Section One Objectives: Protect and Improve Air Quality and Public Health, Reduce Air Pollution Disparities, and Protect Our Climate

Our seven objectives highlight our various roles to protect and improve air quality and public health, reduce air pollution disparities, and protect our climate.

Objective 1.1 Meet and Surpass the Health-Based National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS)

The Puget Sound region continued to meet the health-based National Ambient Air Quality Standards across all 6 criteria pollutants (particulate matter, ground level ozone, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, and lead). The criteria pollutant fine particle pollution (PM_2.5) drives the majority of health risk in our region, which is the subset of particle pollution that’s less than 2.5 microns in diameter.  

Staff continue to work on our second 10-year maintenance plan for the Tacoma-Pierce PM_2.5 nonattainment area to ensure the area continues to enjoy improved, healthy air. 

Ozone pollution levels remain close to the national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS) as well. This is the result of short periods of time that exceed the standard on hot summer days when ozone forms. The highest ozone levels typically occur in rural southeast King County. 

Target

The Puget Sound region attains the National Ambient Air Quality Standards.

Status  Continued to meet

Objective 1.2 Measure, Analyze, and Communicate Air Quality Risk

The Agency maintained its ongoing monitoring network, focused primarily on harmful fine particle pollution (PM_2.5). We continued to make information available in real time, and also published our regular annual data summary.

This year, we added nitrogen dioxide and coarse particulate matter (PM10) monitoring at the Seattle Duwamish site to support the Washington State Department of Ecology’s work with Overburdened Communities as part of the Climate Commitment Act.

With the expansion of residents obtaining sensors through their own means and our lending program, we are able to calibrate and map them in real time – meaning over 90% of the four county’s population now live within 5 kilometers of a fine particle air sensor that they can view in real time.

Our Air Sensor Lending Program supports community-driven air quality monitoring by providing access to reliable, easy-to-use tools. This year we received 21 loan requests, each evaluated based on need, priority, and the potential to advance environmental justice. As a result, we loaned PurpleAir sensors and distributed handheld sensors on 16 occasions. Partners in this effort include schools, non-profits, and private interested individuals across our region. To ensure best results, the Agency provides users training on best practices for data collection and use.

We made substantial progress on our EPA-funded Trailer Researching Environmental Equity (TREE) grant this year. This grant provided an opportunity for community-led air monitoring in East Lakewood, and the Seattle neighborhoods of the Chinatown-International District, Duwamish Valley, and Central District. We completed listening sessions in each of the Seattle neighborhoods where communities identified locations of interest over the course of 2024, providing interpretation services at several meetings. 

Chinatown-International District TREE Listening Session	The Trailer for Researching Environmental Equity

We also completed the community air monitoring campaign of the TREE project. In partnership with youth groups in each county, we monitored neighborhood air quality in areas identified during listening sessions and collected data from an air monitoring trailer stationed in the neighborhood, equipped with high grade air monitoring equipment. We shared mobile monitoring results on a mapping platform. Additionally, we provided information and resources about health impacts, types of air pollution, and their sources. The youth groups provided end of monitoring campaign presentations to each other and community members in each of their respective neighborhoods.

The Agency made progress establishing a new monitoring site near SeaTac Airport through EPA funding. We also purchased and deployed ultrafine particle monitoring equipment through 2023 legislative funding. Ultrafine particles are a subset of particle pollution, with a diameter of 0.1 microns or less. Health impacts from ultrafine particles are not yet as well understood or established as other sizes like PM_2.5. However, monitoring these very tiny particles may help us to better understand and communicate sources of pollution. 

As a follow up of our 2023 Air Toxics Study, we initiated a hexavalent chromium study with EPA funding to refine our estimates of potential cancer risk from this pollutant in the Seattle Duwamish and Tacoma Tideflats areas. Air monitoring is now complete, and preliminary results show our improved risk estimates are similar to those provided in the 2023 study. 

