Overview

This guidance provides information for HEAL covered and opt in agencies on how to identify overburdened communities and vulnerable populations for the purposes of making and tracking covered expenditure.

For further detailed information on the requirements, please refer to the Executive Directive 24-11 and the uniform approach for the identifying overburdened communities and vulnerable populations.

Overburdened Communities Map

Use the Overburdened Communities Map for initial identification of overburdened communities when making and tracking HEAL expenditures for the 2023-2025 biennium. 

The Overburdened Communities Map is a composite of several relevant data sources. Geographic areas identified as overburdened communities include census tracts ranked 9 or 10 on the Environmental Health Disparities (EHD) Map, geographic areas characterized as “disadvantaged” on the federal Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool (CEJST), and census tracts that are fully or partially on “Indian Country” as defined in 18 U.S.C. Sec. 1151.

The Overburdened Communities Map represents data collected as of July 1, 2024. Agencies shall use this version of the map for the duration of the biennium. Subsequent versions of the map will incorporate changes in state and federal data and geographic boundaries.

Overburdened Communities Map (areas shaded blue) 

Steps for tracking and reporting expenditures

When tracking and reporting expenditures for the HEAL Act, follow the procedures outlined below. For details and further information regarding HEAL Act tracking and reporting, please refer to the Governor’s Directive 24-11 and the full uniform approach and the instructions published by the Department of Ecology.

1. Determine whether the expenditure is covered under HEAL. These are funding and expenditures related to programs that address or may cause environmental harm or provide environmental benefits towards overburdened communities and vulnerable populations. 

An expenditure creates environmental benefits based on any of the following HEAL statutory criteria: 

• Prevent or reduce existing environmental harms or associated risks that contribute significantly to cumulative environmental health impacts.
• Prevent or mitigate impacts to overburdened communities or vulnerable populations from, or support community response to, the impacts of environmental harm.
• Meet a community need formally identified to a covered agency by an overburdened community or vulnerable population that is consistent with the intent of this chapter (RCW 70A.02).

"Environmental harm" means the individual or cumulative environmental health impacts and risks to communities caused by historic, current, or projected:

• Exposure to pollution, conventional or toxic pollutants, environmental hazards, or other contamination in the air, water, and land;
• Adverse environmental effects, including exposure to contamination, hazardous substances, or pollution that increase the risk of adverse environmental health outcomes or create vulnerabilities to the impacts of climate change;
• Loss or impairment of ecosystem functions or traditional food resources or loss of access to gather cultural resources or harvest traditional foods; or
• Health and economic impacts from climate change.
   

2. Determine whether the expenditure is distributed in an overburdened community based on the Overburdened Communities map described above.
    
3. Determine whether the expenditure benefits a vulnerable population based on one or more of the following “vulnerable populations” HEAL Act statutory criteria (RCW 70A.02.010). 

• A population group of racial or ethnic minorities
• A low-income population
• A population disproportionately impacted by environmental harms
• A population of workers experiencing environmental harms
• Vulnerable populations identified through other qualifiers, detailed in the statutory definition.