A good little bill that removes a barrier to securing toxic cleanup funding has passed the Legislature unanimously.

SB 5895, sponsored by Sen. David Frockt (D–Seattle), proposed only one simple change to the law that governs toxic cleanup funding, known as the Remedial Action Grants and Loan Program. The bill proposed to remove the requirement that local governments must obtain all permits within one year of the effective date of the enacted budget to receive remedial action funding.

The original requirement’s intent was to expedite cleanup work; but unfortunately, the opposite has been true. Projects that require federal permits take longer than a year to procure, making them ineligible for this critical funding source. In fact, 15 of the 31 projects in the current biennium’s capital budget are at risk of losing funding due to permit delays. No longer.