Matt Harper giving a tour of the new SeaTac airport monitoring station to Des Moines City Council member, JC Harris	Multi-size Binning Ultrafine Particle Monitor at Seattle 10th and Weller Street	Tacoma Tideflats monitoring site near Commencement Bay

Through 2023 Legislative funding, we continued quarterly coordination with our local health jurisdictions and the Washington State Department of Health. One goal of this group is to refine clear joint messaging to better communicate issues related to indoor and ambient air quality, as well as climate change. This year, we held four meetings, with topics including Air Monitoring, the Built Environment and Indoor Air Quality, Climate and Transportation, and messaging across various air quality topics. 

Target

The Agency provides visual tools that clearly communicate air pollution risk information that are accessible and available in multiple languages by 2027.

Status  We continued to develop and refine our forecasting and data display tools, and will continue to create and revise technical content and improve accessibility.

Target

The Agency expands community science engagement events through partnerships in all overburdened communities by 2030.

Status  We have conducted over 47 specific engagement events in 10 overburdened communities this year, and 67 events with 20 partnerships since the start of the Strategic Plan (in 2023). We plan to deepen this work through partnerships in future years.

Some of our science engagement this year included activities such as air quality collection with sensors, showcasing our community science functions, and presenting study results with: 

1. 
   
   1. Lake City Collective - Northeast Seattle
   2. InterimCDA WILD Program - Seattle Chinatown-International District
   3. Black Farmers Collective - Seattle Yesler Terrace
   4. Rainier Scholars - Seattle Central District
   5. YMCA - Seattle Central District
   6. Duwamish River Community Coalition - Seattle Duwamish Valley 
   7. Duwamish Valley Sustainability Association - Seattle Duwamish Valley
   8. PIE (Partner in Employment) - South SeaTac, Kent, and Tukwila (you can just point to Seatac here)
   9. Tacoma Tool Library - South Tacoma
   10. Wa-Ya Institute - Lakewood

Objective 1.3 Reduce Inequities in Air Pollution and Effectively Engage on Air Quality Topics

Over the past year, we have taken deliberate steps to engage communities across our region in meaningful conversations about air quality. Recognizing that access to information and participation opportunities are not equally available to all, we have worked to make engagement more structured, inclusive, and accessible.  

One key initiative was to finalize our Community Engagement Guide, an internal resource designed to operationalize best practices for community engagement. Our entire staff received training on this guide and the associated resources available internally. The guide addresses common barriers to participation, including language accessibility, event timing and location, child-friendliness, and stakeholder compensation. It also provides staff with practical tools, such as a database of accessible venues, food vendors, key community contacts, and facilitation resources, ensuring that our outreach efforts are both effective and equitable. 

In fall 2024, we publicly launched our sponsorship program via a webpage to expand our partnerships with organizations that align with our mission. By providing financial support for community events and initiatives, we hope to strengthen relationships with both new and existing partners. 

FY25 Sponsorships

	American Lung Association $10,000		Environmental Coalition of South Seattle (ECOSS)  $5,000
	Breaking Barriers Climate Solutions  $10,000		Rebuilding Together South Sound  $5,000
	Community for a Healthy Bay  $5,000		The Backpack Academy  $5,000
	Duwamish River Community Coalition $3,500		Transportation Choices Coalition  $2,500

In addition to the sponsorship program, we made strides to more effectively organize our community engagement efforts through an internal community engagement request form. 

Culturally and linguistically accessible communication remains a core focus of our engagement strategy. We consistently translate materials into Spanish, Korean, Vietnamese, Tagalog, and other commonly spoken languages, and offer live interpretation services at key events. 

We have also taken steps to build regional and state alignment in air quality communication. Through the Northwest Air Quality Communicators Group, we are collaborating with clean air agencies across Washington, Oregon, and Idaho to develop shared messaging, common language, and pooled resources. This collaboration strengthens public outreach efforts across the Pacific Northwest and ensures consistent, science-based communication. 

We continue to see challenges in engagement and participation at our workshops and events. Although we consistently use a multi-channel outreach strategy that includes social media, organizational partnerships, local media outreach and more, attendance varies across projects. By deepening relationships across our four-county jurisdiction with local health jurisdictions, community groups, and regional partners, we hope to increase engagement and participation in Agency-led events. 

