Environmental Justice Assessments
Washington's Environmental Justice Law, the HEAL Act, empowers us to conduct Environmental Justice Assessments when planning significant actions.
An Environmental Justice Assessment provides an opportunity to better understand a wide range of environmental justice impacts that an action may have in the early developmental stages of our work. They will help us make informed decisions to reduce environmental harms, and to address environmental and health disparities in overburdened communities.
Ecology's approach
Our Environmental Justice Assessments reflect new goals and regulations from the HEAL Act, as well as our federal commitments in our Performance Partnership Agreement with EPA.
Assessment process
The process also draws on practices from established environmental justice resources, such as Technical Guidance for Assessment Environmental Justice in Regulatory Analysis and Promising Practices for EJ Methodologies in NEPA Reviews, while still aligning with the HEAL Interagency Work Group’s shared common practices that were developed collaboratively over the past year.
This assessment is not required to be a comprehensive or an exhaustive examination of all potential impacts of a significant agency action, and doesn't require novel quantitative or economic analysis of the proposed significant agency action. The time and resource investment, and depth of assessment, will be influenced by the reasonable applicability of the questions to the agency action.
Assessment scope
As of July 1, 2023, we will conduct an environmental justice assessment on the following types of actions that we've determined are significant and that meet the requirements of the law:
- Developing significant legislative rules (rulemaking).
- Adopting or developing new grant or loan programs.
- Designing or awarding capital projects, grants, or loans of $12 million or more.
- Developing agency request legislation.
We filed notice in the Washington State Register of this determination, and will host a public comment period when expanding the types of actions that will receive an environmental justice assessment.
Looking forward, we're considering how we might expand the types of actions that will require an assessment. We also plan to update the Environmental Justice Assessment document to incorporate what we learn through practice, community engagement, Tribal consultation, and any guidance we may receive from the Environmental Justice Council. We plan to keep the doors of communication open along the way.
All ongoing and completed Environmental Justice Assessments
Project Name/Location | Key words | Initiation date | Status | Significant Agency Action Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
Cap-and-Invest Linkage Rulemaking (Chapter 173-446 WAC and Chapter 173-441 WAC) | carbon markets, linkage, climate commitment act, cap-and-invest | 4-11-24 | ongoing | significant legislative rules |
Battery Stewardship Program - Chapter 173-905 WAC | batteries, recycling, program development | 3-19-24 | ongoing | significant legislative rules |
Landfill Methane Emission Reduction Grant | landfills, methane, emissions reductions | 3-5-24 | ongoing | new grant or loan program |
Loan offer to Snoqualmie Pass Utility District for wastewater treatment plant membrane bioreactor improvements | infrastructure update, wastewater treatment plant, Snoqualmie Pass | 2-2-24 |
ongoing |
capital project, grant, or loan award of at least $12 million |
Loan offer to King County for the Duwamish Combined Sewer Overflow project | infrastructure update, combined sewer overflow, King County, Duwamish River | 2-2-24 | ongoing | capital project, grant, or loan award of at least $12 million |
Loan offer to Hartstene Pointe Water-Sewer District for Hartstene Pointe Sewer Collection System Improvements | infrastructure update, sewer collection system, Harstene Pointe | 2-2-24 | ongoing | capital project, grant, or loan award of at least $12 million |
Loan offer to the City of Sequim for West Sequim Bay Corridor Sewer Extension and Lift Station Construction | infrastructure update, sewer extneion, lift station construction, Sequim | 2-2-24 | ongoing | capital project, grant, or loan award of at least $12 million |
Water Quality Program draft loan offer to the City of Lynden for updated infrastructure at the municipality’s wastewater treatment plant | infrastructure update, wastewater treatment plant, Lynden | 2-2-24 | ongoing | capital project, grant, or loan award of at least $12 million |
Water Quality Program draft loan offer to the City of Washougal for updated infrastructure at the city’s wastewater treatment plant | infrastructure update, wastewater treatment plant, Washougal | 2-2-24 | ongoing | capital project, grant, or loan award of at least $12 million |
Chapters 173-400 and 173-401 WAC, General Regulations for Air Pollution Sources | standards and rules, air pollution sources, updating technical manual | 1-18-24 | ongoing | significant legislative rules |
Clean Fuels Program rulemaking, Chapter 173-424 WAC | GHG emissions, carbon intensity, transportation & aviation fuels | 12-18-23 | ongoing | significant legislative rules |
Safer Products Restrictions and Reporting rulemaking, Chapter 173-337 WAC | PFAS, consumer products, product safety | 12-08-23 | ongoing | significant legislative rules |
Hazardous Waste Fee Regulation rulemaking, Chapter 173-305 WAC | hazardous waste, fees, planning, improved clarity | 11-22-23 | ongoing | significant legislative rules |
Emergency Drought Relief rulemaking, Chapter 173-166 WAC | water scarcity, emergency drought relief | 11-1-23 | ongoing | significant legislative rules |
Carbon market linkage | carbon markets, linkage, climate commitment act, cap-and-invest | 10-19-23 | completed | agency request legislation |
Water Security Drought Grant Initiative | water security, drought preparedness, planning | 9-14-23 | ongoing | new grant or loan program |
Cap-and-Invest Offsets rulemaking, Chapter 173-446 WAC | Offsets, cap-and-invest, climate change, greenhouse gases (GHGs) | 9-12-23 | ongoing | significant legislative rules |
Dredge-and-fill permit program | water, dredge-and-fill, Sackett, legislation | 8-31-23 | ongoing | agency request legislation |
Contact information
Courtney Cecale
Senior Environmental Justice Policy Advisor
courtney.cecale@ecy.wa.gov
360-480-6270