HEAL Act Budgets and Funding Dashboard
The Health Environment for All Act (HEAL Act) requires covered agencies to embed environmental justice into how it makes decisions on budgets and funding – including focusing investments to improve environmental health and reduce pollution in overburdened communities.
Using environmental justice principles, covered agencies seek to equitably distribute funds to programs that aim to create environmental benefits and/or reduce environmental harm. As feasible, agencies should set a goal that at least 40% of funds invested to improve our environment benefit overburdened communities and vulnerable populations across Washington.
The HEAL Act also requires agencies to create opportunities for meaningful participation from overburdened communities and vulnerable populations. Increasingly, agencies are using community input and community advisory committees to help design grant programs to make sure they’re focused on the needs of the people living in overburdened communities.
An important feature of the HEAL Act is transparency and accountability. Starting in fall 2024, agencies are required to report to OFM on their progress in implementing these budgeting and funding requirements. The interactive map gives communities, lawmakers, and others a way to track Washington state’s progress towards these goals.
2024 reporting highlights
Our 2024 results show that agencies are investing significant funding to improve the environment and environmental health in overburdened communities. Across the seven HEAL agencies:
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Nearly 55% of funding to create environmental benefits have been allocated towards projects that will benefit vulnerable populations in overburdened communities.
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Similarly, 51% of fiscal year 2024 HEAL agency expenditures that create environmental benefits are directed to vulnerable populations in overburdened communities.
This exceeds the HEAL Act target goal of 40%.
Changing how we integrate environmental justice into how agencies do business
Importantly, reporting also shows progress that goes beyond the dollar investment in communities– it shows that the HEAL Act is also transforming the way that agencies integrate environmental justice principles into agency actions. Agencies are creating opportunities for co-governance alongside communities, giving more voice and representation into the design and funding of grant opportunities by and for the communities they serve. Examples of this in 2024 include:
Dept of Commerce: The Electric Vehicle Charging program awarded close to $100 million in funding to support electric vehicle charging stations across the state. This program had an initial goal of allocating 40% of funding to Overburdened Communities and exceeded this goal – achieving 56%.
Dept of Health: The Workplace Safety & Climate Change program distributed nearly $430,000 in supplies to protect the health and safety of workers in Wenatchee and Spokane areas who are disproportionately impacted by climate change.
Washington State Dept. Of Ecology: In the Public Participation Grant program, Ecology awarded $4.8 million to individuals and nonprofit organizations to facilitate public participation in Ecology’s toxics cleanup decisions and waste reduction opportunities, prioritizing those that represent overburdened communities and vulnerable populations. These grants help to increase public understanding, expand involvement in cleaning up contaminated sites, and improve Washington's waste management practices with environmental justice considerations explicitly built into program priorities.
Washington State Dept of Transportation: WSDOT is contracting with a community-based organization to co-develop and implement a grant program to support development of community-driven carbon reduction strategies.
Puget Sound Partnership: The agency convened the Community Advocacy Council, composed of community advocates, to help guide agency priorities for Puget Sound recovery by building a space for co-creation, mutual benefit, and state agency accountability.
Washington State Dept of Transportation: WSDOT designed the Sandy Williams Connecting Communities Program to provide pathways to shared decision making and transparent funding procedures. A steering committee made up of residents from Overburdened Communities and Vulnerable populations will provide leadership and guidance for both program development and funding awards of $25 million.
Dept of Ecology: The Air Quality in Overburdened Communities Grant program funds locally led projects in overburdened communities to reduce sources of criteria air pollution. Funding air quality projects that are for communities and by communities is part of the Ecology’s growing body of environmental justice work.
Washington State Dept of Transportation: WSDOT designed the Sandy Williams Connecting Communities Program to provide pathways to shared decision making and transparent funding procedures. A steering committee made up of residents from Overburdened Communities and Vulnerable populations will provide leadership and guidance for both program development and funding award decisions.
For more highlights, see: Keeping the state accountable on environmental investments | by Governor Jay Inslee | Nov, 2024
Dashboard
This dashboard allows for identifying and tracking of investments made to benefit vulnerable populations in overburdened communities. By publishing this dashboard, we hope to empower communities, agencies, and decision makers alike to ensure that environmental benefits are distributed equitably, promoting healthier and more sustainable communities for all Washingtonians.
2024 is the first year of agency reporting. The data will serve as a baseline from which we can measure and evaluate progress over time.
See a description of the methods used to develop the dashboard.
What's next?
While these results show substantial and meaningful investment, it’s only a start. Continued investment in overburdened communities is needed to reverse the environmental harms brought on through years of historical underinvestment. Now with a baseline, agencies will be able to measure their progress.
Through the first year of reporting, we’re also learning the best ways to collect and track this information. Over the next year, the Governor’s Office and OFM will work with the Environmental Justice Council, community advocates, and HEAL agencies to examine our methods to ensure HEAL Act reporting is truly reflecting the projects and investments that are making a difference in people’s lives. We will also continue to work with agencies to better align reporting criteria and methods so that results are consistently applied across agencies.
