Report State and Federal Environmental Justice Efforts

Overview: Federal Action 

In the 1990s, the federal government began to address environmental justice through an executive order titled “Federal Actions to Address Environmental Justice in Minority Populations and Low-Income Populations.” The order aimed to: 

• Identify and address the disproportionately high and adverse human health or environmental effects of federal policy on minority and low-income populations, to the greatest extent practicable and permitted by law. 
• Develop a strategy for implementing environmental justice. 
• Promote nondiscrimination in federal programs that affect human health and the environment, as well as provide minority and low-income communities better access to public information and more opportunities for public participation. 

Additionally, the EPA’s Office of Environmental Equity, established in 1992, was renamed the Office of Environmental Justice. In the years following, the federal government issued several reports and interim guidance, including but not limited to: 

• The 1997 Guidance Under the National Environmental Policy Act to assist federal agencies with Council on Environmental Quality procedures so environmental justice concerns could be effectively identified and addressed. 

• The 2010 Interim Guidance on Considering Environmental Justice During the Development of an Action, a guide used to help EPA staff determine whether actions raise possible environmental justice concerns and encourage public participation in the rulemaking process; the guidance was updated in May 2015. 

In January 2021, an executive order created the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council, the White House Environmental Justice Interagency Council and the Justice40 Initiative. An updated list of federal programs covered by the initiative can be found here. A related order provides definitions for the key terms “equity” and “underserved communities” and requires federal agencies to assess their programs and policies for systemic barriers to equity and take steps to address inequities found. An April 2023 executive order directs the Environmental Protection Agency and other agencies to focus on disproportionate policy impacts on low-income and other disadvantaged communities. 

In addition to executive action, Congress is also incorporating environmental equity. Recent legislation provides for numerous funding mechanisms and directives: 

• The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, a $1.9 trillion appropriations package, directs $100 million to the EPA to address health outcome disparities from pollution and the COVID-19 pandemic. It also designates $50 million to grants, contracts and other agency activities that identify and address disproportionate harms and risks on minority and low-income populations, and $50 million to grants and activities to monitor and improve air quality.  
• The Infrastructure Investment in Jobs Act includes significant investments in environmental remediation, including $21 billion to clean up Superfund and brownfield sites, reclaim abandoned mine land and cap orphaned gas wells.  

• The Inflation Reduction Act provides significant funding via tax credits, grants and loan guarantees. The Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund is a $27 billion program supporting greenhouse gas reduction projects, with the requirement that 60% of the funds go to low-income or disadvantaged communities. The $3 billion Environmental and Climate Justice Block Grants fund projects in disadvantaged communities and construction of community capacity building centers to address disproportionate environmental and public health harms related to pollution and climate change.  

Overview: State Action 

At the state level, policymakers are considering ways to evaluate communities that may be disproportionately affected by pollution and other environmental hazards, with several states establishing related offices and commissions. These initiatives can also include adopting policies to reduce environmental health impacts, reform the way land is used and developed, and increase opportunities for communities to weigh in on environmental decision-making processes.  

States are also taking steps to foster understanding and coordination on these issues, including by defining terms, collecting data, and developing and using screening tools (such as the EPA’s EJSCREEN) to identify environmental and demographic indicators that can be used to achieve policy goals.  

State Offices, Commissions and Task Forces 

Since at least 2007, states have established task forces, commissions and offices to focus on issues in overburdened communities—those with minority, low-income, tribal or Indigenous populations that potentially experience disproportionate environmental risks. Established through both legislative and executive action, these task forces and offices often advise the governor on environmental justice concerns, identifying communities that may be impacted by certain decisions and engaging in dialogue with impacted communities to ensure their concerns are being heard and considered. They may also be responsible for setting goals to reduce inequities, crafting regulatory guidance and recommending strategies for incorporating environmental justice policy principles into a state’s decision-making. 

Identifying and Engaging Communities  

In recent years, some states have sought to incorporate principles of equity and justice data into agency decision-making. As a first step, states often develop frameworks to collect and evaluate data to identify communities facing environmental challenges. This has resulted in the development of a variety of tools, including California’s CalEnviroScreen, Maryland’s MD EJSCREEN and Washington’s Environmental Health Disparities Map, used by decision-makers to visualize and quantify environmental burdens. 

