wa-law.org > bill > 2025-26 > SB 5208 > Original Bill
The legislature finds that providing funding to public and private entities under the requirements of this act is fundamental to helping Washington meet the obligations set forth in the state's environmental policies including, but not limited to, the emissions reductions established under RCW 70A.45.020.
Subject to the availability of amounts appropriated for this specific purpose, the department may offer loans to aid projects that align with or implement Washington's stated policy goals relating to fostering a prosperous clean energy economy. Loans may be used to fund all or part of projects in Washington for:
Acquiring electric or hydrogen vehicles, or charging and refueling infrastructure for such vehicles;
Evaluating sites or providing technical assistance for new or improved energy generation or transmission facilities;
Installing solar, wind, geothermal, or hydrogen equipment to assist with meeting an eligible applicant's energy use requirements;
Developing advanced nuclear reactor technology including, but not limited to, small modular reactors;
Decarbonizing an eligible applicant's facility;
Promoting research and development of new and emerging clean energy generation or storage technology;
Modernizing the electrical grid; or
Researching and implementing clean energy technology that specifically applies to agriculture or forestry.
Payments of principal and interest on loans awarded pursuant to this section must be deposited into the clean energy fund account created in section 5 of this act.
The department shall award loans in a manner as to ensure, to the maximum extent practicable, that funds are proportionally distributed among the greatest number of eligible projects during each funding cycle.
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For loans offered to public or governmental entities, the department may establish reduced or capped interest rates modeled on interest rate options as provided in RCW 43.155.060 and 43.155.065.
Loans approved for nonpublic or private entities may not be offered at an interest rate below the United States prime rate plus two percent.
The following entities are eligible to receive loans authorized under section 2 of this act:
Any person or organization engaging in business, broadly defined to include all activities engaged in with the object of gain, benefit, or advantage to the person or organization;
Any electric utility, as defined in RCW 19.29A.010;
Any corporation organized under Title 24 RCW;
Any operating agency or joint operating agency, as defined in RCW 43.52.250;
Any political subdivision of the state of Washington; and
Any national laboratory with a facility located in Washington.
When soliciting and evaluating proposals, executing contracts, approving loans, and monitoring projects funded under section 2 of this act, the department shall conduct due diligence activities associated with the use of public funds including, but not limited to, ensuring that applications, contracts, and agreements fully comply with all applicable disclosure and ethics laws.
If the department concludes that there has been a violation of any law described in subsection (1) of this section relating to a specific project funded under section 2 of this act, the department in its sole discretion may cancel a loan and require the recipient to repay any funds received. The department shall reserve its right to pursue all available remedies under law to address violations and repayment of any canceled loan.
The requirements of this section must be specified in funding agreements issued by the department.
The clean energy fund account is created in the state treasury. All receipts from appropriations and transfers by the legislature; bond proceeds authorized by the legislature; federal funds, grants, and other forms of financial assistance; payment of principal and interest on loans awarded pursuant to section 2 of this act; and any other lawful source must be deposited into the account for uses consistent with this section. Moneys in the account may be spent only after appropriation.
Expenditures from the account may be used only for loans made under section 2 of this act, including up to one percent of the costs incurred by the department to administer section 2 of this act.
The department shall maintain separate accounting for any federal funds in the account.
(1) All earnings of investments of surplus balances in the state treasury shall be deposited to the treasury income account, which account is hereby established in the state treasury.
(1) All earnings of investments of surplus balances in the state treasury shall be deposited to the treasury income account, which account is hereby established in the state treasury.
