Health Impact Assessment (HIA) South Tacoma Groundwater Protection District — #2004107

The Department’s Social, Economic, and Environmental Conditions for Health team works to address the underlying conditions that affect community health and the policies, systems, and environments that shape them. One condition that impacts communities is environmental injustice. Environmental injustice can manifest as land use code and permitting that allows for the development of the built environment that doesn’t consider the needs of the people or the natural environment in which they live. The Department wants to use HIAs to address environmental injustice in land use code and permitting. The South Tacoma groundwater aquifer system serves as a significant source of drinking water for the City of Tacoma. It can supply as much as 40 percent of the City’s total water demand during periods of peak summer usage. Recognizing that the area is a center for manufacturing and other heavy industry, and after historical releases of hazardous substances in the area, the City of Tacoma established the South Tacoma Groundwater Protection District (STGPD) in 1988 to protect the City’s aquifer from further contamination. The City is currently in the process of reviewing and updating the STGPD code and will use the HIA process to better inform these updates. Code updates can include changes to land use and transportation planning that affect air, water, and soil quality, traffic safety, and economic development, among