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1 1 (September 7, 2023)

handle is hein.crs/govemtu0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Con gre Won I Resedrch Service horning Iecj I live hi a t~ '01914 0 Updated September 7, 2023 Role of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in Environmental Justice The role of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in environmental justice is rooted in multiple executive orders (E.O.s) and implemented through a wide range of agency programs and activities. Legislation has been introduced in multiple Congresses to require the consideration of environmental justice in federal agency decisions; this legislation has not been enacted to date. Environmental-justice-related E.O.s and examples of EPA's implementation of selected directives are discussed below. Envronmental juste Executive Orders Three E.O.s, one issued by President Clinton and two by President Biden, direct EPA and other agencies to consider environmental justice when carrying out agency programs and activities, subject to existing law. E.O.s in themselves generally do not establish federal law; they are presidential directives for the management of executive departments and agencies that instruct the implementation of existing law. Under the E.O.s, executive departments and agencies are responsible for interpreting the statutes that authorize their respective programs and activities to determine the extent to which environmental justice may be incorporated as a facet of their mission. Although the authorizing statutes do not explicitly preclude consideration of environmental justice, other implementation criteria established in law could be inconsistent with such considerations. On February 11, 1994, President Clinton signed the first E.O. focused on environmental justice, E.O. 12898, Federal Actions to Address Environmental Justice in Minority Populations and Low-Income Populations, which directs each executive department, EPA, and certain other agencies to make achieving environmental justice part of its mission. E.O. 12898 more generally directs executive departments and agencies to integrate environmental justice into their respective missions to the greatest extent practicable and permitted by law. Some departments and agencies have incorporated the consideration of environmental justice into their respective regulations to carry out E.O. 12898. E.O. 12898 also established the Interagency Working Group on Environmental Justice (IWGEJ), comprising the heads of certain executive agencies and departments, including EPA. E.O. 12898 states that it is intended to supplement E.O. 12250 for implementing Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which generally prohibits discrimination based on race, color, or national origin in federally funded programs or activities. E.O. 14008, Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad, signed by President Biden on January 27, 2021, amends E.O. 12898. Sections of E.O. 14008 expand the environmental justice directives to EPA and other federal agencies and executive departments, restructure the IWGEJ into the White House Environmental Justice Interagency Council (Interagency Council), and establish the Justice40 initiative (discussed below), among other provisions. For EPA specifically, E.O. 14008 directs the agency to administer the new White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council. E.O. 14008 also directs the agency to focus its enforcement efforts on violations that may have a disproportionate impact on underserved communities and to build upon existing pollution monitoring and notification programs for the public. E.O. 14008 further directs the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) to develop the Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool (CEJST), a government-wide online mapping tool designed to assist federal agencies in identifying disadvantaged communities for the purposes of the Justice40 initiative. CEQ released the first version of CEJST in November 2022. E.O. 14096, Revitalizing Our Nation 's Commitment to Environmental Justice for All, signed by President Biden on April 21, 2023, builds upon these two previous E.O.s and amends certain provisions in them. E.O. 14096 sets out a whole-of-government approach to environmental justice and applies to a broader scope of federal agencies than E.O. 12898, which generally limited its directives to IWGEJ member agencies. E.O. 14096 establishes new directives and expands other directives for federal agencies to make achieving environmental justice part of their missions, consistent with E.O. 12898 and subject to each agency's statutory authority. For example, E.O. 14096 directs each federal agency to submit an Environmental Justice Strategic Plan to CEQ. E.O. 14096 also modifies the membership of the Interagency Council and establishes a new White House Office of Environmental Justice within CEQ. E.O. 14096 also directs federal agencies to consider environmental justice in the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) federal environmental review process. (See CRS Legal Sidebar LSB10590, Addressing Environmental Justice Through NEPA, for more information.) In addition, E.O. 14096 directs EPA to establish an online environmental justice information clearinghouse, among other responsibilities. What Is EnvLronmentai Justice? What constitutes environmental justice has been an ongoing question for many years. There is no definition of environmental justice in federal law. EPA generally has defined environmental justice as 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. Other

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