The Growth Management Act requires community engagement in local planning, and these grant funds advance meaningful community engagement and participation of vulnerable populations and overburdened communities in local comprehensive planning.
Pilot program funds awarded
The Department of Commerce awarded about $2 million in Climate Commitment Act funds to 24 community-based organizations to support their participation in local land use comprehensive planning within Washington cities and counties. The first round of funding was launched as a pilot program in 2024, and prioritized CBOs that are located within a jurisdiction with a 2025 periodic update deadline. This program to recruit, support, and provide funding directly to community-based organizations in order to represent the interests of communities that have experienced the greatest environmental and health burdens throughout the state aligns with the recommendations for addressing structural barriers to community engagement in the Environmental Justice Task Force: Recommendations for Prioritizing EJ in Washington State Government (October 2020). For more information on the state’s periodic update process as a requirement of the Growth Management Act, please explore facts sheets available on the GMA Laws and Rules and periodic update training pages of our website.
Pilot program funding supports staff or members of CBOs to:
- Attend local meetings focused on the comprehensive plan update or organize their own;
- Meet with city staff and elected officials
- Participate in focus groups or advisory boards
- Other related activities
Additional funding is anticipated to be released in June 2025, after an initial review of the pilot program.
Where did funding go?
The below map provides information about the pilot program’s grant recipients, including the name and description of each. Numbers indicate the number of recipients in each county. After selecting a county, select “Browse features” in the window that appears to access a description of recipient organization. The dropdown beneath the map provides a textual list of recipients by county and their corresponding award amounts.
Clallam County
- Futurewise: $100,000
- North Olympic Land Trust: $55,000
- Port Angeles Waterfront District: $45,000
Clark County
- Fourth Plain Forward: $100,000
- Native American Youth and Family Center: $100,000
- Odyssey World International Education Services: $100,000
- Southwest Washington Equity Coalition: $99,440
- Washington Conservation Action Education Fund: $98,659
- NAACP OF Vancouver, WA Branch 1139-B: $71,255
- Vietnamese Community of Clark County: $50,000
Island County
- Camano Island Post No. 207, The American Legion: $100,000
- Goosefoot Community Fund: $76,717
Jefferson County
- Bayside Housing and Services: $45,000
- Community Wellness Project: $90,000
Mason County
- Mason County Climate Justice: $100,000
- United Way of Mason County : $55,000
San Juan County
- Friends of the San Juans: $90,000
- Island Stewards: $90,000
Skagit County
- Helping Hands food bank of Sedro-Woolley: $100,000
- Community Action of Skagit County: $90,000
- Economic Development Alliance of Skagit County (EDASC): $65,000
Thurston County
- Thurston Climate Action Team: $98,912
Whatcom County
- RE Sources: $100,000
- Scholar Fund: $100,000
- Washington Family Engagement: $95,000
- Vamos Outdoors Project: $90,000
Preliminary schedule
- July 2024: Pilot program launch
- January 2025: Additional funding allocated
- After June 2025: Future funding cycles
Capacity-building resources
- Short Course on Local Planning
- Video on comprehensive planning basics (YouTube)
- Municipal Research and Services Center of Washington – Growth Management Act resource page (MSRC.org)
- Commerce’s Growth Management Planning Topics
- League of Women Voter’s of Washington – The Growth Management Act of Washington State: Successes and Challenges (PDF) – Contains examples of community-based organizations influencing land use decisions (see page 24)
- MRSC Equitable Community Engagement in Comprehensive Plan Updates (MSRC.org)
- MRSC Equity and Engagement in Climate Response (MSRC.org)
- MRSC Community Engagement Resources (MSRC.org)
- Commerce’s Intermediate Planning Guidance – Section 2 (5 pages, 2024) (PDF)
- Association of Washington Cities – Equity Resource Guide (PDF) (Note: See Chapter on Housing)
- American Planning Association’s Equity in Zoning Policy Guide (2023) (PDF)
- American Planning Association’s Planning for Equity Policy Guide (2019) (PDF)
- Puget Sound Regional Council Equitable Engagement for Comprehensive Plans (2022) (PDF)
- American Planning Association’s Equity Diversity Inclusion (Planning.org)
Climate support from Commerce is provided with funding from Washington’s Climate Commitment Act. The CCA supports Washington’s climate action efforts by putting cap-and-invest dollars to work reducing climate pollution, creating jobs, and improving public health. Information about the CCA is available at www.climate.wa.gov.