April 27 marked the end of the 105-day 2025 legislative session. Amidst the hundreds of bills introduced and considered, Surfrider Washington is incredibly proud to have achieved THREE coastal victories!
Our volunteers and grassroots network worked tirelessly to elevate bills in Washington State that focused on coast & climate, clean water, ocean protection, and plastic pollution. We are stoked to announce victories in three out of four of these initiatives!
1. Coast & Climate: Bull Kelp is the Best - VICTORY!
First, Surfrider partnered with the Seattle Aquarium and Puget Soundkeeper to support several students' vision to bring awareness to bull kelp. HB 1670, sponsored by Representative Greg Nance, made bull kelp the official state marine aquatic forest. On April 16, Governor Ferguson signed HB 1670 into law, officially designating the date as Washington State Bull Kelp Awareness Day. While this bill seems symbolic, it raises awareness around the importance of bull kelp as a keystone species that is vital to the health of our marine ecosystems. These incredible forests, undulating just below the surface of our waters, deserve to be elevated as a symbol of the incredible coastal places we love.
2. Clean Water: Sewage Spill Right-to-Know - VICTORY!
Secondly, HB 1670 / SB 5450, our "No Sh*t Washington" campaign, also known as the Sewage Spill Right to Know bill, passed unanimously through both the House and the Senate. This bill had broad bipartisan support because the entire legislature supports the idea that all Washingtonians deserve to swim and recreate in clean water. Up until now, when a municipality had a sewage spill or overflow, it was extremely difficult for the public to know when and if it was safe to recreate. Soon, there will be a single website to access that information.
Initially, the idea around this bill was to create an easy, centralized map and notification system so Washingtonians would know when there was a sewage spill on their beach within 24 hours. This bill requires Ecology to compile information that the public could easily access and use to make informed decisions about where it was safe for them to recreate. Unfortunately, as Washington State faced an incredible budget deficit, even this bill's small price tag became an obstacle for lawmakers. After many meetings and much hard work by the sponsors, Representative Hunt and Senator Slatter kept this bill alive, and we were able to trim down the cost while still creating a data portal where Washingtonians will be able to access information on sewage spills.
This bill had many ups and downs, where we had to go back and explain the cost-benefit of this new program, especially during hearings in the Senate Ways and Means Committee and the House Appropriations Committee, where members were especially conservative and skeptical of any new spending. Despite this, we were able to pass both the House and the Senate with inspiring floor speeches by both parties. While this bill is a trimmed-down version of our original goal, it leaves the path open to add additional functionality, including maps and automated alerts so people can see in almost real-time where it’s safe to swim, dive, surf, paddle, or play.
3. Plastic Pollution: Recycling Reform Act - VICTORY!
Finally, the crowning achievement of our 2025 legislative session was passing the Washington Recycling Reform Act, HB 1150 / SB 5284, formally known as the ReWRAP Act, formally known as the WRAP Act, formerly known as the RENEW Act. Clearly this policy has gone through numerous iterations, taking over six years and dozens of committee hearings, hundreds of amendments and meetings, thousands of hours of negotiations, and tens of thousands of actions by grassroots advocates. This bill will finally bring Washington’s waste management into the modern age by implementing Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR).
An EPR program in Washington State will lead to better recycling outcomes, more equitable access to recycling, clearer and universal lists of what can and cannot be recycled, lower costs, and reductions in single-use plastics. Surfrider Washington played a leadership role in this bill while working with our partners on the Plastic Free Washington / Washington Sin Plástico Coalition, as well as the Washington Environmental Priorities Coalition. Hundreds of Surfrider volunteers deserve a huge shout-out for their tireless actions - to everyone who made phone calls, signed in pro, met with legislators, sent emails, and spoke with community members at meetings, cleanups, and events - thank you!
Washington now joins California, Oregon, and British Columbia to create a West Coast-wide network of Extended Producer Responsibility programs. With this monumental piece of policy finally signed into law, we are stoked to carry this momentum forward and fight for more plastic reduction policies, such as updating and improving our plastic bag bans and targeting specific problem single-use plastics.
Ocean Protection: Offshore Wind Budget Proviso - Vetoed
At the original publication of this blog, we were counting an offshore wind budget proviso as a fourth coastal victory. Unfortunately, the Governor vetoed it. We will continue to push for more research into the effects of multiple West Coast-wide offshore floating wind projects. This was a priority recommendation from the Governor’s Washington Coastal Marine Advisory Council, on which Surfrider serves as the Vice Chair. For several years, WCMAC has taken a deep dive into the prospective use of floating offshore wind projects.
While the need for renewable energy to replace fossil fuels is urgent, there are too many unknowns to green light these efforts without further study - from commercial fishing and coastal recreation, to endangered species and migratory birds, the potential for large-scale offshore energy to impact our marine ecosystems is too great to ignore. This research is fundamental to understanding the future energy landscape both in Washington and throughout the West Coast.
It’s been a long session, but all of our hard work and dedication have paid off in a suite of environmental bills that will continue to shape Washington into a leader in clean water and healthy beaches for all!
Time for a nap…