Guillermo Morel:
I’m here with Front and Centered, a network of 50 community-based organizations across the state working toward a just transition. We are led by communities of color and low-income populations.
I want to take you back to 2021 when we passed the HEAL Act. On top of defining environmental justice and making sure we were all operating under the same definition, this fundamentally changed how we approach climate policy and invest our climate revenue.
We see HB 1303 as a follow-up to the HEAL Act, embedding an environmental justice analysis into the SEPA process. Currently, there is no way to capture the community and health impacts of different projects and facilities, so we’re hoping this bill helps advance environmental justice in Washington.
We made some changes in the first committee, and we hope that’s reflected in the new fiscal note that staff covered. We really urge your support. And I just want to thank you all for meeting with our members last week for Advocacy Day—they had a great time. Thank you.
JC Harris:
Good afternoon. My name is JC Harris. I represent Sea-Tac Noise Info, a community organization, as the name implies, for people impacted by the eighth-largest airport in America.
That airport is now undergoing between $5.5 and $8 billion in capital improvements, and there is zero mitigation or compensation required—either under NEPA or the expected SEPA.
This bill is a logical extension to fill this giant gap. We rank nine and ten on every index measuring the most environmentally impacted communities in the state. Yet we have no mechanism to bridge that gap without legislation like this.
Thank you.
Bill Text
69th Legislature
2025 Regular Session
By House Environment & Energy (originally sponsored by Representatives Mena, Berry, Reeves, Reed, Ormsby, Salahuddin, Ramel, Pollet, Nance, Doglio, and Scott)
READ FIRST TIME 02/13/25.
AN ACT Relating to increasing environmental justice by improving government decisions; adding new sections to chapter 43.21C RCW; and creating a new section.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The purpose of this act is to reduce the disparities in cumulative environmental and health impacts in Washington and improve the health of all Washington residents.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. A new section is added to chapter 43.21C RCW to read as follows:
(1)(a) The department of ecology shall add environmental justice as an element of the environment within WAC 197-11-444 and as a component of the environmental checklist within WAC 197-11-960, as those sections existed on the effective date of this section.
(b) Upon the adoption of rules by the department of ecology, a lead agency must, in implementing the requirements of this chapter, consider environmental justice in a manner consistent with its consideration of other elements of the environment within WAC 197-11-444.
(2) In adopting rules to implement this section, the department of ecology must identify standardized mitigation, which may include best management practices, for potential adverse environmental impacts to environmental justice. When implemented, the standardized mitigation developed under this subsection must be considered in a threshold determination under this chapter.
(3) For purposes of this section “environmental justice” has the same meaning as in RCW 70A.02.010.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. A new section is added to chapter 43.21C RCW to read as follows:
(1) The obligations applicable to lead agencies under section 2 of this act are in addition to and do not limit or amend the obligations of covered agencies under chapter 70A.02 RCW.
(2) A covered agency under chapter 70A.02 RCW may adopt any environmental justice assessment prepared under that chapter or apply other analyses or processes under that chapter to satisfy the requirements of section 2 of this act, to the extent that such an environmental justice assessment and other analyses or processes under that chapter are sufficient to satisfy the requirements of section 2 of this act.