RECYCLING AND WASTE MANAGEMENT

Unfortunately, none of our priority bills in this area passed this year. But, we’re excited to see some of these bills come back next session:

HB 1607 / SB 5502 - Beverage Container Recycling

Requires producers to implement a statewide recycling program for most glass, plastic and metal beverage containers with a 10 cent deposit and refund. It aims to reduce GHG emissions, litter, and plastic pollution. It will be a priority recycling bill in 2027.

HB 2233 / SB 5965 - Improving Washington's Plastic Bag Law

Amends our bag law to end the use of film plastic bags at retail checkout. Plastic bags cannot be recycled in our current curbside recycling system and are a large component of litter and plastic pollution in the environment. Washington's plastic bag law, passed in 2020, has not been effective in reducing the amount of plastic used in bags at check out. 

HB 1550 - End-of-life management of electric vehicle batteries

Requires a producer responsibility system that ensures safe recycling or repurposing of EV batteries. Recovering and reusing critical metals will help offset the need to mine new raw material, which decreases environmental harm caused by resource extraction.

HB 2633 / SB 6271 - Mattress producer responsibility organizations

Establishes a producer responsibility program for mattresses. More than 75% of the materials in mattresses - including steel, wood and foam - can be recycled or reused. This bill places responsibility for mattress end-of-life on the manufacturers — the parties most able to influence design and recyclability — rather than on consumers or ratepayers.

HB 1420 - Producer responsibility for textiles

Funds a study regarding the viability of state-wide producer responsibility program for apparel and textiles. Textiles and apparel, especially fast fashion, harm the environment and waterways with toxic chemicals, increase carbon emissions, and generate huge amounts of waste when discarded by consumers.

TRANSPORTATION

Transportation had a strong session this year. Here are some of the bills that we helped pass:

HB 2192 - Studying Fatal Crashes Like a Public Health Problem

Authorizes the Washington Traffic Safety Commission to expand their role in studying fatal crashes by designating them as a public health authority. Pedestrians and cyclists experience the highest risk, showing the need to improve roadway safety if we want to get people out of cars and onto greener alternatives.

SB 6309 - High Capacity Transit Projects

Serves as a step forward for Sound Transit to speed up transit projects. It allows an RTA to complete phases of land use and permitting processes concurrently rather than sequentially and to modify certain zoning and development regulations for facilities.

SB 6110 - E-Bike Safety

Refines the classification of different types of electric bicycles based on speed.  It creates a work group to recommend new regulations for electric motorcycles.

We had some real wins in transportation this session, but a few key bills didn’t quite make it. Here’s what we’re hoping to see return next year:

HB 2092 - Passenger Rail Advisory Committee

Would create an advisory committee to get feedback from local communities served by Amtrak.  The intent is to both improve service and increase accountability.

HB 2550 / HB 2727 - Free Transit for College Students

Would expand free transit access for community college students by building on the existing grant program that enables free youth transit in WA. 

SB 5581 - Safe Streets for Active Transportation

Would integrate shared-use paths that are part of an active transportation system into certain highway planning. It would make it safer to walk and bike by strengthening the requirements for complete streets and shared-use paths.

SB 6148 - Expanding Bonds for Regional Transit

Would help regional transit agencies pay for major transit projects by allowing longer term bonds up to 75 years.

SB 5091: Oppose Rolling Back Clean Vehicle Emissions Standards

Would weaken Washington’s clean vehicle emissions rules by blocking stronger standards, leading to more air pollution and harm to public health and the climate.

ENERGY

It was a productive year for clean energy policy. Here are some of the highlights:

HB 2367 - Coal-fired electric generating plant

Responds to the Trump Administration's December order that the TransAlta coal-fired power plant in Centralia continue burning coal by including this and any similar facilities within the Climate Commitment Act and repealing tax exemptions such plants were receiving. The bill provides that such facilities' exemption from the Climate Commitment Act applies only to coal-based emissions that occurred before January 1, 2026. It also allows state agencies to apply greenhouse gas emissions requirements to such facilities, and repeals sales and use tax exemptions that were in place for these coal-fired electric generation plants.

