* O
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PLAN EJ 2014
CONSIDERING ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE
IN PERMITTING
DRAFT IMPLEMENTATION PLAN
Led by
Office of Air and Radiation, Office of General Counsel
and Region 1
Plan EJ 2014 is EPA's roadmap to integrate
environmental justice (EJ) into its programs and policies.
2014 represents the 20th anniversary of the signing of
Executive Order 12898 on environmental justice.

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Comments regarding the Considering Environmental Justice
in Permitting Draft Implementation Plan can be submitted on Regulations.gov
Docket # EPA-HQ-OECA-2011-0293. Comments will be accepted through April 29, 2011.
For more information on Plan EJ 2014, visit the US EPA's Office of Environmental Justice
website at: http://www.epa.gov/environmentaliustice/plan-ei/index.html.

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Plan EJ 2014: Considering Environmental Justice in Permitting
Draft Implementation Plan, March 1, 2011
1.0	INTRODUCTION
The intent of this cross-Agency element (EJ Permitting Initiative) of Plan EJ 2014 is "to ensure that
environmental justice concerns are given as full consideration as possible in the decision to issue a
permit and the terms of the permits issued under [existing] federal environmental laws," as stated
in Plan EJ 2014. It contemplates a focus on both EPA-issued permits, as well as permits issued
pursuant to existing federal environmental laws (i.e., federal, state, or tribal), and seeks to identify
"the best current opportunities for taking environmental justice concerns into consideration" and
"enable EPA to address the complex issue of cumulative impacts from exposure to multiple
sources and existing conditions that are critical to the effective consideration of environmental
justice in permitting."
The proposed activities outlined in this Draft Implementation Plan rely heavily on the advice and
recommendations presented by the National Environmental Justice Advisory Council (NEJAC) from
both their most recent response to EPA's permitting charge and numerous relevant prior NEJAC
reports. We recognize that there has been considerable amount of work - particularly on the
NEJAC's part - advocating for earlier and more effective public participation in the permitting
process, but that these practices have not been widely adopted. We also recognize that although
environmental justice can be incorporated into the permitting process in a variety of ways, there
are significant challenges - particularly related to cumulative/multi-media impacts. We therefore
seek to truly create a culture within EPA - and among our federal, state, local, and tribal
permitting partners - in which engaging on issues of environmental justice more readily translates
into greater protections for disproportionately burdened communities.
Below is a DRAFT Implementation Plan to be discussed and revised by EPA staff over the next few
months, with additional input from external stakeholders.
1.1	Goals
Our overarching goals are for disproportionately burdened communities to have full and
meaningful access to the permitting process and for permits to address environmental justice
issues to the greatest extent practicable.
To achieve our goals, the EJ Permitting Initiative will "[ijdentify and develop tools to support the
consideration of environmental justice during implementation of permitting programs" to reduce
"exposures for those at the greatest risk," as stated in the FY 2011-2015 EPA Strategic Plan, Cross-
Cutting Fundamental Strategy: Working for Environmental Justice and Children's Health (Strategic
Plan).
Our goals help to fulfill:
•	Executive Order 12898, "Federal Actions to Address Environmental Justice In Minority
Populations and Low-Income Populations," which tasks each federal agency with "achieving
environmental justice part of its mission by identifying and addressing, as appropriate,
disproportionately high and adverse human health or environmental effects of its programs,
policies, and activities on minority populations and low-income population;"
•	The Administrator's priority of Expanding the Conversation on Environmentalism and Working
for Environmental Justice, which heralds "a new era of outreach and protection for
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Plan EJ 2014: Considering Environmental Justice in Permitting
Draft Implementation Plan, March 1, 2011
communities historically underrepresented in EPA decision-making" and calls for "including
environmental justice principles in all of our decisions;" and
• EPA's mission to protect human health and the environment, and specifically to ensure that:
o all people in America are protected from significant risks to human health and the
environment where they live, learn and work,
o federal laws protecting human health and the environment are enforced fairly and
effectively, and
o all parts of society - communities, individuals, businesses, and state, local and tribal
governments - have access to accurate information sufficient to effectively participate
in managing human health and environmental risks.
1.2 Organizational Structure
The success of this effort will depend on participation from many offices within EPA, both at
Headquarters and the Regions.
The Office of Air and Radiation has been designated the Headquarters lead. The Office of General
Counsel has agreed to act as co-lead. Region 1 is the lead Region. Staff and managers from these
three offices, with guidance from the Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance/Office of
Environmental Justice, have formed a Steering Committee to manage the EJ Permitting Initiative.
The Steering Committee is chaired by Janet McCabe, Principal Deputy Assistant Administrator,
Office of Air and Radiation; Carol Ann Siciliano, Associate General Counsel, Cross-Cutting Issues
Law Office, Office of General Counsel; and Ira Leighton, Deputy Regional Administrator, Region 1.
