S-3831.1
SENATE BILL 5990
State of Washington 68th Legislature 2024 Regular Session
By Senators Lovelett, Saldaña, Dhingra, Frame, Hasegawa, Keiser,
Kuderer, Nobles, Salomon, Stanford, Trudeau, Valdez, and C. Wilson
Prefiled 01/04/24. Read first time 01/08/24. Referred to Committee
on Environment, Energy & Technology.
1 AN ACT Relating to integrating environmental justice
2 considerations into certain project decisions; adding new sections to
3 chapter 43.21C RCW; and creating a new section.
4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
5 NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The purpose of this act is to reduce the
6 disparities in cumulative environmental and health impacts in
7 Washington and improve the health of all Washington residents.
8 NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. A new section is added to chapter 43.21C
9 RCW to read as follows:
10 The definitions in this section apply throughout sections 3
11 through 6 of this act unless the context clearly requires otherwise.
12 (1) "Adverse cumulative stressors" means that the combined
13 stressor total of the pollution burdened community is higher than the
14 pollution burdened community's geographic point of comparison or
15 would be made higher than the pollution burdened community's
16 geographic point of comparison as a result of a potentially impactful
17 project's contribution.
18 (2) "Adverse environmental and public health stressor" means a
19 stressor in the pollution burdened community that is higher than a
20 pollution burdened community's geographic point of comparison or
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 1 would be made higher than a pollution burdened community's geographic
2 point of comparison as a result of a potentially impactful project's
3 contribution.
4 (3) "Change in use" means a change in the type of operation of an
5 existing potentially impactful project that significantly increases
6 the potentially impactful project's contribution to any environmental
7 and public health stressor in a pollution burdened community.
8 (4) "Combined stressor total" means the sum of adverse
9 environmental and public health stressors in a pollution burdened
10 community.
11 (5)(a) "Compelling public interest" means a demonstration by a
12 proponent of a proposed new potentially impactful project that the
13 potentially impactful project primarily serves an essential
14 environmental, health, or safety need of the individuals in a
15 pollution burdened community, is necessary to serve the essential
16 environmental health or safety need, and that there are no other
17 means reasonably available to meet the essential environmental,
18 health, or safety need.
19 (b) "Compelling public interest" does not include consideration
20 of the economic benefits of a proposed new potentially impactful
21 project or the expansion of an existing potentially impactful
22 project.
23 (6)(a) "Disproportionate impact" means the potentially impactful
24 project cannot avoid either:
25 (i) Creating adverse cumulative stressors in a pollution burdened
26 community as a result of the potentially impactful project's
27 contribution; or
28 (ii) Contributing to an adverse environmental and public health
29 stressor in a pollution burdened community that is already subject to
30 adverse cumulative stressors.
31 (b) A potentially impactful project located either in whole or in
32 part in a pollution burdened community is capable of having a
33 disproportionate impact on that community.
34 (7) "Environmental justice impact statement" means a systematic,
35 interdisciplinary, and integrated assessment of environmental and
36 public health conditions in a pollution burdened community that
37 identifies and analyzes:
38 (a) Existing environmental and public health stressors;
39 (b) Any adverse environmental and public health stressors;
40 (c) The presence or absence of adverse cumulative stressors;
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 1 (d) Potential environmental and public health stressors
2 associated with a potentially impactful project;
3 (e) Whether the potentially impactful project can avoid causing
4 or contributing to a disproportionate impact;
5 (f) Alternative locations where the potentially impactful project
6 could be located;
7 (g) The measures the potentially impactful project proposes to
8 implement to avoid or mitigate causing or contributing to any
9 disproportionate impact; and
10 (h) Where applicable, how the new potentially impactful project
11 serves a compelling public interest in a pollution burdened
12 community.
