State Senate passes bill to protect crops from pests, disease
Sen. Judy Warnick, R-Moses Lake, pauses during an interview. Her bill to protect the tree fruit industry from pests, diseases and pathogens was approved recently.
OLYMPIA — The Senate almost unanimously passed a bill that add requirements for solid waste management to prevent the spread of disease, pathogens and pests.
Sen. Judy Warnick, R-Moses Lake, said she started working on the bill after she heard that yard waste from an area under quarantine was being brought into Grant County to be composted. The area where the yard waste originated from was quarantined because of pests in the area.
She said the composting company received permission from the county and filled out the proper paperwork, but the county and the Department of Ecology (DOE) did not look into where the yard waste was coming from and how that could impact the crops.
Jon DeVaney, president of the Washington State Tree Fruit Association, said there was not adequate coordination between the Department of Agriculture (WSDA), which oversees the quarantined areas, and the DOE, which oversees the composting. DeVaney said apple maggot larvae were found in the waste stream going into Grant County.
Warnick said members of the tree fruit industry brought this to her attention toward the end of last session.
“We’ve been working with the Department of [Agriculture] the tree fruit industry and the composters ever since to try and come to a resolution,” she said.
DeVaney said the association has been in contact with agencies and local legislators to try and find a solution for almost a year.
The bill would require the WSDA to review applications from solid waste handling facilities in a non-quarantined area that are proposing to receive material from a quarantined area.
Composters would also have to submit a plan to the DOE to prevent the spread of disease, plant pathogens and pests.
The bill also requires the WSDA to review the plan and determine if the proposed facility presents a risk.
Warnick said she did not want to put the tree fruit industry at risk because it is so large in the state.
The bill passed 48-1 off the Senate floor. No action was taken or is scheduled yet for this bill in the House.