oEPA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Enforcement and
Compliance
(2201 A)
January 2010
Office of Environmental Justice (OEJ)
Environmental Justice Fact Sheet
National Environmental Justice
Advisory Council
BACKGROUND
EPA's commitment to environmental justice began in 1992, as a
response to public concerns, when the Agency created an Office of
Environmental Justice and implemented a new organizational
infrastructure to integrate environmental justice considerations into
EPA's policies, programs, and activities. In 1993, the Agency
established the National Environmental Justice Advisory Council
(NEJAC) in order to obtain independent advice and
recommendations from all stakeholders involved in the
environmental justice dialogue.
Obtaining Stakeholder Advice
The NEJAC was established by charter pursuant to the Federal
Advisory Committee Act (FACA) on September 30, 1993. The
charter for the NEJAC provides the Administrator with advice and
recommendations with respect to integrating environmental justice
considerations into EPA's programs, policies, and day-to-day
activities.
The NEJAC consists of members from community-based groups;
business and industry; academic and educational institutions; state
and local governments; tribal governments and indigenous
EPA'S COMMITMENT TO
ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE
In her January 23, 2009, "Opening Memorandum to EPA
Employees," Administrator Lisa Jackson noted that public
trust in the Agency demands that we reach out to all
stakeholders fairly and impartially, that we consider the views
and data presented carefully and objectively, and that we fully
disclose the information that forms the bases for our
decisions." In this memo, the Administrator stated that EPA
must take special pains to connect with those who have been
historically underrepresented in EPA decision-making,
including the disenfranchised in our cities and rural areas,
communities of color, native Americans, people
disproportionately impacted by pollution, and small
businesses, cities and towns working to meet their
environmental responsibilities.
In her remarks to the NEJAC on July 21, 2009,
Administrator Jackson further noted that the advice and
recommendations of the NEJAC will be especially pertinent to
the Agency as it seeks to place greater emphasis on
implementation and the integration of environmental justice
considerations into all programs, policies, and activities. She
stated that environmentalism is not only about protecting
wilderness or saving polar ice caps. As important as those
things are, environmentalism is also about protecting people
in the places where they live, and work, and raise families.
It's about making our urban and suburban neighborhoods
safe and clean, about protecting children in their schools, and
workers at their jobs.
organizations; and non-governmental and environmental groups.
The Council meets once each year and provides a forum focusing
on human health and environmental conditions in all communities.
including minority populations and low-income populations.
The issues around environmental justice are often complex and
involve strongly divergent viewpoints. The NEJAC provides an
environment for all parties to express their concerns and to
formulate independent, cogent, and timely advice and
recommendations to EPA on major public policy issues. In this
way, the NEJAC assists in integrating environmental justice into
EPA's policies, programs, and activities.
NEJAC ACCOMPLISHMENTS
As a committee consisting of representatives of broad spectrum of
stakeholders, the NEJAC has developed consensus proposals to the
Agency for creative and collaborative strategies to better address
the human health and environmental protection needs of
disadvantaged and underserved communities and to ensure that the
goal of environmental justice is being integrated in Agency policies.
programs, and priorities.
From 1993 to 1996, the NEJAC produced a number of products and
provided consensus advice to help the Agency focus its
environmental justice agenda. For example, the initial draft of
EPA's Environmental Justice Strategy required by Executive Order
12898 was reviewed and substantive recommendations made; the
Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response's Facility Siting
Criteria document was reviewed; the Model Plan for Public
Participation was published and distributed widely; and a public
forum protocol was developed and subsequently used as the model
for the first Interagency Public Meeting on Environmental Justice
held January 19 and 20, 1995, in Atlanta, Georgia. During the
summer of 1995, public dialogues were conducted in five major
cities concerning possible solutions to urban crises resulting from
the loss of economic opportunities caused by pollution and the
relocation of businesses. These dialogues were intended to provide
an opportunity, for the first time, for environmental justice
advocates and residents of impacted communities to systematically
provide input regarding issues related to the EPA's Brownfields
Economic Redevelopment Initiative. In May 1996, the NEJAC and
EPA co-sponsored a Roundtable on Superfund Relocation issues in
Pensacola, Florida, to help EPA determine how relocation should be
considered during any cleanup decision. The first NEJAC/EPA
Enforcement Roundtable was held in San Antonio, Texas.
