Key Strategies

• Committing – by law – to ensuring that all residents have access to a safe and healthy environment. The Washington legislation would enshrine this responsibility into law.

• Requiring state/local governments to identify and prioritize consideration of the impact on vulnerable communities in the development, implementation, and enforcement of laws and policies. The Washington bill establishes a task force to incorporate this strategy into state agencies’ planning.

• Challenging government agencies to develop a tool to assess the impacts of existing policies and policy proposals on vulnerable groups. The Washington Department of Health would create a cumulative impact analysis tool.