A combine at work in wheat fields in the Walla Walla region, during 2018. (Washington State Department of Agriculture)
Farmers and truckers are appealing a lower court ruling in a case that would have required the state to rethink its fuel exemption process under Washington’s cap-and-trade program.
Farm fuel users have pushed the Department of Ecology to find fixes, saying under the Climate Commitment Act they’ve paid unfair surcharges on fuel that is supposed to be exempt.
The Washington Farm Bureau and the Washington Trucking Association took Ecology to court in hopes that a judge would force the state to reopen rulemaking for the exemption process, but a Thurston County judge dismissed that case earlier this month.
Now, they’re asking the state Supreme Court to step in.
“Judge (Chris) Lanese’s decision to dismiss the case without explanation leaves agriculture with no other option but to pursue an appeal,” said Bre Elsey, the Washington Farm Bureau’s director of governmental affairs. “We are committed to fighting for a solution that will relieve our farmers, ranchers, and transporters from these unlawful fees.”