Finally, building on our expanded environmental justice approach to overburdened communities, we continued to engage the Agency’s longstanding Environmental Justice Steering Committee (EJSC). With the adoption of a new charter and promotion of our internal framework to help staff present projects for the committee’s review, we provided input on ten projects with diverse objectives. Staff are encouraged to return to the EJSC as projects reach key milestones or conclude, ensuring ongoing accountability and alignment with goals. 

Supporting Community Action

This year the Agency continued its efforts to help community-based organizations (CBOs), local governments, tribal organizations, and ports in overburdened communities to identify emission reduction projects and author grant applications, as well as to provide grant reporting support for entities that receive grants. We started this work as part of a 2023 Legislative proviso. 

We met with area CBOs and local governments to discuss potential partnerships on grant opportunities; responded to inquiries for support; and supported grant applications by nine organizations. Some highlights of Agency efforts include:

Encouraged participation in state and federal school bus electrification funding by contacting transportation staff at 29 school districts serving overburdened communities within the Agency’s jurisdiction. 

Provided technical assistance to identify air pollution sources and community impacts to support a workforce development grant to the US EPA Environmental & Climate Justice Community Change grant. 

Promoted, met with partners to discuss project ideas, and matched interests and project partners for the WA Ecology “Improving Air Quality in Overburdened Communities” grant. Agency staff coordinated with seven community organizations, nine local government offices, and two ports. 

With state funding for Grant Writing Support ending in June 2025, we will apply program learnings to catalyze future Agency work in service to our overburdened communities.

Target

By 2030, air quality in overburdened communities improves more than air quality in the rest of the region. 

Status  We will conduct comparisons in future progress reports, based on fine particle pollution (PM2.5) that drives health risk.

Target

Complete a community engagement guide by the end of 2023 to operationalize best practices for authentic community engagement.

Status  Staff have received training on the guide so that they can apply to their projects. We will evaluate and adjust the guide periodically to be most helpful to staff.

Target

Create or use an existing external environmental justice council or advisory committee to advise the Agency on its environmental justice policies, actions, and expenditures.

Status  We are exploring how our Advisory Council can take on a more structured role in advising on environmental justice at a strategic, budgetary, and policy level. In spring 2025, members provided valuable feedback on the specific adaptations needed to advise on environmental justice at a level that would complement the direct community feedback we receive.

Objective 1.4 Reduce Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions to Reduce our Region’s Contribution to Climate Change

The Agency continues to lead EPA’s 2023 regional Climate Pollution Reduction Grant (CPRG) planning grant under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) to lead regional climate planning for our four counties. Under this grant, we are now working on the Comprehensive Climate Action Plan (CCAP), which is due December 1, 2025. The CCAP will deliver a consolidated and updated inventory of all significant greenhouse gas sources and sectors within the Puget Sound region, establish near-term and long-term emission reduction goals, and compile a comprehensive list of strategies and actions to achieve greenhouse gas reductions. Analyses will include consideration of potential impacts and benefits to low-income and disadvantaged communities, potential funding sources, authority to implement identified actions, and workforce development needs to implement the proposed actions.

As of this report, we have worked with external partners to develop an initial list of emissions reductions actions in all sectors, and begun updates to the regional greenhouse gas inventory. With this initial list of actions, we are now starting broader stakeholder and community engagement which will be completed this Spring, and reported on next year. We’re looking to community members to help inform how proposed actions can best be designed and implemented in our neighborhoods.

We are also coordinating with other local climate planning processes, as well as the State Departments of Commerce and Ecology as they develop a state-level CCAP. We aim to align with and complement state and local policies and plans, and support jurisdictions at all stages of planning. The CCAP will define regional funding-ready strategies that are competitive for future funding opportunities as they arise.

Collaborative relationships formed during the CPRG planning processes will benefit jurisdictions by aligning priorities and leveraging collective resources to maximize impacts of future efforts to achieve emissions reductions.