13 (8) "Environmental or public health stressors" means sources of
14 environmental pollution or conditions that may cause potential public
15 health impacts such as, but not limited to, asthma, cancer, elevated
16 blood lead levels, cardiovascular disease, developmental problems,
17 and low birth weight in the overburdened communities, including, but
18 not limited to:
19 (a) Concentrated areas of air pollution and mobile sources of air
20 pollution:
21 (i) Criteria pollutants including particulate matter 2.5 (PM
22 2.5), particulate matter 10 (PM 10), sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen
23 dioxide (Nox), lead, carbon dioxide (CO), and ozone;
24 (ii) Wildfire smoke;
25 (iii) Ozone concentration;
26 (iv) Diesel exhaust PM2.5 emissions;
27 (v) Cancer risk from air toxics excluding diesel particulate
28 matter;
29 (vi) Noncancer risk from air toxics;
30 (vii) Hazardous air pollutants;
31 (viii) Toxic releases from facilities into air; and
32 (ix) Proximity to heavy traffic roadways;
33 (b) Water pollution:
34 (i) Drinking water quality;
35 (ii) Marine water quality;
36 (iii) Fish and shellfish health advisories;
37 (iv) Wastewater discharge;
38 (v) Surface water quality;
39 (vi) Groundwater quality; and
40 (vii) Combined sewer overflows;
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 1 (c) Environmental hazards in communities or contaminated sites:
2 (i) Railways, airports, or ports;
3 (ii) Lead risk from housing;
4 (iii) Use of leaded fuels;
5 (iv) Density of or proximity to known contaminated sites and
6 clean-up sites:
7 (A) Hazardous waste treatment, storage, and disposal sites;
8 (B) Superfund sites;
9 (C) Risk management plan sites;
10 (D) Confirmed and suspected contaminated sites; and
11 (E) Formerly used defense sites; and
12 (v) Environmental covenants registry; and
13 (d) Social determinants of health:
14 (i) Unemployment;
15 (ii) Educational attainment;
16 (iii) People living in poverty;
17 (iv) Percent of children eligible for free or reduced-priced
18 lunch; and
19 (v) Limited English-speaking households.
20 (9) "Existing potentially impactful project" means a potentially
21 impactful project, or any portion thereof, which, as of the effective
22 date of this section, possesses a valid approved registration or
23 permit from a lead agency for its operation or construction and is in
24 operation.
25 (10)(a) "Expansion" means a modification or expansion of an
26 existing potentially impactful project's operations or footprint
27 where the development could increase any environmental and public
28 health stressor in a pollution burdened community.
29 (b) "Expansion" does not include any activity that decreases or
30 does not otherwise result in an increase in stressor contributions.
31 (11) "Geographic point of comparison" means the comparison area
32 and value used to determine whether a pollution burdened community is
33 subject to one or more adverse environmental and public health
34 stressors. A geographic point of comparison is determined by
35 selecting the lower value of the 50th percentile of the state or
36 county in which the pollution burdened community is located,
37 calculated excluding the values of other pollution burdened
38 communities.
39 (12) "Net environmental benefit" means a reduction of baseline
40 environmental and public health stressors in a pollution burdened
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 1 community or other action that improves environmental or public
2 health stressors in a pollution burdened community, as determined by
3 the lead agency.
4 (13) "New potentially impactful project" means any potentially
5 impactful project for which review under this chapter has not been
6 initiated as of the effective date of this section or a change in use
7 of an existing potentially impactful project. For the purposes of
8 this chapter, an existing potentially impactful project that has
9 operated without a valid approved registration or permit required by
10 the department of ecology prior to the effective date of this section
11 must be considered a new potentially impactful project.
12 (14) "Pollution burdened community" means a community:
13 (a) Ranked as a seven or higher on the environmental health
14 disparities map developed under RCW 43.70.815;
15 (b) Identified as disadvantaged using the climate and economic
16 justice screening tool developed by the United States council on
17 environmental quality, as that tool existed as of January 1, 2024; or
18 (c) Identified as disadvantaged, or an analogous designation,
19 using a successor to the climate and economic justice screening tool
20 developed by the United States council on environmental quality, if
21 adopted by rule by the department of ecology under section 7(3) of
22 this act.
23 (15)(a) "Potentially impactful project" means projects that are:
24 (i) A major source of air pollution regulated and required to
25 obtain an operating permit under chapter 70A.15 RCW;
26 (ii) A source regulated and required to obtain a notice of
27 construction permit under chapter 70A.15 RCW;
28 (iii) A source regulated and required to obtain a prevention of
29 significant deterioration permit under chapter 70A.15 RCW;
30 (iv) A source regulated and required to obtain a general order
31 permit under chapter 70A.15 RCW;
32 (v) A significant source of air pollution from transportation
33 impacts associated with the project;
34 (vi) An incinerator, as defined in RCW 70A.216.010;
35 (vii) A processing facility, combustor, or incinerator of
36 municipal sewage sludge, as defined in RCW 70A.226.010;
37 (viii) A sewage treatment plant;
38 (ix) A transfer station, landfill, scrap metal facility, or other
39 solid waste facility required to obtain a solid waste handling permit
40 under chapter 70A.205 RCW;
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 1 (x) A medical waste incinerator; or
2 (xi) A project covered by a permit under chapter 90.48 RCW other
3 than:
4 (A) A construction general permit;
5 (B) An industrial stormwater general permit;
6 (C) A municipal stormwater general permit;
7 (D) A fresh fruit packing general permit;
8 (E) A boatyard general permit;
9 (F) An environmental protection agency vessel general permit;
10 (G) A winery general permit; and
11 (H) A bridge and ferry terminal washing permit.
