Component 1 - Comparative assessment of environmental issues
Component 2 - Development of the Environmental Action Agenda (EAA)
Component 3 - Implementation of the EAA

The ranking took place during Components 1 and 2. In the first component, the Technical Advisory Committee was divided into four teams (Air, Water, Land, and Cross-Media). These teams ranked the list of environmental issues in terms of relative risk and overall priority for action. During the Component 2, the Policy Advisory Committee utilized technical reports and input gathered from numerous public meetings to create a list of Risked-Based Environmental Priorities. The Seattle City Council eventually adopted this list.

All of the above stakeholder groups, except the General Public, had representatives on at least one of the Technical Advisory Committee teams or the Policy Advisory Committee (PAC). The General Public's input came through a series of public meetings designed to aid the PAC's final priority setting.

Seattle Environmental Priorities Project Technical Advisory Committee. Environmental Risks is Seattle: A Comparative Assessment. Office for Long-range Planning, City of Seattle. October 1991.