Washington Department of Ecology Director Ted Sturdevant issued the following statement on a state Supreme Court ruling upholding a voter-approved funding source for environmental protection and cleanups in Washington state.
Sturdevant said: “ We are pleased that the Supreme Court has upheld a law that Washington voters passed more than two decades ago to make sure that we and future generations have a permanent funding source to clean up and prevent toxic pollution.
“The Hazardous Substance Tax is the key to the success of the voter-approved Model Toxics Control Act. For more than 20 years, this tax has been doing exactly what the voters of our state intended – cleaned up old toxic messes and prevented many new ones in our air and water and land. This is good for families, communities and businesses. ”
Yesterday’s ruling by the Supreme Court upholds an earlier decision by King County Superior Court finding that the voter-approved tax is constitutional.
In 1988, Washington voters passed Initiative 97, the Model Toxics Control Act (MTCA), which authorized funding for a broad range of state and local toxic cleanup, management and prevention purposes and anticipated the need to respond to new threats from toxic materials.
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Press Release, October 5, 2012