SB* InSJght POLICY PAPER
This supplement to EPA In&ight up-to-date poUey information from the
Admintotretor/Deputy to ail EPA
MARCH 1994 EPA-175-N-94-001
EXECUTIVE ORDER #12898 ON ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE
Below is a memorandum from President Clinton to the
heads of all departments and agencies on "Executive Order
on Federal Actions to Address Environmental Justice in
Minority Populations and Low-Income Populations" --
February 11, 1994:
Today I have issued an Executive Order on Federal
Actions to Address Environmental Justice in Minority
Populations and Low-Income Populations. That order is
designed to focus Federal attention on the environmental
and human health conditions in minority communities and
low-income communities with the goal of achieving environ-
mental justice. That order is also intended to promote
nondiscrimination in Federal programs substantially affect-
ing human health and the environment, and to provide
minority communities and low-income communities access to
public information on, and an opportunity for public partici-
pation in, matters relating to human health or the environ-
ment.
The purpose of this separate memorandum is to under-
score certain provisions of existing law that can help ensure
that all communities and persons across this Nation live in
a safe and healthful environment. Environmental and civil
rights statutes provide many opportunities to address
environmental hazards in minority communities and low-
income communities. Application of these existing statutory
provisions is an important part of this Administration's
efforts to prevent those minority communities and low-
income communities from being subject to disproportionately
high and adverse environmental effects.
I am therefore today directing that all department and
agency heads take appropriate and necessary steps to ensure
that the following specific directives are implemented
immediately:
In accordance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of
1964, each Federal agency shall ensure that all programs or
activities receiving Federal financial assistance that affect
human health or the environment do not directly, or through
contractual or other arrangements, use criteria, methods, or
practices that discriminate on the basis of race, color, or
national origin.
Each Federal agency shall analyze the environmental
effects, including human health, economic and social effects,
of Federal actions, including effects on minority communities
and low-income communities, when such analysis is required
by the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA),
42 U.S.C. section 4321 et sea. Mitigation measures outlined
or analyzed in an environmental assessment, environmental
impact statement, or record of decision, whenever feasible,
should address significant and adverse environmental effects
of proposed Federal actions on minority communities and
low-income communities.
Each Federal agency shall provide opportunities for
community input in the NEPA process, including identifying
potential effects and mitigation measures in consultation
with affected communities and improving the accessibility of
meetings, crucial documents, and notices.
The Environmental Protection Agency, when reviewing
environmental effects of proposed action of other Federal
agencies under section 309 of the Clean Air Act, 42 U.S.C.
section 7609, shall ensure that the involved agency has fully
analyzed environmental effects on minority communities and
low-income communities, including human health, social, and
economic effects.
Each Federal agency shall ensure that the public, includ-
ing minority communities and low-income communities, has
adequate access to public information relating to human
health or environmental planning, regulations, and enforce-
ment when required under the Freedom of Information Act,
5 U.S.C. section 552, the Sunshine Act, 5 U.S.C. section
552b, and the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-
Know Act, 42 U.S.C. section 11044.
The following is a statement from EPA Administrator Carol
Browner on the Environmental Justice Executive Order:
For too long, low-income communities and minority
communities have borne a disproportionate burden of
modern industrial life. Today's Executive Order seeks to
bring justice to these communities.
All Americans deserve to be protected from pollution
not just those who can afford to live in the cleanest, safest
communities. All Americans deserve clean air, pure water,
land that is safe to live on, food that is safe to eat.
Last April, on Earth Day, President Clinton called on
federal agencies to ensure equal environmental protection to
all Americans. Today's Executive Order means that federal
agencies will address environmental injustice - past,
present, and future.
We will develop strategies to bring justice to Americans
who are suffering disproportionately ~ farm workers who are
exposed to high-risk pesticides, children who are exposed to
lead paint in old buildings, people who fish in polluted
waters, those who live near hazardous waste incinerators.
We will develop strategies to ensure that low-income and
minority communities have access to information about their
environment -- and that have an opportunity to participate
in shaping government policies that affect their health and
their environment.
The Clinton Administration's proposal to reform our
Superfund law speaks to these concerns - by increasing
public participation in Superfund decision-making.
The President has asked me to convene an interagency
working group to begin to implement the Executive Order.
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look forward to working with my colleagues in this Adminis-
tration to ensure that all Americans have a safe and healthy
environment.
Below is a fact sheet on the Environmental Justice Executive
Order:
EnvironmentalJustice Strategies
Each federal agency must develop within one year an
environmental justice strategy that identifies and addresses
disproportionately high and adverse human health or
environmental effects of its programs, policies, and activities
on minority and low-income populations.
Public Participation and Access to Information
To ensure adequate public participation and access to
information, Federal agencies must:
Solicit public recommendations in developing and imple-
menting environmental justice strategies;
Use public documents that are concise and understandable;
Promote a better public understanding of risks associated
with principally relying on fish or wildlife for subsistence;
Translate appropriate public documents for limited-English
speaking populations;
Allow public participation in the development of certain
research strategies.
Interagencv Working Group
The executive order creates an interagency working group
chaired by the EPA Administrator and composed of other
agency heads.
The working group will:
Provide guidance, coordinate, and review the Federal
government's implementation of the Executive Order;
Hold public meetings for fact-finding, receiving public
comments, and conducting inquiries, into environmental
justice.
Research and Data Collection
Agencies shall, whenever practicable and appropriate:
Include diverse segments of the population in epidemiologi-
cal and clinical studies and identify multiple and cumulative
exposures;
Collect, maintain, and analyze information in order to
provide assessments of environmental and human health
risks borne by populations identified by income, race and
national origin.
Agencies shall collect, maintain, and analyze information on
the race, national origin, and income levels of areas sur-
rounding the following types of facilities, if they are expected
to have a substantial environmental, human health or
economic effect on surrounding populations:
Federal facilities subject to the Emergency Planning and
Community Right-to-Know Act's reporting requirements; and
Facilities that become the subject of substantial Federal
administrative or judicial action.
Federal Program
Each federal agency must conduct its programs and activi-
ties that substantially affect human health or the environ-
ment on a manner that does not exclude participation in,
deny benefits of, or discriminate against persons or popula-
tions because of their race, color, or national origin.
Subsistence Consumption of Fish and Wildlife
Federal agencies must collect, maintain, and analyze
information on the consumption patterns of populations that
principally rely on fish anchor wildlife for subsistence and
communicate the risks of those consumptions patterns.
Federal agencies, as appropriate, must publish guidance on
methods for evaluating the human health risks associated
with the consumption of pollutant-bearing fish or wildlife
and consider such guidance in developing their policies and
rules.
General Provisions
The Executive Order:
Covers agencies that conduct programs or activities that
substantially affect human health or the environment;
Requires implementation to be consistent with the prin-
ciples set forth in the National Performance Review;
Applies to Federal agency activities in the United States
and its territories and possessions, the District of Columbia,
the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the Commonwealth
of the Mariana Islands.
Requires Federal agencies to assume any financial costs of
complying with the Executive Order, unless otherwise
provided by law.
At Headquarters, copies of the Environmental Justice
far review in the- EPA HQ Library
tive Order dated February II 1994 arp available
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