New WA program aims to curb air pollution in parts of state most affected by it

Wildfire smoke shrouds Seattle in September 2020. (Photo by Lindsey Wasson/Getty Images)

Communities in Washington hit hardest by climate change may soon get state funding to improve air quality.

Washington’s Department of Ecology is launching a new grant program this week to fund local projects in communities it has determined are historically “overburdened” by air pollution. The $10 million for the grants comes from auction proceeds from the state’s Climate Commitment Act.

The goal is to help fund community-based projects to reduce air pollution. Examples include subsidizing the replacement of residential wood stoves with heat pumps or incentivizing farmers to use methods that reduce dust from agricultural activities.

“This really requires communities to work with their people to design a project and elevate voices to change sources of air pollution,” said Kaitlyn Kelly, Improving Air Quality in Overburdened Community Grant unit supervisor at Ecology. “These are communities that are historically overburdened with health and social and environmental inequities.”

Applications for the funding will be open Thursday through Oct. 24, and winning projects will likely be notified in early winter.

The grants are part of a broader effort under the Climate Commitment Act to improve air quality in communities that have historically experienced more pollution and adverse health and environmental effects because of it.

Another component of this work under the law is expanding air monitoring and strengthening air quality standards and regulations across the state. The state is also running other grant programs to help address air pollution.

“This is not something we’re going to turn around immediately,” Ecology spokesperson Susan Woodward said. “The work is going to take years and years.”

As part of its requirements under the climate law, Ecology analyzed which communities in Washington had high rankings on the Department of Health’s environmental health disparities map and also had an elevated level of one or multiple air pollutants.

The 16 communities identified include urban, suburban and rural areas and represent more than 1.2 million people, or about 15.5% of Washington’s population.

Statewide, the most common air pollutant is one from smoke, such as wildfires or wood stoves, but each community has different levels and different types of air pollution, Woodward said.

Those in the overburdened communities are invited to apply for the air quality grants as well as any tribe that wants to participate.

The most a project can receive is $750,000, though Kelly said exact awards will depend on the project and the level of interest. The department’s intent is to award one project to each of the 16 communities as well as participating tribes.

If an initiative to repeal the Climate Commitment Act passes this November, the $10 million would still be available for this first round of air quality grants, but any future funding opportunities would be limited to what the Legislature sets aside in the state budget.

Opponents of the climate law argue it has driven up the cost of fuel and other goods for Washington residents and question how the state is spending the revenue.

The types of projects that receive funding under the air quality grant program will likely vary because each community’s needs and pollution are different, Kelly said.

For example, she said rural communities may want to focus on agricultural pollution whereas those in colder parts of the state may want to find wood stove alternatives to heat homes, and those along the Interstate 5 corridor may want to focus on air pollution from traffic.

Ecology encourages communities to talk to those most affected by air pollution and come up with ideas for how to better the air, Kelly said. She called it a “new and innovative approach for grants” in that the department focuses on projects “for communities and by communities.”