Washington § 70A.65.200 - Enforcement — Penalty. (Effective until July 1, 2027.)

(1)(a) All covered and opt-in entities are required to submit compliance instruments in a timely manner to meet the entities' compliance obligations and shall comply with all requirements for monitoring, reporting, holding, and transferring emission allowances and other provisions of this chapter.

(b) In addition to the penalty provisions of this section, a seller of any combination of gasoline, diesel, biodiesel, or propane fuel must meet the requirements of RCW 39.26.267 in order to be eligible to receive any contract awarded by the state, any state agency, or any municipality.

(2) If a covered or opt-in entity does not submit sufficient compliance instruments to meet its compliance obligation by the specified transfer dates, a penalty of four allowances for every one compliance instrument that is missing must be submitted to the department within six months. When a covered entity or opt-in entity reasonably believes that it will be unable to meet a compliance obligation, the entity shall immediately notify the department. Upon receiving notification, the department shall issue an order requiring the entity to submit the penalty allowances.

(3) If a covered entity or opt-in entity fails to submit penalty allowances as required by subsection (2) of this section, the department must issue an order or issue a penalty of up to $10,000 per day per violation, or both, for failure to submit penalty allowances as required by subsection (2) of the section. The order may include a plan and schedule for coming into compliance.

(4) The department may issue a penalty of up to $50,000 per day per violation for violations of RCW 70A.65.100(8) (a) through (e).

(5) Except as provided in subsections (3) and (4) of this section, any person that violates the terms of this chapter or an order issued under this chapter incurs a penalty of up to $10,000 per day per violation for each day that the person does not comply. All penalties under subsections (3) and (4) of this section and this subsection must be deposited into the climate investment account created in *RCW 70A.65.250.

(6) Orders and penalties issued under this chapter are appealable to the pollution control hearings board under chapter 43.21B RCW.

(7) Until the department enters into a linkage agreement or until the end of the first compliance period, whichever is sooner, the department may reduce the amount of the penalty by adjusting the monetary amount or the number of penalty allowances described in subsections (2) and (3) of this section.

(8) An electric utility or natural gas utility must notify its retail customers and the environmental justice council in published form within three months of paying a monetary penalty under this section.

(9)(a) No city, town, county, township, or other subdivision or municipal corporation of the state may implement a charge or tax based exclusively upon the quantity of greenhouse gas emissions.

(b) No state agency may adopt or enforce a greenhouse gas pricing or market-based emissions cap and reduce program for stationary sources, or adopt or enforce emission limitations on greenhouse gas emissions from stationary sources except as:

(i) Provided in this chapter;

(ii) Authorized or directed by a state statute in effect as of July 1, 2022; or

(iii) Required to implement a federal statute, rule, or program.

(c) This chapter preempts the provisions of chapter 173-442 WAC, and the department shall repeal chapter 173-442 WAC.

*Reviser's note: RCW 70A.65.250 was repealed by 2026 c 219 s 21, effective July 1, 2027.

Intent—Findings—2026 c 251: See note following RCW 70A.65.080.

Contingent effective date—2024 c 352: See note following RCW 70A.65.010.