Insights

Greene Economics led the 2025 update of Thurston County’s On-Site Sewage System Management Plan to meet new state code and strengthen public and environmental health protections for drinking water, shellfish beds, and Puget Sound. The plan targets vulnerable on-site sewage systems—especially in sensitive and flood-prone areas—enhances data and climate change planning, protects sensitive watershed, and supports more than 55,000 systems serving homes and businesses countywide.

Greene Economics’ Washington Shellfish Fee Assessment reviewed the state’s commercial shellfish fee structure, analyzing industry impacts, program funding, and producer equity. The study recommends adopting the PFCR license fee proposal while funding biotoxin testing separately as a public good—about $674,000 annually from the state General Fund. This approach protects public health, small producers, and industry diversity.