HB 1652, sponsored by Strom Peterson (D–Edmonds), was introduced to create a product stewardship program for paint. The bill requires producers of interior and exterior house paint to participate in a stewardship program to fund and manage leftover paint. Proponents of this bill have been working for the better part of a decade to pass a paint stewardship program.
The bill stalled in the House and never made it to the Senate before the cutoff date. It appeared dead for the session but was revived during budget negotiations. On Thursday, April 25 a substitute version passed the House. Two days later, that same version passed the Senate. The “zombie” bill now heads to the Governor for signature.
The substitute bill makes the following changes to the original House bill:
- Clarifies that the product stewardship program is required to accept only latex paint from generators of dangerous waste;
- Clarifies that one paint collection site must be established by paint stewardship organizations:
- For every 30,000 residents of an urban cluster, and
- For every urban cluster of at least 30,000 residents;
- Requires the first annual report to be submitted to the Department of Ecology (Ecology) by either October 15, 2020 or by a later date acceptable to Ecology;
- Clarifies that Ecology’s costs to enforce and administer program-related requirements are to be covered by an annual fee paid by stewardship organizations.