The Healthy Environments for All (HEAL) Act, passed by the Washington State legislature in 2021, identifies Puget Sound Partnership (The Partnership) as one of seven agencies across the state mandated to develop policies and programs that most directly impact environmental justice. HEAL instructs the Partnership to conduct an Environmental Justice Assessment (EJA) when considering Significant Agency Actions. Furthermore, the EJA requires agencies to identify overburdened communities (OBC) and vulnerable populations (VP) that may be impacted, positively or negatively, by the action, then engage them in a public process and incorporate their input when possible. EJAs are new for the entire state, so there is little precedent to build from. The Partnership has been an early implementor of HEAL and actively participates in the Environmental Justice Council (EJC) and Interagency Working Group (IAWG) to coordinate the implementation of HEAL.

The Action Agenda, which reflects a collective vision of a healthy and resilient Puget Sound by describing what we (and our partners) must achieve and be accountable for to ensure we make progress, is one of the Partnership’s Significant Agency Actions that requires an EJA. The current 2022-2026 Action Agenda will be updated for the 2026-2030 implementation, pending an EJA.

The purpose of this Request for Proposals is to identify an entity to provide support to the Partnership in developing the feedback needed to produce an EJA that informs the development of the 2026-2030 Action Agenda.

Link to WEBS Posting: WEBS (wa.gov)

Link to PSP Website: Puget Sound Partnership - Fiscal Notifications (wa.gov)