E-Mail
Print
OLYMPIA, Wash. -- The state Supreme Court yesterday ruled a tax on hazardous substances can pay for environmental cleanup projects.
State Senator Doug Ericksen says the state has imposed the .7 percent tax on oil products and other chemicals since voters approved it back in 1988.
Opponents believed it amounted to a gas tax, and said the state constitution mandated it be spent only on road projects.
Yesterday, the state Supreme Court unanimously upheld an earlier decision in King County that upheld the use of the tax for spill cleanup.
Ericksen says the ruling will not affect gas prices or jobs at local refineries.
State Senator Doug Ericksen says the state has imposed the .7 percent tax on oil products and other chemicals since voters approved it back in 1988.
Opponents believed it amounted to a gas tax, and said the state constitution mandated it be spent only on road projects.
Yesterday, the state Supreme Court unanimously upheld an earlier decision in King County that upheld the use of the tax for spill cleanup.
Ericksen says the ruling will not affect gas prices or jobs at local refineries.
