The Senate Environment, Energy & Technology Committee met in executive session and adopted substitute language and due-pass recommendations on several bills spanning utility wildfire plans, wood-burning device oversight, producer responsibility for paper packaging, beverage-container recycling, broadband financing, and aviation fuels. Committee members moved the measures on to the next stage of review — either the Rules Committee or Ways and Means — as appropriate.

The executive session opened with staff briefings on the bills. Kim Cushing and committee staff walked members through amendments and proposed substitutes, including substitute A for Senate Bill 5430 (electric utility wildfire mitigation plans), substitute C for SB 5174 (solid-fuel home heating device oversight), substitute D for SB 5284 (extended producer responsibility for paper and packaging), substitute E for SB 5502 (covered beverage container recycling and deposit), and others. After caucus, members returned to the floor and debated and voted on the proposed substitutes and procedural recommendations.

Why it matters: each bill addresses a distinct policy area that affects utilities, public health, municipal budgets, or consumer and environmental protections. Adoption of substitutes or due-pass recommendations moves the measures closer to floor action or budget review, maintaining momentum on multi‑stakeholder packages that committee staff said reflect extensive negotiations.

Votes at a glance

- Senate Bill 5430 (electric utility wildfire mitigation plans) — Committee adopted proposed substitute A (mover: Senator Short) and voted to send the substitute with a due-pass recommendation to the Rules Committee. (Motion to adopt substitute carried; subsequent motion for due pass carried; specific roll-call tallies not recorded in the transcript.)

- Senate Bill 5174 (wood-burning devices) — A proposed substitute C (Senator Short) failed on a voice vote; a different proposed substitute B (Senator Shoemake) was later adopted. The bill (as amended) was passed out of committee with due-pass recommendation and referred to Ways and Means. (Transcript records voice votes; tallies not specified.)

- Senate Bill 5284 (extended producer responsibility for covered paper and packaging) — Committee adopted proposed substitute D and accepted Amendment D1 (Senator Behnke was noted as withdrawing an amendment after stakeholder engagement). The bill was recommended to Ways and Means with a due-pass recommendation.

- Senate Bill 5502 (covered beverage container deposit and producer responsibility organization) — Committee adopted proposed substitute E (with amendment E1 repealing the litter tax offered by Senator McEwen withdrawn during debate). The bill was recommended to Ways and Means with a due-pass recommendation.

- Senate Bill 5188 (public works board loans for broadband infrastructure repairs/replacement) — The bill received a due-pass recommendation to Ways and Means (no amendments stated in committee).

- Senate Bill 5505 (universal service fund renewal) — Renewed by committee through July 1, 2027 and updated allowable fund uses; no amendments were recorded and staff said there were no amendments.

- Senate Bill 5601 (alternative jet fuels) — Committee adopted a committee substitute F (Senator Elias) clarifying Commerce Department assistance and PEIS limits; substitute was adopted and the bill was recommended to Ways and Means.

- Senate Bill 5317 (local government agreements related to energy facility siting under FSEC jurisdiction) — The bill was given a due-pass recommendation to Rules Committee.

Procedure and limitations

Most recorded votes in the transcript were taken by voice (“All in favor say aye; opposed, nay”) and the committee clerk announced that the bills passed “subject to signatures.” The transcript does not include roll-call tallies or named recorded votes; where the transcript gives a named mover for a motion, that person is recorded as the mover in committee action notes. Committee staff repeatedly emphasized that proposed substitutes reflected long stakeholder processes and that additional technical or fiscal details (fiscal notes) were available or pending for several bills.

Context and next steps

Committee staff noted fiscal analyses where available (for example, staff referenced a fiscal note for the Extended Producer Responsibility bill and a preliminary UTC estimate that appeared for another bill), and sponsors and staff urged continued stakeholder engagement on items that remained technically detailed (time-of-use rate language in battery incentive proposals and processes for producer responsibility fee settings). For bills recommended to Ways and Means, fiscal and budget implications will be addressed in that committee; bills recommended to Rules will await scheduling for floor consideration. No bill was reported as having final enactment; the session’s actions were procedural committee steps that advance each measure’s legislative pathway.

Ending note: Committee members and staff repeatedly stressed further negotiations and technical fixes remain for many of the measures, and sponsors urged continued stakeholder work before floor action.