Create Workable Water Quality Standards

Washington State is already home to some of most stringent environmental regulations in the country. As Washington’s response to demands for improved water-quality standards and rulemaking proceeds, the state must be mindful that further expansion of authority to agency regulators would threaten thousands of jobs in Washington. By implementing standards that are unpredictable and driven by politics rather than sound policy, we would considerably limit our state’s ability to attract new business and new jobs. The overly aggressive and arbitrary rules would hurt not only prospective business, but would also create huge regulatory barriers for companies currently operating within Washington that already are meeting and/or exceeding environmental regulation standards for responsible corporate stewardship.

Resources:

HDR Engineering, Inc., “HDR Report to the NWPPA: “Increasing the Fish Consumption Rate: Report of Fiscal Impact to Select Northwest Pulp & Paper Mills”
December 2013

The study, commissioned by the Association of Washington Business, the Association of Washington Cities and the Washington State Association of Counties, calls attention to the fact that the ‘Fish consumption’ issue could mean $200-a-month sewer bills — business, local-government organizations sound alarm as Ecology seeks standards no one can meet.