The Hazardous Waste Management Program's Policy Program works to improve policies and regulations that impact the creation, use, and end-of-life management of hazardous products.
Many of our policy efforts focus on implementing product stewardship programs. Product stewardship is an environmental management strategy that requires producers of a product to take responsibility for minimizing the product’s environmental impact throughout its lifecycle—from design to disposal. This helps shift the financial burden of managing toxic products away from local governments and ratepayers.
We work with partners at many levels of government and local, regional, and national groups to achieve change. We are also exploring ways to become more closely connected to the communities we serve and create innovative partnerships that support inclusive planning and policy development. We strive to meaningfully engage with communities to help ensure that our policy efforts are relevant and equitable.
Washington State 2023 Legislative Session: For an in-depth look into all initiatives and policies the Program supports in 2023, please visit our 2023 Legislative and Regulatory Agenda.
Our 2023 Legislative and Regulatory Priorities also provides a high-level outline of these issues.
Explore our ongoing policy projects and efforts below.
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