12 (b) "Potentially impactful project" does not include:
13 (i) A clean energy project, as that term is defined in RCW
14 43.158.010; or
15 (ii) Projects related to facilities with North American industry
16 classification system code 92811 (national security) or similar
17 national security facilities administered by the United States
18 government.
19 (16) "Renewal" means the continuation of existing permitted
20 operations at a major facility without change. A lead agency must
21 treat as a renewal all modifications or changes of operations that
22 decrease or do not otherwise increase a facility's contributions to
23 stressors.
24 NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. A new section is added to chapter 43.21C
25 RCW to read as follows:
26 (1) As a supplemental component of the analysis required under
27 RCW 43.21C.030 for any proposed action associated with a new or
28 expanding potentially impactful project or the renewal of an existing
29 potentially impactful project's permit located or proposed to be
30 located in whole or in part in a pollution burdened community, a lead
31 agency must complete an environmental justice impact statement
32 consistent with the requirements of this section. This section
33 applies only to proposed actions associated with a new potentially
34 impactful project, expansion of an existing potentially impactful
35 project, or renewal of an existing potentially impactful project's
36 permit for which review under this chapter had not been initiated as
37 of the effective date of this section and is completed on or after
38 January 1, 2027.
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 1 (2) An environmental justice impact statement prepared by a lead
2 agency under this section must assess:
3 (a) The potential environmental and public health stressors
4 associated with the proposed new or expanding potentially impactful
5 project, or with the existing potentially impactful project, as
6 applicable;
7 (b) Any adverse environmental or public health stressors that
8 cannot be avoided if the permit is granted; and
9 (c) The environmental or public health stressors already borne by
10 the pollution burdened community as a result of existing conditions
11 located in or affecting the pollution burdened community.
12 (3)(a) The lead agency must complete the environmental justice
13 impact statement at or before the time that a proposed action
14 receives a determination of significance, a determination of
15 nonsignificance, or a determination of mitigated nonsignificance. The
16 lead agency must complete the environmental justice impact statement
17 if a proposed action may cause a disproportionate impact on an
18 overburdened community and without regard to the type of threshold
19 determination under this chapter that the project receives related to
20 the environmental impacts of the proposed action other than its
21 environmental justice impacts.
22 (b) Upon completion of the environmental justice impact
23 statement, the lead agency must transmit the environmental justice
24 impact statement to the office of financial management, and the
25 office of financial management must publish the environmental justice
26 impact statement on the website established under RCW 70A.02.090. The
27 office of financial management's website list of environmental
28 justice impact statements must include a brief description of the
29 agency action undergoing review under this section, a brief summary
30 of the findings of the environmental justice impact statement, and
31 the methods for providing public comment under subsection (4) of this
32 section for lead agency consideration as part of the environmental
33 justice impact assessment. The environmental justice impact statement
34 must be published by the office of financial management at least 30
35 days in advance of the public hearing required under subsection (4)
36 of this section, and must be published in a manner that meets
37 community engagement rules adopted by the department of ecology that
38 apply: (i) Best practices for outreach and communication to overcome
39 barriers to engagement with highly impacted communities; (ii)
40 processes that facilitate and support the inclusion of members of
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 1 communities affected by agency decision making; and (iii) methods for
2 outreach and communication with those who face barriers, language or
3 otherwise, to participation.
4 (4)(a) No sooner than 60 days after the publication by the office
5 of financial management of the environmental justice impact statement
6 under subsection (3) of this section, the lead agency must organize
7 and conduct a public hearing in the pollution burdened community on
8 the environmental justice impact statement. This hearing may be held
9 coincident with other hearings required under this chapter or under
10 other applicable laws, but only if the minimum public notice and
11 community engagement requirements of this section and any similar
12 requirements applicable to the coincident hearing are individually
13 met. The notice of the public hearing published by the lead agency
14 and the office of financial management must include the date, time,
15 and location of the public hearing, a description of the proposed
16 potentially impactful project, a brief summary of the environmental
17 justice impact statement including a listing of all potential
18 environmental and health stressors associated with the project,
19 information on how an interested person may review a copy of the
20 complete environmental justice impact statement, and information
21 regarding the opportunities for public comment to the lead agency on
22 the environmental justice impact assessment. The lead agency may also
23 provide notice through other methods identified by the agency to
24 ensure direct and adequate notice to individuals in the overburdened
25 community including, but not limited to, providing informatio