Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Environmental Justice Council member outlines HEAL Act origins and aims to embed equity across agencies
Summary
David Mendoza, an Environmental Justice Council member, told the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee on Feb. 20 that the HEAL Act seeks to change agency culture by integrating environmental justice into planning, budgeting and project decisions; he highlighted EJ assessments as the main accountability tool and warned implementation will require more staff and sustained funding.
David Mendoza, a member at large of Washington’s Environmental Justice Council, told the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee on Feb. 20 that the Healthy Environments for All (HEAL) Act was designed to change the internal culture of state agencies so environmental justice is part of routine decision-making.
Mendoza, who said he helped develop the HEAL Act as a legislative advocate and now serves on the council, described the law’s core aims as reducing environmental health disparities and improving agency accountability through community engagement, tribal consultation and environmental justice assessments. “Zip code unfortunately determines destiny in too…
Already have an account? Log in
Subscribe to keep reading
Unlock the rest of this article — and every article on Citizen Portal.
- Unlimited articles
- AI-powered breakdowns of topics, speakers, decisions, and budgets
- Instant alerts when your location has a new meeting
- Follow topics and more locations
- 1,000 AI Insights / month, plus AI Chat
