On September 24, 2022, the EPA announced the merger of three existing programs to create the Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights (OEJECR). The new office is a combination of the Office of Environmental Justice, the External Civil Rights Compliance Office, and the Conflict Prevention and Resolution Center.
The OEJECR aims to:
- Improve and enhance the agency’s ability to infuse equity, civil rights, and environmental justice principles and priorities into all EPA practices, policies, and programs.
- Support the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies regardless of race, color, national origin, or income.
- Engage communities with environmental justice concerns and increase support for community-led action through grants and technical assistance.
- Enforce federal civil rights laws that, together, prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin (including on the basis of limited-English proficiency); sex; disability; or age by applicants for and recipients of federal financial assistance from EPA.
- Provide services and expertise in alternative dispute resolution, environmental conflict resolution, consensus-building, and collaborative problem-solving.
Environmental Justice in North Carolina
EPA Administrator, Michael Regan, stood alongside environmental justice advocates in Warrenton, North Carolina to announce the inception of the OEJCER.
Warren County, NC is thought to be the birthplace of the modern environmental justice movement as a protest sparked in 1982 over the State’s decision to construct a hazardous substance landfill. Warren County is a predominantly Black community that was slated to receive a landfill to process hazardous contaminants, notably PCBs. In opposition to this decision, residents of Warren County and members of the NAACP and United Church of Christ staged a protest to call attention to the exposure of PCBs and the disproportionate environmental challenges inflicted on this minority community. Over the six-week protest, roughly 500 protestors were arrested. Despite the efforts of the community protests, the State pushed for the landfill to open in Warren County, while pledging to enforce clean-ups when the technology became available. In light of this conflict, the Warren County protest gained national attention, thus inspiring similar communities across the U.S. to organize and shed light on local environmental justice issues.
Justice40 Initiative
The launch of the OEJECR stems from the Biden Administration’s Justice40 Initiative. The program aims to dedicate 40% of benefits from Federal investments toward marginalized, underserved communities experiencing environmental justice issues. Including the EPA, the Justice40 Initiative utilizes several Federal agencies to support at-risk communities. Among those agencies include the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Agriculture, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The office will be located at EPA’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., and employ over 200 staff members. The office currently oversees the EPA’s Office of Resource Management and Communications, the Office of Community Support, the Office of Policy, Partnerships and Program Development, and the Office of External Civil Rights Compliance.
Please follow the links below to learn more about the Justice40 Initiative and the Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights:
https://www.whitehouse.gov/environmentaljustice/justice40/
https://www.epa.gov/aboutepa/about-office-environmental-justice-and-external-civil-rights
Sources:
Environmental Protection Agency. (2022). EPA launches new national office dedicated to advancing environmental justice and civil rights. Environmental Protection Agency. Retrieved from https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-launches-new-national-office-dedicated-advancing-environmental-justice-and-civil
Office of Legacy Management. (n.d.). Environmental justice history. Energy.gov. Retrieved from https://www.energy.gov/lm/services/environmental-justice/environmental-justice-history
Wagner, A. (2022). EPA Administrator Regan announces new environmental justice office, $3B in funding. The News & Observer. Retrieved from https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article266257236.html