissions.
Therefore, it is the intent of the legislature to better understand the scale and scope of methane emissions from dairies and feed lots in the state, by gathering basic information regarding the level of their emissions.
Beginning January 1st of the year following the year in which the department adopts rules to implement this section, each owner or operator of a dairy farm or feed lot in the state must submit an annual report to the department with the total metric tons of methane emitted from the dairy farm or feed lot in the preceding calendar year.
For the first report due under subsection (1) of this section, the owner or operator may estimate the total annual emissions by multiplying the average total monthly emissions over a consecutive three-month period within the calendar year covered by the report.
The department must adopt rules to implement this section, including a reporting schedule that provides reasonable lead time for the first report.
For the purposes of this section:
"Dairy farm" means any farm that is licensed to produce milk under chapter15.36 RCW.
"Feed lot" has the same meaning as "certified feed lot" in RCW 16.58.020.