“This bill is an important step in protecting the health of Washingtonians and keeping our water clean. The governor is pleased that it received bipartisan support today. We want to thank Rep. Fitzgibbon for his leadership as prime sponsor of this important bill. But we wouldn’t have gotten to this point without bipartisan cooperation and work from Reps. Shea and Short.
“The bill that passed is the product of great compromise. To preserve the state’s ability to investigate sources of dangerous chemicals and to require industry to find safer alternatives, the governor agreed to remove the provision that would have given the Department of Ecology the authority to ban those chemicals. Instead, the bill calls for those decisions to be brought back to the Legislature.
“The bill still needs further refinement in the Senate. But if it is weakened as it makes its way through the Senate the bill will lose its power to protect human health and water quality and will jeopardize EPA approval of a pending clean water rule.”