The HEAL Act instructs covered agencies to incorporate environmental justice into funding and budgeting processes throughout the agency.
The law requires the agencies to set a goal of directing 40% of all grants and expenditures that create environmental benefits to vulnerable populations and overburdened communities, which aligns with the federal Justice40 Initiative under Executive Order 14008 (Sec. 223).
The state law also requires agencies to create opportunities for overburdened communities and vulnerable populations to meaningfully participate in decision-making related to budgets and funding.
Ecology’s approach to budget equity
We're actively working to integrate environmental justice and community engagement into decision processes related to budget development, contracts, grant and loan funding programs, and other expenditures. This includes:
evaluating program activities and expenditures for service equity and funding distribution gaps
incorporating Environmental Justice considerations into grant scoring criteria
advancing opportunities to direct program resources to areas and communities most in need
We also set an agency goal of directing 40% of grants and expenditures that create environmental benefits for vulnerable populations and overburdened communities.
Ecology is initially emphasizing environmental justice in decision processes related to budget development, contracts, grant and loan funding programs, and other expenditures where the agency has discretion, subject to legislative appropriations and state law.
Among the agency focus areas are grant, loan, and contract funding programs. These programs are a significant portion of Ecology’s budget, with over 50 unique funding programs that make up approximately 73% of our appropriations. As part of incorporating the HEAL Act and other state equity laws, our programs will continue to iteratively improve this work, and consult with the agency’s Office of Equity and Environmental Justice (OEEJ) to identify and include Environmental Justice and equity practices in decision making processes, where applicable.
HEAL Act reporting
In 2024, Ecology completed our first HEAL Act Budget Equity Report, which describes with greater detail the steps the agency has taken to more equitably direct environmental benefits to vulnerable populations in overburdened communities. The report includes our methods of evaluating agency progress on the 40% goal. It highlights early steps towards improving environmental justice and equity in our budgetary and financial work, and it describes opportunities created for communities to influence agency budgetary practices.
Out of Ecology’s total 2023-2025 biennium budget, the agency reviewed $2.1 billion (73% of the total budget) in awards to evaluate HEAL budget equity progress. For this first year of the biennium (Fiscal Year 2024), Ecology determined that $511.5 million of that biennial budget was expended by local communities, and that between 28% and 55% of that went toward projects that provided environmental benefits to vulnerable populations.
The range reflects the challenges inherent in determining how much of a project or award with widespread impacts benefits a specific community. Ecology is working to develop criteria that will help us refine those estimates, and properly apportion the benefits of major investments.
Additionally, Ecology identified that the majority of our grant and loan programs (which make up over 70% of the agency's budget) contain some type of environmental justice criteria.
To learn about Ecology’s progress towards the HEAL Act requirements for fiscal year 2024, please see our HEAL Act Budget Equity Report.
To visit the HEAL Act Budget Equity Dashboard, which includes mapping information about all awards and expenditures that Ecology reported for HEAL, please visit The Office of Financial Management’s Budget and Funding dashboard.
Environmental justice in agency budget decision-making
The implementation of HEAL goals into budget and funding decisions creates new opportunity and authority to ensure state resources are equitably distributed. Developing and implementing budget processes that incorporate environmental justice is an iterative process that will evolve as the agency learns more, and as the Environmental Justice Council provides guidance. The types of decision processes the agency takes actions on will be updated as our practices mature and as more information becomes available.
Initial implementation budget and funding obligations will focus on budget decisions where Ecology has discretion to direct or influence expenditures that may reduce or eliminate environmental harm, address environmental and health disparities for overburdened communities and vulnerable populations, and cultivate community and infrastructure resilience.
We've identified the following types of decision processes to initially take action on, including:
Type of process
How we will take action
Budget development process
Emphasis in the budget request on opportunities that effect environmental justice principles and identify ways to build environmental justice into budget requests to the extent practicable.
Competitive grant and loan funding program process
Emphasis on including environmental justice considerations into funding guidelines, including scoring and ranking criteria to the extent practicable.
Partner-driven grant funding program process
Cooperation with external boards and groups to identify and prioritize projects for legislative appropriation.
Formula-driven grant funding program process
Cooperation with external boards and groups to identify and prioritize projects for legislative appropriation.
Contracted Ecology-led site cleanup program process
Make informed decisions that include local community input while following the state regulatory process.
Contract and procurement process
Follow state and agency policies and procedures, including supplier diversity policies and Executive Order 22-01 to encourage and facilitate the purchase of goods and services from small, diverse, and or veteran-owned businesses to the maximum extent possible.
Technical assistance program process
Prioritize assistance to underrepresented populations.
Visualizing grants & loans
Historically, around 70% of the funds Ecology manages is passed through to local communities to be used on environmental projects throughout Washington. Some of this is provided directly to local governments and communities through grants and loans to help them improve the environment.
Pass-through funds directly create jobs, improve economic development, and protect environmental and public health. Ecology has created an interactive map for transparency that includes information about location, funding amounts, dollars per area, and a link to more details.
Looking forward, we plan to explore how tools like this can help us evaluate equity in our work. We also plan to improve our budget equity processes by incorporating all that 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!