Executive Director Cooley stands alongside EPA and King County representatives at Press event announcing $50 million EPA grant	Executive Director Cooley with Climate Pollution Reduction Grant Project Management Team at press event

While the Agency leads the planning phase of the CPRG grant, a summer 2024 EPA award will result in tangible greenhouse gas emission in our region. King County received over $49 million on behalf of the region to reduce carbon in buildings. The application and resulting contract with EPA directed funding to go Multifamily Programs ($19M) for projects in affordable housing settings, and Family Care ($12M) which is directed to either low-income homes, or homes where 50% of those receiving services are low-income. These programs benefit communities at higher-than-average risk for experiencing climate impacts, and who often experience disproportionate negative health outcomes associated with environmental exposure. These home upgrades improve energy efficiency and utility cost burden; reduce air pollution; improve indoor air quality; and increase climate resilience for vulnerable populations during climate emergencies including heat waves and wildfire smoke. Federal uncertainty has delayed progress on this grant, but the Agency continues to support the regional implementation group as they seek clarity on the federal government's commitment to this work.

Target

The region’s GHG emissions are reduced to 50% below 1990 levels by 2030 (and the region is on a trajectory to achieve the state goal of 95% below 1990 levels by 2050).

Status  We estimate that for 2024, we are still 5 to 10% above 1990 levels. We need the successful implementation of ambitious decarbonization measures to meet the 2030 target and beyond. The Agency and partners must pursue highly collaborative strategies to seek innovation and additional funding streams for the success of this target.

Objective 1.5 Prevent, Reduce, and Control Emissions and Exposure from Stationary Sources and their Regulated Activities  

The Agency has consistently met this goal for many years. Agency Compliance staff met commitments to EPA regarding our high priority inspection work again in 2024. A Full Compliance Evaluation (FCE) was completed for each operating permit and synthetic minor limited source (see callout box) for the federal fiscal year (October 2023 – September 2024). Each FCE includes at least one unannounced onsite inspection coupled with the review of the required compliance report submittals to the Agency. Larger, more complex sources may receive more than one onsite inspection.

During the first two years of the strategic plan, the Agency has continued to issue operating permits (both original permits and renewed permits) at a rate of approximately 6 per year. This effort is an additional requirement and commitment to EPA to implement this program for the largest sources in our region. Additionally, the Agency has continued to update our delegation requests to implement EPA regulations on their behalf and includes sources subject to these regulations as part of our priority inspection and compliance annual work planning.

This year, we created and shared additional information on our website linked to permit actions with public comment processes, in support of our compliance engagement goals. We developed this new material to provide background information about the public comment process and how comments would be reviewed and processed for final decisions. This information is intended to help potential commenters understand the type of information that an effective comment may include. We plan to evaluate how this is received, with potentially more materials provided in the future. 

Target

The Agency fully meets its EPA-delegated programs, obligations, and commitments.

Status  Continued to meet this target (as in previous years) and will continue to follow this goal for compliance work planning in future years.

Target

The Agency effectively adjusts implementation efforts to address air pollution prevention and public health benefit and new regulatory and scientific information.

Status  Continued to meet this target through a variety of activities (e.g. asbestos process improvements, compliance engagement, etc.). Annually, work assignments for inspection are adjusted to focus on other source priorities (e.g. sources subject to federal rules delegated to the Agency and other emergent issues) beyond the EPA commitments.

Objective 1.6 Reduce Harmful Wood Smoke Emissions and Exposure

The Agency is administering a grant through Washington State Department of Ecology funding to promote the removal of older, highly polluting wood stoves. Approved applicants who voluntarily recycle eligible wood burning devices are paid a $500 cash incentive. This grant has been wildly successful; as of this report, we had expended initial grant funding and requested more. We had broad participation across the four counties, with participation in Kitsap and Snohomish substantially greater than their population share. Since the last report (March 2024) we have scrapped over 850 old stoves across our four counties, resulting in an estimated reduction of 20 tons of harmful PM_2.5 emissions each year.

