Environmental Justice and Climate Change Grants 

A new law requires the state Department of Health to set up and run three new grant programs to advance environmental justice and build climate resilience. The Legislature based the grant programs on Environmental Justice Council suggestions from their Climate Commitment Act funding recommendations (PDF) and budget priorities (PDF).

These grant programs are funded by the Climate Commitment Act (CCA), which created a cap-and-invest program to limit carbon emissions. For more information about the CCA, please visit here: Climate Commitment Act - Washington State Department of Ecology.

Grant Overviews

HEAL Act Capacity

Building on the work of the Environmental Justice Community Participation Grant, HEAL Community Fund, we have $26.3 million to fund Tribes, tribal organizations, overburdened communities, and vulnerable populations. These grants will build capacity to provide guidance and input to agencies and the Environmental Justice Council on the Healthy Environment for All (HEAL) Act and the state Department of Health on updates to the Environmental Health Disparities Map. Our community advisory committee selected 27 community-based organizations to receive a total of $11.3 million. We reserved an additional $11.7 million for Tribes and tribal organizations and is non-competitive. Applications will remain open until Oct. 31, 2024. This one-time funding ends in June 2025.

Community Budgeting for Decarbonization and Resilience

We have a total of $38 million dollars for community informed budgeting. $6 million is to develop and run the grant program and 32.6 million is to provide grants to fund the identified projects. DOH must select at least 5 geographically diverse overburdened communities to engage in a participatory budgeting process to develop and prioritize projects that achieve the greatest gain for decarbonization and resilience. DOH must submit to the governor and the legislature a list of projects, and the legislature must approve the projects before they are funded. 

Community advisory committee members worked together to use their lived experience and data from sources like the Environmental Health Disparities Map to identify the following six priority communities:

  • Yakima County
  • Benton County
  • Franklin County
  • Tacoma
  • Spokane’s East Central neighborhood
  • Seattle’s South Park and Georgetown neighborhoods

The Department of Health will design and pilot participatory budgeting processes with youth in three of these communities, one in each region of the state: Spokane’s East Central neighborhood, Yakima County, and Tacoma. We invite residents and community groups connected to these communities to email Environmental Justice Grants Program to learn more and get involved! Youth are invited to join our community advisory committee to help design our participatory budgeting process.

Learn how to join our Youth Advisory Committee.

Workplace Safety for Workers Affected by Climate Change

We have $10 million, with $2 million reserved for Tribes, to develop and run a workplace health and safety program for vulnerable populations in overburdened communities as defined in the Climate Commitment Act. The program is for workers affected by changes to our climate, including but not limited to extreme heat and cold, wildfire smoke, drought, and flooding. This program will focus on workplace health and safety for farmworkers, construction workers, and other workers who face the most risk from climate-related effects. The program includes pass-through grants to buy and distribute needed supplies. This is an ongoing grant program. In June 2024, we launched our pilot program by purchasing over $1 million in supplies to distribute to workers facing risks related to heat, pesticide exposure, and wildfire smoke. 

Tribes are invited to apply to receive non-competitive funds.

Community and Tribal Involvement 

Tribal Consultation 

As part of our commitment to the government-to-government relationship between federally recognized tribes and the state of Washington, we consulted with Tribes on the three environmental justice grants. We collaborate and consult with Tribes when developing policies, agreements, and programs. We consulted Tribes to incorporate how they would structure these three grant programs. In August and September 2023, we held listening sessions and roundtables discussing the environmental justice grants including the HEAL Tribal Capacity Grant, Community Informed Budgeting, and Workplace Safety for Workers Affect by Climate Change. Tribal consultation occurred for the HEAL Tribal Capacity grant in September and October 2023 (PDF). In May 2024, we re-initiated Tribal collaboration and consultation for the Community Informed Budgeting and Workplace Safety for Workers Affected by Climate Change. Tribal roundtables and consultation took place in June and July 2024. 

Community Advisory Committee

Between February and June 2024, 25 community advisory committee members with lived experience and/or working relationships with communities impacted by environmental inequities helped make important decisions about our grant programs. Committee members worked between 15-65 hours and were compensated for their time. 

Group 1: Designed the HEAL Community Capacity Grant Request for Applications

  • Ty Giesen 
  • Sherronda Jamerson 
  • Manuel Hernandez 
  • Victor Loo 
  • Khamla Martin 
  • Cheri Peterson 

Group 2: Guided the Selection of Communities to Invite into Participatory Budgeting Processes

  • Ulises Navarro
  • Brian Tracey
  • Jose Guerrero
  • Gloria Ramirez
  • Prince Agol

Group 3: Reviewed and Scored Applications for the HEAL Community Capacity Grant

  • James Williams
  • Victor Loo
  • Yalda Mohmand
  • Sherronda Jamerson
  • Grace Chai
  • Ty Giesen
  • Phung Le
  • Keyana Buckner

General Feedback on Grants

The Healthy Environment for All (HEAL) Act requires us to do an environmental justice assessment to consider the harms or benefits to overburdened communities and vulnerable populations that may result from these grants. Notifications of environmental justice assessments for each of the grants are listed below. Opportunities to give your feedback and input on each of the three grants are included in the notifications. We will publish finalized environmental justice assessments for these grants here once completed.

Email us for more information on these grants.

The HEAL Act Community Capacity Grants is supported with funding from Washington’s Climate Commitment Act. The CCA supports Washington’s climate action efforts by putting cap-and-invest dollars to work reducing climate pollution, creating jobs, and improving public health. Information about the CCA is available at www.climate.wa.gov.

Climate Commitment Act