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 |
|---|---|
| Formal Title Energy facilities—Site locations | RCW or WAC reference Chapter 80.50 RCW |
| Formal Title Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council | RCW or WAC reference Title 463 WAC |
| Formal Title Carbon dioxide mitigation | RCW or WAC reference Chapter 80.70 RCW |
| Formal Title Greenhouse gas emissions—Baseload electric generation performance standard | RCW or WAC reference 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 |
|---|---|
| Document Title Update to Policy 16-01 Delegation Authority | Date 06/13/2025 |
| Document Title Policy 16-01 Delegation Authority | Date 03/04/2016 |
| Document Title Policy 15-01 Enforcement Guidance | Date 08/18/2015 |
| Document Title Policy 15-01 Gravity Criteria Scoring Sheet | Date 08/18/2015 |
| Document Title Policy 15-01 Gravity Criteria Notes | Date 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. We presented the updated policy to the Council. Further discussion and possible adoption will take place at the July Monthly Council meeting on July 18, 2025.
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 |
|---|---|
| Document Title Cover Letter to Governor Inslee | Date 03/28/2019 |
| Document Title 2018 Strategic and Policy Review | Date 03/28/2019 |
| Document Title Thank you letter from Governor Inslee | Date 09/19/2019 |