By Hillary V.
You may have heard the term Environmental Justice thrown around recently – particularly relating to President Biden’s recent announcements relating to infrastructure and climate change – but what is it? Environmental Justice is the concept that all people – regardless of race, color, national origin, or income – should receive fair treatment and meaningful involvement with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies. It also means that communities should have a say in the decisions that impact their health and environment.
The Environmental Justice movement is rooted in a dark history of disparate treatment of low income and minority populations, which have been targeted for the placement of environmentally harmful facilities and practices. For example, in 1982, thousands of tons of PCB-ridden soil was intentionally dumped in a facility in an Black community despite the community’s protest in Warren County, North Carolina. You can read more about the devastating impacts of these decisions in Toxic Wastes and Race, commissioned by the Commission for Racial Justice of the United Church of Christ in 1987. The report concluded that race proved to be the most significant variable for the location of commercial hazardous waste facilities and that one out of every five Black and Hispanic Americans lived in communities with uncontrolled toxic waste sites. Following extensive and relentless advocacy, Environmental Justice began to grow as a movement and was formally recognized by President Bill Clinton in his Executive Order 12898 on Environmental Justice, titled “Federal Actions to Address Environmental Justice in Minority Populations and Low-Income Populations.”
Recently, President Biden issued an Executive Order that created the White House Environmental Justice Interagency Council. Notably, while in the past Environmental Justice rested most squarely with the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”), Biden is now directing the U.S. Attorney General and secretaries of the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Energy, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, Labor, and Transportation to take Environmental Justice metrics into account in their work.
But what does it mean for an agency to take Environmental Justice into account? One example of what an agency is directed to measure includes whether a particular population is exposed to pollution. Environmental Justice, as it is defined now, focuses on low-income, minority and Native American and indigenous communities. Exposure to pollution can be measured by:
- Proximity to emission sources;
- Types of exposure pathways;
- Physical infrastructure that may exacerbate the pollution, such as housing conditions or water infrastructure;
- Assessing multiple or cumulative exposures.
In addition, Environmental Justice includes the meaningful opportunity for communities to participate in decisions that will affect their environment and/or health. Whether an agency provided a meaningful opportunity to participate can be measured by the distribution, frequency, and translation of notices relating to the decision and the mechanisms for providing and incorporating public comment into the decision.
While we have a long way to go in addressing the devastating impacts that harmed the health of low income and minority communities throughout U.S. history, President Biden is making important steps towards finally addressing and reversing this shameful trend.
Sustainable Saplings 