SB 5982 - Provisions for consumer-owned utilities

Closes loopholes to ensure that Washington’s 100% clean energy law (CETA) applies to all electricity used by data centers in Washington.

SB 6355 - Concerning the electric transmission system

Creates a state transmission authority to plan, and build if necessary, electric transmission infrastructure with a statewide public interest focus that is currently missing from our utility-driven process. More robust transmission is needed to meet growing demand and clean energy goals, improve resilience and reliability, and bring clean energy from where it is generated to where it is used.

SB 6231 - Removing tax exemption for data centers

Updates the tax code by ending data center sales and use tax breaks for replacement servers and for refurbished data centers after July 1, 2026. This restores revenue for schools, health care, and other core services.

HB 1903 - Statewide low-income energy assistance program

Establishes a statewide low-income energy assistance program. This provides sustained and predictable tiered bill assistance based on income rather than one-time bill credits. It also reduces administrative burden on utilities, community-based organizations, and households. Finally, it streamlines enrollment through automatic eligibility for SNAP recipients and recipients of other state programs with similar eligibility criteria.

But, there’s still more work to be done. Here are some of the bills we’re ready to fight for next session:

HB 2515 - Addressing emerging data centers

Regulates large data centers in Washington State to ensure they don't drive up energy costs for other customers, requiring them to use renewable energy, follow utility standards, and publish regular sustainability reports. Addresses growing concern about the impacts of the rapid growth of data centers, including making ratepayers foot the bill, impacts to clean energy development, and water use.

SB 6050 / HB 1847 - Distributed alternative energy resources

Expands access to solar energy by protecting residents' rights to install solar panels and portable solar devices, limiting fees and restrictions from utilities, landlords, and homeowner associations. With increased transmission infrastructure costly and years to implement due to permitting, distributed energy resources, including solar, wind, and battery storage, are critical to develop and implement to gain better traction in the transition to clean, renewable energy. 

Plug-in Solar

We need legislation that would allow homeowners to use plug-in solar devices to supply some of their electrical energy and reduce their electric bill. Unlike traditional rooftop systems, plug-in solar is often modular and portable, making it suitable for renters, condos, or smaller homes. Even though HB 2296, originally a bill intended to accomplish this, passed in 2026, all of the features that we supported had been stripped out of the bill. 

Solar Panels on Agricultural Land

The bill that failed this year focused on “corner land,” which can accommodate solar panels without interfering with the agricultural operation. 

SB 5439 - Washington Coal Act

Would require Washington to divest funds from thermal coal under management by the state investment board.

Community Solar Projects

We have advocated for legislation about Community Solar over many sessions. There was very little activity in this area in the 2026 session. One reason for that is that Mason Rolph of Olympia Community Solar withdrew his bill this year after numerous sessions of trying to get action in this area.

Opposing Nuclear Energy

Relevant bills included SB 5821 and HB 2090 requiring adoption of a nuclear power strategic framework and HB 2103 and SB 6004 regarding public contracting for nuclear energy. 350 WA opposes nuclear fission as a false climate solution. Most 2026 pro-nuclear bills didn’t pass, but we’ll continue to oppose them if they return in 2027.

HB 1903 / HB 2373 - Expanding access to bill assistance

Expands access to bill assistance programs, promoted by WSCAP.

BUILT ENVIRONMENT

We’re celebrating some big wins for built environment bills this year. Here are some bills we helped push across the finish line:

HB 2338 - Community Scaled Weatherization

Allows weatherization agencies to carry out larger, community scale projects that serve multiple homes and/or apartments under the umbrella of one larger project. Larger projects will generate more competitive bids from contractors, lowering costs and those larger projects will also help attract contractors to rural and remote areas in cases where travel costs would be prohibitive for smaller-scale projects.

SB 6200 - Portable Cooling Devices for Renters

Ensures that renters and mobile home occupants have the right to install and use portable cooling devices, and restricts landlords and owners of mobile home parks from prohibiting or restricting tenants from installing a portable cooling device of the tenant's choosing.