Further, states have required certain agencies to prioritize the needs of at-risk communities in their policies and operations. For example, Virginia’s HB 1164 (2020) ensures that the Department of Environmental Quality administers laws and policies in a way that meaningfully involves “all people regardless of race, color, national origin, faith, disability or income.”  

States have also sought to bolster community engagement requirements concerning environmental decision-making. Connecticut, for example, now requires (HB 7008; 2020) agencies to file public participation plans. 

Examples of enacted bills include:  

• Maine LD 1682 (2021): Requires the Governor’s Office of Policy Innovation and the Future to incorporate equity considerations in decision-making at the Department of Environmental Protection, the Public Utilities Commission and other state agencies. 

• New York AB 10001 (2022): Requires the Department of Environmental Conservation, in consultation with the Environmental Justice Interagency Coordinating Council and the Climate Justice Working Group, to study the impacts of the urban heat island effect on disadvantaged communities. 
• Oregon HB 2475 (2021): Authorizes the Public Utilities Commission to consider environmental justice factors that affect rate affordability for certain utility customers. 
• Washington SB 5141 (2021): Requires specific state agencies to create and adopt community engagement plans. Among other requirements, these plans must specify how the agency intends to use environmental, demographic and health disparities data to evaluate the needs of communities that may be impacted by agency actions. 

Incorporating Policies  

States are navigating how environmental justice considerations may be integrated into legislative and regulatory actions. Some are requiring the inclusion of members of environmental justice entities in policy and regulatory decision-making; others are requiring consideration of environmental justice in legislation on a broad range of topics, including waste disposal, environmental cleanup, emissions, transportation, energy, housing, workforce development and more.  

Examples of enacted bills include:  

• Colorado SB 206 (2022): Creates the Disaster Resilience Rebuilding Program, the Sustainable Rebuilding Program and the Office of Climate Preparedness, all of which will consider equity and environmental justice issues. 
• Connecticut HB 5506 (2022): Establishes a beverage container recycling account for use by the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection to provide forgivable grants in urban centers and environmental justice communities. 
• Delaware SB 310 (2022): Updates the membership and responsibilities of the Governor’s Energy Advisory Council, which now includes representation from economically or environmentally overburdened and underserved communities. 
• Hawaii HB 1800 (2022): Establishes a goal for the statewide greenhouse gas emissions limit to be at least 50% below 2005 levels by 2030. Environmental justice to be considered. 
• Illinois SB 3905 (2022): Establishes the Municipal Water and Wastewater Funding Study Committee. In determining whether a community is eligible for funds and special rates or loan terms, environmental justice concepts should be considered. 
• Maine SP 523a (2022): Ensures that environmental justice issues are considered when the construction of a solid waste facility, or the expansion of such a facility, is proposed. 
• Massachusetts HB 5065 (2022): Appropriates funding for urgent infrastructure needs to reduce emissions and the use of fossil fuels and to secure accessibility improvements in environmental justice communities. Provides grants to municipalities to replace lead service lines and supply safe drinking water for environmental justice populations. 
• New Jersey AB 1282 (2022): Requires Department of Environmental Protection to implement a three-year electric school bus program. In each year, at least half of the school districts or school bus contractors selected by the department, and at least half of the grant funding awarded by the department, shall be located in a “low-income, urban or environmental justice community.” 
• New York SB 8008 (2022): Enacts the state transportation, economic development and environmental conservation budget for the 2022-23 fiscal year and includes consideration for disadvantaged communities and environmental justice. 
• Oregon SB 1518 (2022): Allows the Environmental Justice Task Force and the Environmental Equity Committee of the Racial Justice Council to advise on building codes. 
• Rhode Island HB 7611/SB 3043 (2022): Allows the governor to appoint a member of the public with expertise in environmental justice to the Climate Change Coordinating Council Advisory Board. 
• Vermont SB 226 (2022): Proposes to increase the supply of affordable housing in the state, promote homeownership and broaden housing opportunities. Cites climate justice. 
• Washington HB 1812 (2022): Modernizes the energy facility site evaluation council to meet the state clean energy goals. Now includes environmental justice as goal.