Washington quietly ended funding this summer for a program that provided millions of dollars in rebates to farmers who paid unfair fuel surcharges under Washington’s landmark climate law. …
Complicated carveout
Central to the Climate Commitment Act are auctions for pollution allowances that refineries and other companies need to buy to offset their carbon emissions.
Under the law, the agricultural, maritime and aviation sectors are supposed to be exempt from the law’s cap on emissions and any fees fuel companies might pass to customers to cover the cost of buying the allowances. Fuel used for trucking crops and other agricultural goods on public highways is exempt as well.
Soon after the cap-and-trade program began in 2023, complaints about these exemptions started streaming in. …
Bottom line, farmers and truckers said fuel distributors were, in many cases, passing on the cost of allowances to the tune of as much as 70 cents a gallon. …
Funding left out of budget
In 2024, the Legislature set aside $30 million for rebates to farm fuel users and transporters of agricultural goods who could show they paid a surcharge tied to the climate law for which they should have been exempt. …
It launched in August 2024 and ended June 30 this year.
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