The climate commitment account is created in the state treasury. The account must receive moneys distributed to the account from the climate investment account created in RCW 70A.65.250. Moneys in the account may be spent only after appropriation. Projects, activities, and programs eligible for funding from the account must be physically located in Washington state and include, but are not limited to, the following:
Implementing the working families' tax credit in RCW 82.08.0206;
Supplementing the growth management planning and environmental review fund established in RCW 36.70A.490 for the purpose of making grants or loans to local governments for the purposes set forth in RCW 43.21C.240, 43.21C.031, 36.70A.500, and 36.70A.600, for costs associated with RCW 36.70A.610, and to cover costs associated with the adoption of optional elements of comprehensive plans consistent with RCW 43.21C.420;
Programs, activities, or projects that reduce and mitigate impacts from greenhouse gases and copollutants in overburdened communities, including strengthening the air quality monitoring network to measure, track, and better understand air pollution levels and trends and to inform the analysis, monitoring, and pollution reduction measures required in RCW 70A.65.020;
Programs, activities, or projects that deploy renewable energy resources, such as solar and wind power, and projects to deploy distributed generation, energy storage, demand-side technologies and strategies, and other grid modernization projects;
Programs, activities, or projects that increase the energy efficiency or reduce greenhouse gas emissions of industrial facilities including, but not limited to, proposals to implement combined heat and power, district energy, or on-site renewables, such as solar and wind power, to upgrade the energy efficiency of existing equipment, to reduce process emissions, and to switch to less emissions intensive fuel sources;
Programs, activities, or projects that achieve energy efficiency or emissions reductions in the agricultural sector including:
Fertilizer management;
Soil management;
Bioenergy;
Biofuels;
Grants, rebates, and other financial incentives for agricultural harvesting equipment, heavy duty trucks, agricultural pump engines, tractors, and other equipment used in agricultural operations;
Grants, loans, or any financial incentives to food processors to implement projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions;
Renewable energy projects;
Farmworker housing weatherization programs;
ix. Dairy digester research and development;
Programs, activities, or projects that increase energy efficiency in new and existing buildings, or that promote low carbon architecture, including use of newly emerging alternative building materials that result in a lower carbon footprint in the built environment over the life cycle of the building and component building materials;
Programs, activities, or projects that promote the electrification and decarbonization of new and existing buildings, including residential, commercial, and industrial buildings;
Clean energy transition and assistance programs, activities, or projects that assist affected workers or people with lower incomes during the transition to a clean energy economy, or grow and expand clean manufacturing capacity in communities across Washington state including, but not limited to:
Programs, activities, or projects that directly improve energy affordability and reduce the energy burden of people with lower incomes, as well as the higher transportation fuel burden of rural residents, such as bill assistance, energy efficiency, and weatherization programs;
Community renewable energy projects that allow qualifying participants to own or receive the benefits of those projects at reduced or no cost;
Programs, activities, or other worker-support projects for bargaining unit and nonsupervisory fossil fuel workers who are affected by the transition away from fossil fuels to a clean energy economy. Worker support may include, but is not limited to: (A) Full wage replacement, health benefits, and pension contributions for every worker within five years of retirement; (B) full wage replacement, health benefits, and pension contributions for every worker with at least one year of service for each year of service up to five years of service; (C) wage insurance for up to five years for workers reemployed who have more than five years of service; (D) up to two years of retraining costs, including tuition and related costs, based on in-state community and technical college costs; (E) peer counseling services during transition; (F) employment placement services, prioritizing employment in the clean energy sector; and (G) relocation expenses;
Direct investment in workforce development, via technical education, community college, institutions of higher education, apprenticeships, and other programs including, but not limited to:
(A) Initiatives to develop a forest health workforce established under RCW 76.04.521; and
(B) Initiatives to develop new education programs, emerging fields, or jobs pertaining to the clean energy economy;
v. Transportation, municipal service delivery, and technology investments that increase a community's capacity for clean manufacturing, with an emphasis on communities in greatest need of job creation and economic development and potential for commute reduction;
k. Programs, activities, or projects that reduce emissions from landfills and waste-to-energy facilities through diversion of organic materials, methane capture or conversion strategies, installation of gas collection devices and gas control systems, monitoring and reporting of methane emissions, or other means, prioritizing funding needed for any activities by local governments to comply with chapter 70A.540 RCW;
l. Carbon dioxide removal projects, programs, and activities;
m. Activities to support efforts to mitigate and adapt to the effects of climate change affecting Indian tribes, including capital investments in support of the relocation of Indian tribes located in areas at heightened risk due to anticipated sea level rise, flooding, or other disturbances caused by climate change. The legislature intends to dedicate at least $50,000,000 per biennium from the account for purposes of this subsection; and
n. Loans approved under section 2 of this act.
Moneys in the account may not be used for projects or activities that would violate tribal treaty rights or result in significant long-term damage to critical habitat or ecological functions. Investments from this account must result in long-term environmental benefits and increased resilience to the impacts of climate change.
During the 2023-2025 fiscal biennium, the legislature may appropriate moneys from the climate commitment account for activities related to environmental justice, including implementation of chapter 314, Laws of 2021.
This act may be known and cited as the clean energy fund act.
Nothing in this act may be construed to create an entitlement to funding.
Nothing in this act may be construed as displacing any other program that offers grants or loans and is administered by the state of Washington.
Sections 2 through 5 and 9 through 11 of this act are each added to chapter 43.21F RCW.
Section 6 of this act expires July 1, 2028.
Section 7 of this act takes effect July 1, 2028.
Sections 1 through 6 and 8 through 11 of this act are necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety, or support of the state government and its existing public institutions, and take effect July 1, 2025.