Notice of Introduction for House Bill 2290 - Update: 10 Year Analysis Complete

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UPDATE: The 10 year analysis for HB 2290, titled AN ACT Relating to providing funding for salmon recovery through a fee assessed on municipal discharges of untreated sewage into Puget Sound, has been completed. The Office of Financial Management has identified this bill as requiring a ten-year projection of increased cost to the taxpayers or affected fee payers.

Ten-year projection:

Department of Ecology:

Under section 2, Ecology would be required to conduct rulemaking to establish a one-cent fee as a penalty for each gallon of untreated sewage discharged directly to Puget Sound or to waterbodies in hydraulic continuity to Puget Sound when the source of the discharge is from a municipal combined sewer overflow system or municipal wastewater treatment plant. Revenue would be deposited into the Salmon Recovery Account.

Revenue from the penalties established in section 2 is indeterminate. The level of untreated sewage that would be charged this penalty is unknown and could vary significantly year to year. For example, for calendar year 2022, in the northwest regional area, there was approximately 1.8 billion gallons of overflow (some of which did not spill into Puget Sound, but we aren’t able to separate out that data). At 1.8 billion gallons, the penalty assessment would have been approximately $18 million.

Ten-year projection prepared in consultation with the following agencies:

Department of Ecology


Bill sponsors and contact information:




Legislative Bill Information Website: http://apps.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/

Initiative 960 Website: http://www.ofm.wa.gov/tax/default.asp