Budget

Budget provisos will help to fund home electrification and appliance rebates, state home energy assistance, affordable multifamily energy efficiency grants, weatherization, and WA Green Bank.

We made real progress this session, though some bills didn’t cross the finish line. Here’s what we’ll be pushing for in the 2027 WA Legislative Session:

HB 2265 - Protecting Tenants from Periods of Extreme Heat

Would pause physical evictions during life-threatening heat events and add cooling as a habitability requirement for rental dwellings.

SB 6008 - Grid-Connected Residential Battery Energy Storage Systems

Creates a grant program to help Washington residents, especially low-income households, purchase home battery storage systems that can keep the lights on during outages and reduce strain on the electric grid.

HB 2515 - Data Center Accountability

Would create essential guardrails around data center development to protect the grid, ecosystem, customers, and workers.

SALMON WATER AND AIR

Sadly, none of our priority bills in this area passed this year, but here’s what we’ll be fighting for next session:

SB 5360 - Making Environmental Crime Penalties More Serious

Makes environmental crime punishments more serious: it reclassifies offenses, imposes heavier fines and penalties, and makes entities liable. The bill reforms existing state law around water pollution, air pollution, and hazardous waste. 

HB 1652 / SB 5519 - Reducing Pollution via Cleaner Ship Fuel

Requires ocean-going vessels operating in Washington waters to use low-sulfur fuel starting in 2028, with fines of up to $10,000 per day for violations. More and more ships are instead using cheaper, dirty, high-sulfur fuel and "scrubbing" the sulfur from the exhaust using massive amounts of seawater, putting people, salmon, orcas, and our whole marine ecosystem and economy at risk.

HB 2421 / SB 6119 - Prohibiting 6PPD in tires

Sets a deadline to phase out 6PPD in tires. 6PPD is a compound that is incredibly toxic to coho salmon.This bill will ensure that Washington is able to effectively and proactively respond to the threat that 6PPD in tires poses to salmon and the broader environment.

HOUSING

We saw some huge wins in housing legislation this year. Here are some of the successful bills we supported:

HB 2266 - Preventing Local Governments from Blocking STEP Housing

Prevents cities from using their permitting process and zoning to deny applications for these needed types of housing in specified areas, thereby preventing STEP (Supportive, Transitional, Emergency, Permanent Supportive) housing.

SB 6026 - Allow Housing in Commercial and Mixed-use Zones

Updates Washington's Growth Management Act (GMA) to prevent cities over 30,000 people and urban counties from blocking housing in commercial and mixed-use areas. There are some exceptions, such as areas with high pollution, industrial use, important environmental habitats, and other situations where housing would not make sense.

HB 2228 - Scissor Stairs

Legalizes scissor stairs (stairs that criss-cross each other on the other side of a wall) in multifamily construction. This will allow builders to fit more housing in the same-sized building by wasting less space on stairs and hallways as they meet the requirement to provide two separate exits in the case of fire.

HB 1687 - Zoning Flexibility for Social Housing Developers

Amends state law to allow social housing developers the same zoning flexibility that is offered to other Public Development Authorities.

Several strong bills fell short this year, but we’re already looking ahead to the 2027 WA Legislative Session. Here’s what’s on our radar:

HB 1175 - Neighborhood Stores and Cafes

Requires cities and towns in Washington to allow small neighborhood businesses, like corner stores and cafés, in residential zones. There would be some local rules allowed, such as size limits, parking rules, and hours of operation.

HB 2489 - Shelter, Not Penalties

Establishes a clear, statewide standard that prevents local governments from criminalizing or penalizing people for life-sustaining activities on public property unless adequate alternative shelter is actually available. Additionally, local governments will be able to focus on real solutions to homelessness, instead of punishing and harming people. 

SB 5613 - Clear and objective residential development standards

Requires cities to adopt building code compliance processes that are based on clear and objective criteria such as safety standards and size requirements. It would move us away from subjective ‘design review boards’ that focus on aesthetics and can bog down permitting many months and drastically increase the cost of new construction.