To promote program enrollments, the Agency funded a digital advertising campaign which launched in May 2024 and continued into March 2025. This included advertising on multiple social media platforms, and ads on search tools like Google. Starting in September 2024, we also provided ads and all program materials in Spanish to try to reach more households in their preferred language. There were multiple successful applications submitted through the Spanish enrollment form, and we plan to use enrollment metrics to inform our future program design and promotion.

To address short-term wood smoke pollution, we forecasted for potential burn bans. Although we had colder than average temperatures in January and February, we remained below burn ban thresholds and no burn bans were issued. Weather conditions like still, stagnant air and inversions contribute to poor air quality. Burn bans are intended to reduce residential wood smoke, a significant source of harmful fine particle pollution (PM_2.5) during these weather episodes.

Wood Stove Recycling Program ad campaign in English	Wood Stove Recycling Program ad campaign in Spanish

This year, we started to evaluate if changes to residential yard waste burning boundaries are warranted based on reasonable availability of other methods to dispose of yard waste (like leaves and brush). This process is part of a state mandate to regularly assess the availability of alternatives to outdoor burning outside the urban growth area. We started our evaluation by comparing availability of alternatives – including access to transfer stations and curbside pickup – as compared to the criteria laid out in the Washington Administrative Code. Next, we will connect with stakeholders to better understand availability of alternatives and any co-benefits and challenges to implementation.

Target

Communities most impacted by wood smoke achieve the Agency’s fine particle pollution health goal each year.

Status  Our communities most impacted by wood smoke include South End Tacoma, Marysville, and Darrington. All three areas met the Agency’s health goal of 25 µg/m3 (Marysville just barely meets with EPA’s rounding convention) for daily PM2.5 concentrations, which is more protective than the federal daily standard of 35 µg/m3. This measurement is based on EPA's daily standard formula with wildfire smoke days removed.

Objective 1.7 Reduce Harmful Diesel Emissions and Exposure  

Building on our successful Electric Yard Trucks Program, the Agency was awarded a grant through the Federal Diesel Emission Reduction Act (DERA) program in summer 2024.  This funding will support four external partners to replace seven diesel-fueled yard trucks with all-electric yard trucks by September 2027.  We have started working with partners to replace trucks operating in overburdened communities in King County, specifically the South Seattle and Tukwila neighborhoods.

Successful completion of this grant will bring the total number of yard trucks electrified through this program to 27. Past and current project partners include BNSF, Seattle Public Utilities, King County Solid Waste, Albertsons, McLane Company, NewCold Logistics, Lineage Logistics, and Alaska Marine Lines. They each have committed to covering the project costs not funded by the grant, and are also partnering to reduce emissions from cargo-handling equipment in our region.

This year, we also participated in the Puget Sound Zero-Emission Truck Collaborative to create the Decarbonizing Drayage Roadmap, expected to be released in spring 2025. The Roadmap is a critical blueprint for cutting harmful emissions, which account for 85% of the cancer risk from air toxics, while also tackling climate pollution. This plan ensures a smooth, equitable transition that protects public health and supports the region’s economic and environmental goals.

Target

Large-scale regional efforts to deploy electric drayage trucks are underway by 2030.

Status  We helped promote the Northwest Seaport Alliance’s Zero Emission Drayage Incentive Program launched in December 2024. The program offered incentives to cover 50-80% of replacement costs for eligible Class 8 trucks providing cargo-hauling services at cargo terminals in Seattle or Tacoma. We will continue to support regional efforts as informed by the upcoming release of the Decarbonizing Drayage Roadmap.

Target

At least 50% of diesel-powered yard trucks identified near overburdened communities are replaced with electric yard trucks by 2030.

Status  With previous and current grants, our Electric Yard Truck program is on track to replace 27 diesel-fueled yard trucks with electric trucks. We are continuing efforts to identify other yard trucks and project partners in our region for action in future years.

Shared by Albertsons Companies as part of their required community outreach	Shared by King County as part of their required community outreach

Target

All rail operators in the region have implemented projects to replace diesel equipment by 2030, with a focus on zero-emission replacements.

Status  As we work to identify rail operators in the region for potential projects, we are exploring opportunities to collaborate with some of our partners on locomotive replacements.