A catch-all bill to boost construction of renewable power in Washington picked up support ranging from conditional to strong at a hearing Tuesday.

Senate Bill 5380, introduced by Sen. Joe Nguyen (D), covers several subjects, including:

• Requiring environmental impact statements for hydrogen projects statewide and for solar projects in the Columbia River Basin. These projects currently go through a preliminary review that determines whether a full environmental impact study is needed.
• Speeding up the state Environmental Policy Act’s process to prepare environmental impact statements, declaring they must be complete in two years or less.
• Creating a coordinating council among state agencies to improve cooperation in setting up clean energy projects. This would be different from the Washington Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council, which makes permitting recommendations to the governor. The new coordinating council’s purpose would be to make project preparation work more efficient.

The bill would also require the Washington State University Energy Program to create a “least-conflict” siting process for pumped storage projects. Washington has one pumped storage project in the works, which is controversial because part of it would be on land that the Yakama Nation of Indians considers culturally sacred.

Rye Development of Boston, is hoping to build Washington’s first pumped storage project for $2 billion in southern Klickitat County near the John Day Dam. It would be in operation between 2028 and 2030.

The project would include two lined 600-acre water reservoirs that are 60 feet deep and separated by 2,100 feet in elevation. One reservoir would be on the river shore and the other at the top of a cliff. An underground pipe would connect the two reservoirs with a subterranean electricity generating station along the channel. Water would flow from the upper reservoir to the lower one to power the four-turbine generator station and then would be pumped back up to the upper reservoir in a closed-loop system.

At Tuesday’s hearing before the Senate Environment, Energy and Technology Committee, which Nguyen chairs, the senator said the bill’s purpose is to increase efficiency in setting up renewable energy projects. “We will not be able to meet our energy goals without more energy facilities,” he said.

No opposition to the bill surfaced at the hearing. Meanwhile, support among 27 testifiers ranged from strong to tentatively neutral until some changes are made in the bill.

Labor and business interests liked the jobs that renewable energy projects would create.

Others wanted proposed wind, nuclear and solar projects outside the Columbia River Basin to be subject to the required environment impact studies without going through the preliminary reviews.

John Rothlin of the Avista Utilities said the bill needs more and clearer deadlines for the processes that it addresses.