Environmental Justice

Photo of a group of diverse people standing together and smiling at the camera As the state's lead agricultural agency for more than 100 years, our mission is to support the viability and vitality of agriculture while protecting consumers, public health, and the environment through service, regulation, and advocacy. Our responsibilities — from ensuring food safety to environmental protection — touch the lives of millions of people locally, nationally, and abroad. As we build a healthier environment, we must ensure no community is overburdened by agricultural-related pollution as we strive to eliminate environmental and health disparities. These principles guide Washington’s first environmental justice law, the Healthy Environment for All Act.

Click here to view Environmental Justice Assessments

Advancing environmental justice

Photo kids eating lunch The Legislature passed the Healthy Environment for All Act (HEAL Act) in 2021. It is the first statewide law to create a coordinated and collaborative approach to environmental justice.

This new law takes a historic step toward making environmental justice a priority and part of the mission of key state agencies. The law requires Ecology and the state departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Health, Natural Resources, Transportation, and the Puget Sound Partnership to identify and address environmental health disparities in overburdened communities and underserved populations. Agencies not covered by the law can choose to opt-in.

The purpose of this environmental justice law is to:

Ensure environmental reviews, funding decisions, and permitting decisions to identify and address environmental health disparities.
Reduce exposure to environmental hazards on tribal lands.
Track and measure implementation of environmental justice in state agencies.

Below are the most prominent requirements of the law. You can also read more about the environmental justice law on the Washington Legislature's website

Including environmental justice in agency actions

We are in the process of incorporating environmental justice assessments into our work as required by chapter 70a.02 RCW. The assessments are intended to identify environmental justice impacts caused by significant agency actions. They will help us make informed decisions to reduce environmental harms and address environmental and health disparities in overburdened communities. We are required to conduct assessments when:

Adopting or developing new grant or loan programs.
Designing or awarding capital projects, grants or loans of $12 million or more.
Designing or awarding transportation projects, grants or loans of $15 million or more.
Developing agency request legislation.
Developing a significant legislative rule.

Investing equitably

Assessing projects for environmental justice before taking significant actions helps ensure that investments are equitable.

We're working on including assessments in our budgeting, funding, and expenditure processes. This will help reduce environmental harm by directing grants and other funding toward vulnerable populations and communities where pollution is most prevalent.

Improving collaboration with communities and Tribes

Strategies to improve community engagement and coordinate with tribal governments are a priority. We can work together to develop an environmental justice implementation plan and community engagement plan. WSDA is also coordinating with tribal governments on developing a tribal consultation framework and on significant actions affecting Tribes’ rights and interests.

Working with the Environmental Justice Council

Photo of a farming landscape with a red barn in the foreground

WSDA is part of the newly-formed Environmental Justice Council and Interagency Work Group. These groups bring together environmental justice advocates, practitioners, and agency representatives to co-develop environmental justice guidance, recommend ways to identify overburdened communities, and create measures to track agency progress on environmental justice goals. Our processes and plans — in addition to community engagement and coordination with Tribes — will align with guidance from the Environmental Justice Council.

Council meetings will also provide an opportunity for the public and community members to give testimony and share their environmental justice concerns. You can subscribe to the Environmental Justice Council Email List to receive council updates.

Evaluating health disparities

The Washington Department of Health's Environmental Health Disparities Map is a tool we use in our analysis and assessments. This approach incorporates health and environmental data to determine the combined burdens of pollution and other factors impacting a particular community.

The map compares environmental health disparities across the state, and includes data such as diesel emissions, ozone pollution, hazardous waste sites, poverty, and cardiovascular disease. This information can help state agencies better understand community needs and guide our decisions.

Completing required actions

Here are the specific statutory requirements for environmental justice implementation:

Incorporating environmental justice into agency strategic plans (RCW 70A.02.040):

To view our recently revised WSDA Strategic Plan 2022-2025, click here!
To view our recently developed WSDA Environmental Justice Implementation Plan, click here!

Equitable community engagement and public participation (RCW 70A.02.050):

To view our recently developed provisional Community Engagement Plan for HEAL Act Implementation, click here!

Environmental justice assessment (RCW 70A.02.060):

To view our agency’s list of types of agency actions requiring an assessment, click here!

Environmental justice obligations of agencies relating to budgets and funding (RCW 70A.02.080):

Each covered agency must publish on its website the types of decision processes for budget development, making expenditures, and granting or withholding environmental benefits for which the agency will take the actions listed in subsection (2) of this section.
- To view the list of types of decision processes, click here!

Reporting requirements (RCW 70A.02.090):

Each HEAL agency must annually update the Environmental Justice Council on the development and implementation of environmental justice in:
- Agency strategic plans (RCW 70A.02.040);
- Budgeting and funding criteria for making budgeting and funding decisions (RCW 70A.02.080); and
- Community engagement plans (RCW 70A.02.050).
To view the 2022 annual update, click here!
By September 1 of each year beginning in 2024, each covered agency must publish or update a dashboard report describing the agency's progress
- To read the 2024 report, click here!

Tribal consultation (RCW 70A.02.100):

To view the recently released provisional HEAL Act Tribal Government Engagement Guide, click here!
To view the recently released provisional HEAL Act Tribal Communities Engagement Guide, click here!
To view the recently released provisional Engagement Guides' Definitions Appendix, click here!