Federal Agencies Release Environmental Justice Strategies, implementation plans and progress reports

Recently, federal agencies, led by the Council on Environmental Quality and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, released environmental justice strategies, implementation plans, and progress reports designed to outline steps the agencies will take to protect communities facing greater health and environmental risks.

As part of this process, federal agencies have reviewed their portfolios to assess how their programs, policies, and activities may have disproportionately adverse health and environmental effects. Through this review, they worked to identify strategies, as well as specific programs and initiatives, to reduce environmental or health hazards, ensure access to beneficial programs, and increase community participation in agency decision-making.

Examples of some of these initiatives include:

• The Department of Transportation's Federal Transit Administration is finalizing an environmental justice circular to help grantees determine whether there are any minority or low-income populations that may be adversely affected by a transit project or decision. DOT’s Federal Highway Administration is working with the National Highway Institute to revamp their course on environmental justice and Title VI.
• The U.S. Department of Labor is translating educational materials and hazard alerts into Spanish, Chinese and Vietnamese to ensure that minority workers have access to information they need to avoid environmental hazards on the job.
• The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is helping to provide green jobs and workforce development opportunities for veterans in minority and low-income communities.
• The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is working with communities to use Health Impact Assessments, to help proactively address the potential impacts a policy or project might have on minority and low income populations (e.g., in Baltimore, MD, work is under way to evaluate the human health impact of a vacant property redevelopment program).
  

For more information about Federal agency strategies and implementation plans, please visit:

EPA: Environmental Justice: Compendium of Federal Agencies' Policies, Strategies, Work/Implementation Plans, Guidance on Environmental Justice