Our authority comes from state laws, which are officially known as the Revised Code of Washington (RCW), and rules, which are officially known as the Washington Administrative Code (WAC).
Laws and rules
The Energy Facilities—Site Locations Act (EFSLA) is the primary statute that regulates our work. In addition, there are a few other state statutes that apply to some energy facilities that we oversee.
We adopt rules to govern the formal and informal procedures that we will follow in the application of the statute.
| Formal Title | RCW or WAC reference |
|---|---|
| Energy facilities—Site locations | Chapter 80.50 RCW |
| Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council | Title 463 WAC |
| Carbon dioxide mitigation | Chapter 80.70 RCW |
| Greenhouse gas emissions—Baseload electric generation performance standard | Chapter 80.80 RCW |
Policy documents
At times, we inform the public about the approach to our work through policy statements. The Council will discuss and formally adopt these policies at public meetings so that the public has better awareness about our processes.
| Document Title | Date |
|---|---|
| Policy 16-01 Delegation Authority, updated | 07/16/2025 |
| Policy 16-01 Delegation Authority | 03/04/2016 |
| Policy 15-01 Enforcement Guidance | 08/18/2015 |
| Policy 15-01 Gravity Criteria Scoring Sheet | 08/18/2015 |
| Policy 15-01 Gravity Criteria Notes | 08/18/2015 |
In June 2025, we published an update to Policy 16-01 related to delegating authority for certain plan approvals. As part of that process, we opened a public comment period from June 16, 2025, through Sunday, June 22, 2025. The policy was discussed at the June 2025 Council Meeting. After another comment period (July 10-14, 2025), the Council took up the policy again at the July 2025 Council Meeting and adopted it as revised.
Events related to adoption of Policy 16-01 in 2025
June 2025 Public Comment: Update Policy 16-01 Delegation Authority
July 2025 Public Comment: Update Policy 16-01 Delegation Authority
2018 Strategic and Policy Review
In 2018, Governor Jay Inslee asked the newly appointed EFSEC chair to undertake a strategic and policy review of the agency. Working with EFSEC staff and gathering input from a wide range of stakeholders, we sent the governor a completed report on March 28, 2019.
| Document Title | Date |
|---|---|
| Cover Letter to Governor Inslee | 03/28/2019 |
| 2018 Strategic and Policy Review | 03/28/2019 |
| Thank you letter from Governor Inslee | 09/19/2019 |