Under the HEAL Act, the Department of Health (DOH) must consider environmental justice principles when making decisions about budgets or funding for programs that create environmental benefits or address or cause environmental harms. Starting July 1, 2023, we must take the following actions when making these types of decisions or developing budget requests:
- Directing funding to creating environmental benefits, reducing or eliminating environmental harms, and improving community resilience and quality of life for overburdened communities and vulnerable populations.
- Creating opportunities for members of overburdened communities and vulnerable populations to meaningfully participate in agency decision-making around funding.
- Using environmental justice goals and performance metrics to justify decisions.
- Creating grant and contract opportunities, including:
- Community grants to monitor pollution.
- Capacity-building grants for community scientists and other staff.
- Technical assistance for communities to support in accessing agency grants.
- Building leadership skills and career pathways for youth focused on infrastructure or utilities.
- Setting a goal of directing 40% of funding for programs that create environmental benefits to go to overburdened communities and vulnerable populations.
To guide agency staff through these requirements for the budgeting and funding obligations of the law and document how the agency is meeting these requirements, we are using a detailed reporting template (PDF).
Covered Programs
To accomplish the above goals, we are focusing on where we can create the greatest impact. This includes finding opportunities to direct or influence spending to overburdened communities and vulnerable populations and to prioritize reducing or eliminating environmental harms and equitably distributing environmental benefits.
The list below includes the types of processes we will use to make decisions about our budget and where we will focus initially. To do this, HEAL Act staff are partnering with our Office of Policy, Planning, and Evaluation to identify if a proposed program or policy will create environmental benefits or harms. We will continue to update this list over time.
Budget Development processes:
- Decision Package (either stand-alone or part of agency request legislation)
Expenditure processes:
- Implementing a law with fiscal components
- Establishing and/or administering a grant program
- Establishing and/or administering a loan
- Establishing and/or administering a contract
- Staffing a program with environmental benefits or harms
- Other:
Learn more about the state's budget cycle and process (PDF).
The agency is often able to direct resources through “pass-through” funding from the legislature and awarding DOH-administered grants to community partners. To the best of our ability, we will work to bring environmental justice principles into decisions around how and who to direct funding to. To date, we have identified the following grant programs that must comply with the budgeting & funding obligations of HEAL:
- School Climate Plus Indoor Air Quality - See Budgeting and Funding Report for School Climate Plus Indoor Air Quality Grant Program (PDF)
- Alternative Drinking Water Program - See Budgeting and Funding Report for Alternative Drinking Water Program (PDF)
- Climate and Health Adaptation Initiative
- HEAL Capacity Grants for Tribes and Communities
- Workplace Safety for Workers Affected by Climate Change
- Community Budgeting for Decarbonization and Resilience
- Quantitative reporting for the FY24 grant cycle can be found on the OFM HEAL Reporting dashboard.
Environmental Harms and Benefits
The HEAL Act applies to programs that create environmental harms and benefits. To determine if a program is covered, we ask the following questions:
- Does this activity have the potential to positively or negatively impact individual or community exposure to toxic chemicals, pollutants, hazards, or other harms? (examples: Lead, wildfire smoke, PFAS, nitrates, risk or microbial infection, etc.)
- Does this activity have the potential to positively or negatively impact the built environment for individuals or communities? (examples: Internet access, transportation infrastructure, access to health services, etc.)
- Does this activity have the potential to positively or negatively impact access to environmental resources or benefits for individuals or communities? (examples: Cultural resources, clean air or water, access to nature, etc.)
- Does this action have any other foreseeable potential positive or negative impacts to environmental health?
- Are there any other reasons not otherwise stated why this action may cause environmental harms or benefits, as defined under by RCW 70A.02.010?
If the answer is "Yes" or “Unsure” to at least one of the questions listed above, then the program must reach out to the HEAL Implementation team for support and to ensure they follow the requirements of the HEAL Act.
For questions about environmental justice and budgeting, contact the DOH HEAL Act team. To receive email updates from the DOH HEAL Act team, subscribe to our email list.