Latest fight over farm fuel exemptions dismissed in court

A Thurston County Superior Court judge has denied an effort to make the state Department of Ecology find a way to assure farmers are exempt from paying fuel surcharges under the state’s cap-and-trade program as intended.

Judge Chris Lanese dismissed a lawsuit earlier this week that would have required the agency to reopen rulemaking to fix the exemption process.

The Washington Farm Bureau, the Washington Trucking Association and others sued the department a year ago after months of frustrations among farmers and truckers who said they were not receiving exemptions from extra charges that fuel companies attribute to the state’s Climate Commitment Act. Their hope was that the lawsuit would force Ecology officials to have formal discussions about how to fix the problems.

The bureau called Lanese’s ruling “inexplicable and disappointing” and would have “catastrophic” financial consequences on farmers and ranchers. It added that the decision is part of “the status quo in a judicial system that systematically rubber stamps agency negligence.”

https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2024/08/02/latest-fight-over-farm-fuel-exemptions-dismissed-in-court/