OLYMPIA — House budget writers have agreed to give the Washington State Department of Agriculture a crack at shielding farmers from cap-and-trade surcharges on fuel.

The agriculture department would make recommendations by Dec. 1 on how to exempt farm fuels from the carbon tax, a job legislators originally gave to the Department of Ecology.

The Democrat-controlled House Appropriations Committee rejected a separate proposal to provide immediate relief by allocating $50 million to reimburse farmers who paid surcharges.

Colfax Republican Joe Schmick, who sponsored both amendments, said March 30 that Republicans may propose refunds again when the full House votes on the budget.

“I think it’s an issue that’s very important for House Republicans,” he said. “I would call it a great failure to not fix the problem.”

Cap-and-trade drives cuts in greenhouse gases and expands state spending by taxing carbon emissions. The Climate Commitment Act exempts farm fuels from the tax.

Ecology failed to come up with a way to carry out the law, and farmers are paying the tax, Schmick said. He said he knows of one case of a 52 cents a gallon charge on 4,000 gallons.

“It is vitally important to the ag economy we figure this out as quickly as possible,” he said.

Rep. Joe Fitzgibbon, D-West Seattle, said he was reluctant to turn the job over to the agriculture department, since the maritime industry has the same issue.

Nevertheless, he endorsed the amendment, making it possible to pass the committee on a voice vote.

“I do understand this is a very complicated challenge that we do need to spend time finding a fair solution to,” Fitzgibbon said.

The Senate on Wednesday passed a budget with neither money for a study nor refunds.

Ecology blames oil companies for not following the law. The department says it doesn’t need to write regulations to carry out the exemption for farm fuels.

The oil industry says Ecology hasn’t devised a method for tracking the destinations of billions of gallons of fuel that after leaving refineries is distributed through a complicated supply chain.

By offering farmers refunds, legislators will be able to fulfill their promise to keep cap-and-trade from impacting agriculture, Schmick said. “Here’s our chance to follow the law,” he said.

Fitzgibbon opposed the amendment, ensuring its defeat by a voice vote. Fuel suppliers have been collecting the surcharges, not the state, he said.

Republicans argue the state will collect the surcharges through cap-and-trade auctions. The first auction, held in February, netted the state $299 million. Ecology will hold four auctions a year.

Rep. Mary Dye, R-Pomeroy, told the budget committee that farmers can’t raise their prices to offset higher fuel prices and need refunds soon.

“I do think the committee needs to understand the gravity of the situation,” she said. “I do believe this is a critical mistake of this committee to not adopt this amendment.”