SOCIAL and ECONOMIC JUSTICE

This year brought important wins on social and economic justice. Here are some of the bills that passed:

SB 6346 - Millionaire’s tax

Creates a 9.9% tax on income over $1 million while reducing taxes on small businesses, hygiene items, and funding other public service programs. It's a step to a more equitable tax code where state programs are not paid for by people who are already struggling.

HB 2105 - Requiring employers to give notice to their workers of I-9 audits

Requires employers to notify their workers when they receive a federal Notice of Inspection of their Employment Eligibility Verification Forms (I-9). It also prohibits employers from voluntarily giving access to federal agencies to employee work records except when required by federal law

HB 2089 - Funding Wildfire Response

Aims to restore funding to the state's wildfire response efforts by ending a tax break for big banks.

HB 2442 - Expand Funds for Social Services

Gives local governments the ability to expand the use of a variety of local taxes to fund affordable housing projects and services.

Some bills didn’t quite make it, but it’s never too late! Here are some of the social justice bills we’ll be looking out for in the 2027 WA Legislative Session:

HB 1303 - CURB Act

Would add an environmental justice component to the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) review process for project permits would ensure that environmental reviews fully account for cumulative pollution impacts on communities already facing disproportionate environmental and health burdens.

Progressive Taxes: Wealth tax, state-wide Jumpstart tax (Well WA Fund)

Would create a wealth tax of 1% on the taxable worldwide wealth in excess of $100,000,000 of residents. Another related bill would create a tax that large corporations pay based on how many highly paid employees they have. Money earned would be used to establish the Well Washington Fund, money for state services in education, food assistance, and healthcare impacted by Federal funding cuts.

SB 5541 / HB 1661 - WA Future Fund Pilot

Would create a pilot program to distribute additional support to adults who were born into low income families and are low-income as adults.

FORESTRY

The trees had a good session this year. Here’s what passed:

HB 2089 - Supporting wildfire mitigation

Closes a tax loophole for mortgage lenders and directs the money raised to wildfire resiliency.

SB 6003 - Trust Land Transfer proviso

Buys replacement lands for underperforming state trust lands. Six projects sought funding this year, including three that would be managed by the Yakama Nation. Two projects were funded, Cape George in Jefferson County and Tract C North, which will be managed by the Yakama Nation.

Unfortunately, some bills didn’t make it. Looking ahead to the 2027 WA Legislative Session, here’s what we’re excited to see come back onto the floor:

HB 2170 - Ecosystem services 

Would grant the Dept of Natural Resources the right to directly sell carbon offsets, avoiding wildfire credits and other “ecosystem services” credits. 

SB 5838 - Tribal member on the board of natural resources 

Would add a Tribal member, to be selected by the Governor, to the Board of Natural Resources.

SB 5928 - Wildfire risk models and score disclosure 

Would provide needed transparency regarding home insurance in the Wildland Urban Interface (WUI).

SB 6079 - Insurance policies due to wildfire risk

Would incentivize home hardening, the most effective form of wildfire resiliency.

AGRICULTURE

Unfortunately, none of our priority bills in this area passed this year, but we have some amazing bills we’re looking forward to tracking next year:

SB 5474 / HB 1588 - Sustainable Farming Opportunities Act

Would direct Washington State's Department of Agriculture to develop an organic agriculture action plan by 2027, lowering certification costs and removing barriers to help farmers adopt organic and climate-smart practices.

HB 2279 - Evaluating the use of PFAS chemicals in agriculture

Would direct Washington State's Department of Agriculture to develop PFAS standards for fertilizers and pesticides by 2026, with authority to deny or cancel registrations for products that don't comply starting in 2027.

HB 2343 - Holding State Game Farms Accountable for Water Pollution

Would require publicly owned game farms in Washington State to follow the same environmental permitting rules as private farms, with the strictest standards applying to facilities with more than 5,000 game birds.

HB 1630 - Livestock Methane Emissions

Would require Washington State dairy farms and feed lots to submit annual methane emissions reports, closing a gap in current greenhouse gas reporting rules.

HB 2388 - Siting of Distributed Energy Generation resources on Agricultural lands

Would make it easier to install solar panels on farmland while protecting agricultural productivity, and gives local governments new tools to support both solar energy and farming economies.