Environmental Justice Coalition review leads to two new equity goals in Clark County draft climate element

Members of the Environmental Justice Coalition (EJC) spent two meetings in November–December reviewing Clark County’s draft climate policies through an equity lens, and county staff said the EJC’s recommendations led to two distinct equity goals and expanded equity language across the policy list.

Jenna, county project staff, said the EJC’s charge was to “review these policies through an equity lens” and to recommend how to modify draft policies to enhance benefits or reduce negative impacts for vulnerable populations. Staff described the state statutory basis for the work: the Growth Management Act and the climate legislation require jurisdictions to advance environmental justice and to prioritize actions that benefit overburdened communities.

The EJC’s review produced two separate goals in the draft: one intended to “facilitate a just transition to net 0 greenhouse gas emissions and equitably enhance community and ecological resilience to climate impacts,” and a second to “advance environmental justice through the Clark County comprehensive growth management plan and associated plans, policies, development regulations, and strategies.” Staff explained that the two-goal approach arose from an organizational decision: some equity policies will be placed in the new climate chapter while others will be located in the broader Environment chapter of the comprehensive plan to reflect environmental justice beyond climate alone.

The EJC also recommended wording and implementation approaches across many policies. Staff said they added policies that require culturally relevant outreach, collaboration with community-based organizations and Tribes, and provisions to link tree-planting and habitat projects with workforce development, conservation education and accessible opportunities for homeowners, landowners and renters. As an example, staff pointed to a revised tree policy that reads in part: policies under this goal should be implemented “in collaboration with community based organizations, tribes, and partner agencies, in culturally relevant and accessible ways, to link with other efforts such as those related to job creation, workforce development, conservation and education initiatives, and to include homeowner, landowner, and renter opportunities to create habitat dispersal, corridors, and connectivity.”

Staff also showed EJC memos that compare maps of environmental health disparities with air‑quality data; the maps show overlap between census tracts with higher environmental burdens and areas with poorer air quality along the northern edges of Vancouver and adjacent unincorporated areas. Jenna said the memos and the EJC recommendations are in the project packet as background materials for advisory group members to review.

Ending: Staff told the advisory group members that they expect CAG members to consider the EJC’s recommendations in their survey responses and negotiations; staff urged members to listen to the equity analysis when proposing changes and suggested the EJC’s input should be used to strengthen proposed policies for overburdened communities.