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About Environmental Justice
Environmental Justice is the fair treatment
and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national
origin, or income with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement
of environmental laws, regulations, and policies. Fair treatment means that
no group of people, including a racial, ethnic, or a socioeconomic group,
should bear a disproportionate share of the negative environmental consequences
resulting from industrial, municipal, and commercial operations or the execution
of federal, state, local, and tribal programs and policies. Meaningful involvement
means that: (1) potentially affected community residents have an appropriate
opportunity to participate in decisions about a proposed activity that will
affect their environment and/or health; (2) the public's contribution can
influence the regulatory agency's decision; (3) the concerns of all participants
involved will be considered in the decision making process; and (4) the
decision makers seek out and facilitate the involvement of those potentially
affected.
In sum, environmental justice is the goal to be achieved for all communities
and persons across this Nation. Environmental justice is achieved when
everyone, regardless of race, culture, or income, enjoys the same degree
of protection from environmental and health hazards and equal access to
the decision-making process to have a healthy environment in which to
live, learn, and work.
Background:
How Did the Environmental Justice Movement Arise? The environmental
justice movement was started by people, primarily people of color, who
needed to address the inequity of environmental protection services in
their communities. Grounded in the struggles of the 1960's civil rights
movement, these citizens from every facet of life, emerged to elucidate
the environmental inequities facing millions of people. These communities
rose to articulate and to sound the alarm about the public health dangers
which posed an immediate danger to the lives of their families, their
communities and themselves.
Early in 1990, the Congressional Black Caucus, a bipartisan coalition
of academicians, social scientists and political activists met with EPA
officials to discuss their findings that EPA was unfairly applying its
enforcement inspections and that environmental risk was higher in racial
minority and low-income populations. In response, the EPA Administrator
created the Environmental Equity Workgroup in July 1990 to address the
allegation that "racial minority and low-income populations bear
a higher environmental risk burden than the general population."
The Workgroup produced a final report "Reducing Risk in All Communities"
Volumes I and II in June 1992 which supported the allegation and made
ten recommendations for addressing the problem. One of the recommendations
was to create an office to address these inequities. The Office of Environmental
Equity was established November 6, 1992. The name was changed to Office
of Environmental Justice in 1994.
On February 11, 1994, President Bill Clinton signed Executive Order
12898 "Federal Actions to Address Environmental Justice in Minority
Populations and Low-Income Populations" to focus federal attention
on the environmental and human health conditions of minority and low-income
populations with the goal of achieving environmental protection for all
communities. The Order directed federal agencies to develop environmental
justice strategies to aid federal agencies identify and address disproportionately
high and adverse human health or environmental effects of their programs,
policies, and activities on minority and low-income populations. The Order
is also intended to promote nondiscrimination in federal programs substantially
affecting human health and the environment, and to provide minority and
low-income communities access to public information on, and an opportunity
for public participation in, matters relating to human health or the environment.
The Presidential Memorandum accompanying the Order underscores certain
provisions of existing law that can help ensure that all communities and
persons across this nation live in a safe and healthful environment.
One of the provisions of the Executive Order, established an Interagency
Working Group (IWG) on environmental justice chaired by the EPA Administrator
and comprised of the heads of eleven departments/agencies and several
White House offices. These include the EPA, the Departments of Justice,
Defense, Energy, Labor, Interior, Transportation, Agriculture, Housing
and Urban Development, Commerce, and Health and Human Services, the Council
on Environmental Quality, the Office of Management and Budget, the Office
of Science and Technology Policy, the Domestic Policy Council, and the
Council of Economic Advisors. The IWG meets on a monthly basis to continue
the collaborative projects. Fifteen demonstration projects have been selected
which depict this with additional projects to be selected each year.
The statutes that EPA implements provide the Agency with authority to
consider and address environmental justice concerns. These laws encompass
the breadth of the Agency's activities including setting standards, permitting
facilities, making grants, issuing licenses or regulations, and reviewing
proposed actions of other federal agencies. These laws often require the
Agency to consider a variety of factors, which generally include one or
more of the following: public health; cumulative impacts; social costs;
and welfare impacts. Moreover, some statutory provisions, such as under
theToxics Substances Control Act (TSCA), explicitly direct the Agency
to target low-income populations for assistance. Other statutes direct
the Agency to consider vulnerable populations in setting standards. In
all cases, how the Agency chooses to implement and enforce its authority
can have substantial effects on the achievement of environmental justice
for all communities.
Since the Office was created there have been significant efforts across
EPA to integrate environmental justice into how the Agency conducts its
day-to-day operations. Information on these activities can be found throughout
the Agency. Every Headquarters Office and Region has an environmental
justice coordinator to serve as a focal point within the organization.
This network of individuals plays a key role in outreach and education
to external as well as internal individuals and organizations. Many questions
are received concerning environmental justice and some of the more frequently
asked questions seemed a good way to explain what EPA has done and plans
to do in the future.
To find out more about environmental justice, use the navigation links
on the left side of the page.
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