The Capital Budget Committee on Feb. 26 voted to report Substitute House Bill 1458 out of committee with a due-pass recommendation. The bill would require steps to reduce embodied carbon emissions from buildings and building materials for covered projects; committee members amended the measure several times before forwarding it to the next stage.

The bill’s sponsor and committee staff described five amendments that alter reporting, coverage and targets. Ingrid Lewis, staff to the committee, summarized the substitute bill and said there are five amendments in the packet, including changes to which entities the State Building Code Council must consult and to reporting requirements.

Why it matters: embodied carbon — the greenhouse-gas emissions from producing and transporting building materials — is a growing focus for state building policy because materials can represent a substantial share of a project’s lifecycle emissions. The bill aims to require reductions for covered projects and to assign rulemaking and implementation responsibilities to state agencies and the State Building Code Council.

Key amendments and debate

- WILGE 043 (moved by Representative Walsh) would have removed consultation with an existing technical work group; the committee rejected that amendment after members said retaining parallel work-group coordination has value. Walsh argued the amendment “clarify[ed] the purpose of the bill,” while a supporter of retaining the consultation said the work group from last session was valuable.

- Line 275 (moved by Representative Zahn) exempts school district construction from the embodied-carbon requirements and raises the size threshold for covered buildings from 50,000 square feet to 100,000 square feet. Zahn said the change is intended to reduce the fiscal impact on districts and the state; the amendment passed.

- WILGE 042 (moved by Representative Walsh) would have removed requirements that the design professional of record enter carbon-emissions data into a Commerce-maintained database and would have removed Commerce’s public-facing education website and related auditing/reporting requirements. The amendment failed on the floor; opponents said collecting data is essential to future policymaking.

- Line 276 (moved by Representative Hahn) corrected a reference to a technical advisory group, replacing a Commerce-based advisory group reference with one in the State Building Code Council; the amendment passed as a technical correction.

- WILLS 044 (moved by Representative Walsh) proposed lowering the embodied-carbon reduction target from 30% to 10%. Walsh described the 10% goal as more achievable and better able to engage stakeholders; opponents argued that 30% is an accepted target for climate progress. The amendment failed.

Final action

After debate and the incorporated amendments, the committee voted to report the bill out with a due-pass recommendation. The roll-call on the final motion recorded 10 yes and 9 no votes. The clerk announced the tally as 10 aye, 9 nay do not pass, and the clerk recorded the motion as passed out of committee.

Voting (as recorded) — final report motion: Representative Thuringer (yes); Representative Callan (yes); Representative Steele (no); Representative Abarneau (no); Representative McClintock (no); Representative Barnard (no); Representative Davis (yes); Representative Dai (no); Representative Eslek (no); Representative Fossey (yes); Representative Hill (yes); Representative Levitt (yes); Representative Morgan (yes); Representative Rule (no); Representative Salahuddin (yes); Representative Stearns (yes); Representative Walsh (no); Representative Waters (no); Representative Zahn (yes).

What’s next: With the committee recommendation, the bill moves to the next floor or fiscal step set by House rules. The committee record includes multiple amendments that will travel with the bill as it advances.

Ending note: Committee members repeatedly emphasized the tension between ambitious climate targets and practical impacts on institutions such as school districts and universities; that tension shaped the amendment votes and the final narrow margin.