AFPI Calls on Washington Department of Ecology to End Discriminatory Environmental Programs

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WASHINGTON, D.C. — The America First Policy Institute (AFPI) called on the Washington Department of Ecology to take corrective action after its environmental justice, community compensation, grantmaking and enforcement-related programs appeared to provide benefits, paid participation and preferred access based on race, ethnicity, color and national origin.

In a letter to Washington Department of Ecology Director Casey Sixkiller, AFPI Chief Legal Affairs Officer Leigh Ann O’Neill warned that the department’s current framework is legally vulnerable under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, EPA regulations and the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. Because the department receives federal financial assistance from the Environmental Protection Agency, they must comply with federal civil rights laws that prohibit discrimination

“The government may not select who gets paid, heard or elevated in public decision-making based on race or ethnicity,” O’Neill said. “Washington’s Department of Ecology has built a system that appears to give preferred access and compensation to some Washingtonians while leaving others outside the process, even when their land, livelihoods and communities are directly affected by the department’s decisions. That is not environmental protection. It is discrimination dressed up as public engagement.”

AFPI asked the department in its letter to revise its policies to ensure that no person is selected, compensated, preferred or provided benefits based on race, ethnicity, color, national origin or similar identity-conscious criteria. It also asks the department to review its grant programs, workgroups, advisory groups, surveys, public engagement processes and environmental justice assessments to determine whether any individual or group has been denied equal benefits or equal opportunity to participate.

AFPI requested a written response within 30 days.