Committee hears bill to expand Motor Fuel Quality Act to gaseous fuels including hydrogen

A state legislative committee heard testimony on Substitute Senate Bill 6269, which would revise the Motor Fuel Quality Act to expand the definition of "motor fuel" to cover gaseous products and other products intended for transportation purposes, a staff briefing and two witnesses said.

Megan McFadden, staff to the committee, told members the bill "removes the definition of alternative fuel and amends the definition of motor fuel," adding that the updated definition would include gaseous products used to propel motor vehicles and would remove biodiesel from the motor-fuel definition. "That would make our jobs a lot easier to support the industry and protect consumers with fuel quality," testified Lisonbee Helfer, acting assistant director of the Plant Protection Division at the Washington State Department of Agriculture, who described the bill as "a really simple bill" aimed at allowing the weights and measures program to test a wider range of fuels.

Kelsey Hulse, representing Douglas County PUD, told the committee the district supports SSB6269 and described the utility's experience bringing the state's first hydrogen fueling station online and planning an electrolytic hydrogen facility. "This is the first step in that process, seeking to clean up the definition of motor fuels, to remove redundant or outdated terms, and expand the definition to include both liquid and gaseous fuel types," Hulse said, adding that the change would let weights and measures perform the same testing and certification activities for hydrogen fueling stations as they do for conventional fueling stations.

Representative Grama asked whether weights and measures would be certifying the production process for "green electrolytic" hydrogen or only the purity of the final product. Helfer replied the program's role under the bill would be limited to certifying the purity of the final fuel used in hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles, not the production process.

No committee vote on SSB6269 was recorded in the transcript; after testimony the committee recessed to caucus and the chair moved to brief members on amendments to another bill. The bill's sponsor and further scheduling were not recorded in the provided segment.