House Bill 1630, introduced by Rep. Lisa Parshley (D-WA-22) and sponsored by several other lawmakers, would mandate dairy and feedlot operators in Washington to submit methane emission reports each year.
“It is the intent of the legislature to better understand the scale and scope of methane emissions from dairies and feed lots in the state, by gathering basic information regarding the level of their emissions,” the bill text read.
Operators would be required to estimate total annual emissions by multiplying the average total monthly emissions over a three-month period. Farmers and feedlot operators said it would be difficult to calculate emissions as farm practices vary. Parshley said during a House Environment & Energy Committee meeting that the bill seeks to guide future policy for methane emissions.
“If that data says this is not significant, we just monitor,” Parshley said. “If [the data] says it’s significant, it will help us build accurate policy.”
