Legislators seek attorney general opinion on biosolids

District 19 legislators have asked the state attorney general for an opinion on how much authority counties have to regulate the application of biosolids.

Wahkiakum County recently passed an ordinance banning the application of all but the highest treated class of biosolids, and the state Department of Ecology has threatened to sue, claiming that state law gives the department, not counties, the authority to regulate biosolids application.

Senator Brian Hatfield and Representatives Brian Blake and Dean Takko signed the letter to Attorney General Robert McKenna asking for an attorney general opinion on the issue. They posed two questions:

1. Does a county have the authority to adopt and enforce a local ordinance that prohibitis the land application of Class B biosolids and septage within the county, and

2. If a county adopts such an ordinance, does the Department of Ecology have legal standing to challenge the county ordinance in court?

". . . our question does not deal with whether a county has the authority to regulate the disposal or use of biosolids," the letter says. "That part seems clear.

"What interests us is whether the construction of chapter 70.95J RCW limits the constitutional authority of a county to make and enforce sanitary regulations. Specifically, is there a constraint on a county's authority to adopt a local regulation that prohibits the land application of Class B biosolids?"

Later, the letter says, "We find nothing in the contents of chapter 70.95J to suggest that it is an impermissible system for the Department of Ecology to set the technical standards for biosolids that are disposed upon the land, if they are to be disposed of, but to allow a county to exercise its right to protect local health and safety by deciding where in the county biosolids disposal may occur, or that there will be no land application within that county at all."