Hazardous Waste "Generation" Fee - It's Not a New Fee

Your company may receive a bill this June for the annual $46 Hazardous Waste Generation Fee. This is nothing new; it’s the same fee assessed for nearly 20 years.

Only the name is new. In the past, Ecology called it the Hazardous Waste “Education” fee, which created a bit of confusion. Actually, the fee is about the generation of hazardous waste. A business triggers the fee if it generated hazardous waste in the prior year, or if it’s in an industrial classification that could generate hazardous waste.

The law calls the fee the “Hazardous Waste Generation Fee” (Chapter 70.95E.020, Revised Code of Washington). The law states, “A fee is imposed for the privilege of generating hazardous waste in the state.” The Legislature enacted the law in 1990 to address a broad range of hazardous waste management needs across the state.

The fees go into the Hazardous Waste Assistance Account, which funds almost one-fifth of the work of Ecology’s Hazardous Waste and Toxics Reduction Program. That means you can:

• Get advice on what to use instead of hazardous chemicals.
• Find out about new systems and processes to lower your production of hazardous waste, and your costs.
• Get free publications on everything from solvent substitutes to vehicle recycling.
• Visit the ever-expanding Web site at www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/hwtr/index.html.

Now, we’re making sure to call this fee by its official name to resolve some of the confusion. For more information on the fee – what it is, how it is assessed, and the work it funds – contact Jeri Berube at (360) 407-6733.