In late August, the Washington Farm Bureau Legal Foundation and the Washington Trucking Association filed an appeal to the state Supreme Court for the recent dismissal of their litigation against the state Department of Ecology. The appeal follows Thurston County Superior Court Judge Lanese’s dismissal of the case which sought to reopen rulemaking for the recently implemented Climate Commitment Act.
Bre Elsey, Director of Governmental Affairs with the Washington Farm Bureau, said typically when a judge dismisses a case, they produce the findings of fact and a conclusion of law. Elsy noted that this is a judge’s opportunity to explain what was compelling, what caused them to dismiss the case.
“Judge Lanese never [did that]. He filed the dismissal, that just says per, Department of Ecology brief, I’m dismissing the case,” she pointed out. “And we believe that there’s still critical fundamental problems that exist with the failed exemption for farmers and transporters of agriculture products. And agriculture and transporters are due an answer as to why they’re not getting this exemption.”
Elsey went on to say the farming community deserves to know what failures have happened through the Department of Ecology and through the state. She added the farming community has received widespread support on the issue.
“We’ve received support from Republicans and Democrats on this issue. During the last legislative session, it was actually Senator Mark Mullet who sponsored a fixed bill for the Climate Commitment Act and that fixed bill had a proposal to resolve some of the issues. That agriculture transporters were facing. So, I do believe you have bipartisan acknowledgment that this exemption was not carried out per the intent of the legislature.”
Elsey acknowledged that the effort to get the farming community the exemptions they were promised has been “complicated” because of Initiative 2117, the ballot effort looking to repeal the Climate Commitment Act.
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