During the 1997 to 1999 period, the second NEJAC/EPA
Enforcement Roundtable was held in Durham, North Carolina; the
US-Mexico Border XXI program proposal was reviewed; and the
Agency's enforcement and compliance work plan was commented
on. In an effort to provide guidance to EPA regarding international
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issues related to environmental justice, the first Roundtable on
Environmental Justice on the U.S./Mexico Border was held August
19 to 21, 1999 in National City, California. The objectives of that
Roundtable were to define and trace the evolution of the national
and international environmental justice issues; identify
environmental justice issues along the joint U.S./Mexico border;
provide an overview of current border programs and explore ways
to address concerns; develop environmental justice border policies;
and identify existing enforcement and cleanup processes.
During the 1999 to 2007 period, NEJAC restructured its meetings
from addressing site-specific issues to addressing national policy
issues:
• Permitting: What factors should be considered by a federal
agency, as well as state or local agencies with delegated
permitting authority in the decision making process prior to
allowing a new facility to operate in a community that already
may have a number of such facilities?
• Community Based Health Models: Is there a direct
correlation between the environment and the public health
problems of the resident of communities that are located in
close proximity to multiple pollution-generating facilities?
• EJ Integration in Federal Programs: How have the Federal
agencies succeeded in integrating environmental justice into
their programs, operations, policies, and activities pursuant to
Executive Order 12898?
• Fish Consumption: How should the EPA improve the quality,
quantity, and integrity of our Nation's aquatic ecosystems in
order to protect the health and safety of people consuming or
using fish, aquatic plants, and wildlife?
• Pollution Prevention: How can EPA promote innovation in
the field of pollution prevention, waste minimization, and
related areas to more effectively ensure a clean environment
and quality of life for all peoples, including low-income,
minority and tribal communities?
• Cumulative Risk: To ensure environmental justice for all
communities and tribes, what short- and long-term actions
should the Agency take in proactively implementing the
concepts contained in its Framework for Cumulative Risk
Assessment?
• Enhancing Stakeholder Involvement: What mechanisms will
most effectively: ensure continuation of timely, relevant and
cogent public policy advice on environmental justice
issues/concerns; enable impacted communities to continue to
raise concerns to government agencies; support continued
partnership-building and problem-solving capacity among
EPA's regulatory partners and other environmental justice
stakeholders; and promote opportunities for training and
sharing lessons learned for all stakeholders involved in the
environmental justice dialogue?
In August 2007, the NEJAC incorporated public teleconference
calls as a way to expand public participation at its meetings. In
addition to its public face-to-face meetings, the NEJAC has held
four public meetings via teleconference call from late 2007
through 2009. It anticipates it will hold two such calls each year.
In recent meetings, the following issues have been discussed and
reports of recommendations submitted to the Administrator:
• Goods Movement and Air Quality - How can the Agency
most effectively promote strategies, in partnership with federal,
state, tribal, and local government agencies, to identify,
mitigate, and/or prevent the disproportionate burden on
communities of air pollution resulting from goods movement
activities?
• Green Business and Sustainability: How can the EPA
enhance its efforts to engage the private sector - business and
industry - in a meaningful dialogue to strengthen the links
between environmental justice, green business, and
Sustainability.
• State EJ Assistance: What mechanism can EPA use select,
fund, and implement State Cooperative Agreement projects
that will result in meaningful and measurable environmental
and/or public health improvements in communities
disproportionately exposed to environmental harms and risks.
• School Air Toxics Monitoring: How can EPA ensure that its
communication materials about the Agency' s monitoring effort
appropriately address the concerns of environmental justice
communities and are accessible to those communities?
PUBLIC MEETINGS
Because NEJAC is chartered under FACA, it is required to hold
public meetings to receive comments, questions, and
recommendations regarding environmental justice issues. Each
NEJAC meeting includes a minimum of two hours for members of
the public to register and make statements before the NEJAC. Time
for public comment also has been allotted during public
teleconference calls. All comments are recorded and maintained as
a part of the public record of each meeting. Each meeting record is
available to the public on the Internet (see box below) or in Room
2224, Ariel Rios Building, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW,
Washington, D.C. 20004. In some cases, hard copies are available.
MEMBERSHIP
Careful consideration is given to the appointment of each member
to ensure that the point of view of every stakeholder group is
represented. Members have staggered terms, and the membership is
rotated to provide the widest participation possible by the greatest
number of stakeholders.
INTERNET ACCESS
Information about the NEJAC, including reports and publication is
available on the Internet (see the box below), where you will be
prompted to select a variety of options for information about
NEJAC. You will be given an opportunity to add your name to the
Office of Environmental Justice's mailing list and be able to "link"
to other sites of interest.
NEJAC KEY POINTS OF CONTACT
Chair Mr. Richard Moore
Designated Federal
Officer (DFO) Ms, Victoria Robinson
202-564-6349
To get the most up-to-date information about the NEJAC:
Go online at:
http://www.epa.gov/compliance/environmentaljustice
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