HB2714 – Valuing the carbon in forest riparian easements.
Prime Sponsor – Representative Hoff (R; 18th District; Southwest Washington) (Co-sponsors Fitzgibbon, Orcutt, Blake, Chapman, Lekanoff, Van Werven, Tharinger, and Kretz)
Current status – Did not pass out of opposite house by fiscal cutoff; sent to the “X” file.
In the House – (Passed the House)
Had a hearing in the House Committee on Rural Development, Agriculture and Natural Resources January 28th. Substitute bill passed out of committee February 4th; referred to Appropriations. Had a hearing there February 8th; passed out of Appropriations February 11th. Referred to Rules. Passed the House unanimously February 16th.

In the Senate –
Referred to the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Water, Natural Resources & Parks; had a hearing February 28th; replaced by a striker, amended, passed out of committee, and referred to Rules.
Next step would be – Dead bill…
Legislative tracking page for the bill.
SB6498 is a companion bill in the Senate.

Comments –
The committee substitute adds some language to the findings that supports applying sustainable management techniques to currently unmanaged forests and transferring carbon from standing forests to wood products.

It also requires the Department of Natural Resources to calculate the amount of carbon stored in qualifying timber in future riparian easements, and specifies that landowners are free to monetize the value of the stored carbon in existing easements through markets. It requires any state program that places a value on carbon to include this carbon, and specifies that if the State starts valuing carbon, it must reimburse landowners for the value of the stored carbon in easements as well as for the value of the timber, or allow owners to market the stored carbon separately.

The striker in the Senate committee no longer requires DNR to calculate the amount of carbon in future easements, and it removes the provision I’ve summarized in the last clause of the previous paragraph, beginning with “and specifies that if….”. (I don’t think that actually made a substantive change in the bill, since as I read it, I think that other language in it had the same effect…) However, the amendment changed the language which said that any state program that placed a value on carbon must include the value of the stored carbon in easements to say one “may” do that.

Summary –
The bill amends the current legislation about compensating landowners for forest riparian easements, specifying that the fair market value of the qualifying timber has to include any value attributable to the carbon stored in it, or reserve that value to be otherwise used or marketed by the landowner.