The EJ Permitting Initiative will have a small group composed of key senior EPA Headquarters and
Regional leaders (Senior Leaders) to determine expected outcomes and the scope of work as well
as a cross-agency workgroup of EPA Headquarters and Regional staff (Workgroup) that will
develop tools and recommendations. The EPA staff lead is Michelle Roos, Office of Policy Analysis
and Review, Office of Air and Radiation.
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Plan EJ 2014: Considering Environmental Justice in Permitting
Draft Implementation Plan, March 1, 2011
2.0	IMPLEMENTATION
The draft strategies and activities outlined below describe the intended charge to the Workgroup
over the next several years. They are not intended to stop or prevent offices or individuals at EPA
from continuing their ongoing practices of furthering integration of environmental justice into the
permitting process (e.g., regional review of state permits). Rather, we encourage offices and
individuals to share new issues, potential tools, and recommendations with the Workgroup and
communicate lessons learned.
2.1	Strategies
Strategy 1: Develop tools and recommendations that will enhance the ability of
disproportionately burdened communities to participate fully and meaningfully in the
permitting process.
These tools and recommendations will focus on ensuring that affected communities are fully
informed about the potential effects of permitted activities and understand the information they
receive. In addition, we will explore ways of promoting regular dialogue between affected
communities and the facilities at all stages of the permitting process, including early involvement
and after a permit has been issued.
Strategy 2: Concurrently with Strategy 1, develop tools and recommendations to assist
permitting authorities to meaningfully address environmental justice in permitting
decisions.
These tools and recommendations will focus on how environmental justice can be incorporated
into the permitting process, including the range of potential permitting measures that can be used
to avoid or reduce potential environmental justice impacts.
Strategy 3: Implement these tools and recommendations at EPA and work with others
to do the same.
We will first focus on implementing tools and recommendations related to EPA permitting
decisions and decisions regarding permits issued by states pursuant to delegated programs.
Subsequently, we will engage in supporting and encouraging other federal agencies, as well as
state, local and tribal permitting authorities, to develop environmental justice strategies for their
permit decisions pursuant to existing federal environmental laws.
2.2	Activities
All of the activities below are in support of our goal to develop and implement tools and
recommendations (including templates, guidance, best practices, policy decisions, and clarity on
statutory authority) to better enable disproportionately burdened communities to have full and
meaningful access to the permitting process and for permits to address environmental justice
issues to the greatest extent practicable.
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Plan EJ 2014: Considering Environmental Justice in Permitting
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Activity 1: Conduct initial internal research to begin to create a preliminary list of
potential tools and recommendations and finalize the draft implementation plan
(March-June 2011).
Activity 1.1: Conduct a initial literature review - including a review of previous NEJAC papers,
publications and other recommendations - to identify an initial list of existing and needed tools
and recommendations (completed, see Appendix A).
Activity 1.2: Convene a cross-agency workgroup (Workgroup). The Workgroup met for the first
time on March 7, 2011 and will staff the completion of all of the proposed activities in this draft
implementation plan (On-going).
Activity 1.3: Review and evaluate the permitting process for at a minimum three federal permits
with EJ considerations to use as case studies to identify existing and needed tools and
recommendations1 (March/April/May 2011).
Activity 1.4: Coordinate overlapping strategies with other EJ Plan 2014 Elements and consider
integrating and leveraging activities between them (March/April/May 2011).
Activity 1.5: Finalize this Draft Implementation Plan (after the May 10-11, 2011 NEJAC meeting).
Activity 2: Solicit existing and recommended tools and recommendations from internal
and external stakeholders (March/April/May 2011).
Individual EPA programs and regions, as well as other federal agencies, states, local agencies and
tribal governments, have already developed and implemented numerous tools and
recommendations. In addition, these government entities as well as community and advocacy
groups, industry and trade organizations, and experts have first-hand experience and knowledge
about these issues and ideas for what tools and recommendations are needed. This outreach
provides the Workgroup an important opportunity to gather these tools and recommendations,
and begin to identify the most effective and replicable.
Activity 3: Create an initial list of priority tools and recommendations and
corresponding deliverables for Year 1 (March/April/May/June 2011).
Activity 4: Develop, test, and finalize priority tools and recommendations for use at
EPA (June-November 2011).
Activity 4.1: Develop priority tools and recommendations that need to be developed, amend
existing resources, and identify those ready for potential immediate use at EPA (June/July/August
2011).
Activity 4.2: Identify opportunities to test the draft tools and recommendations through on-going
permit activities (June-October 2011).
Activity 4.3: Solicit comments both internally and externally (October/November 2011).
1 The Strategic Plan charges the EJ and Permitting Initiative to "Convene a cross-agency workgroup on the
consideration of EJ in federal EPA permits and review at a minimum three federal permits with EJ
considerations (by September 2011)."
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Plan EJ 2014: Considering Environmental Justice in Permitting
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Activity 4.4: Incorporate comments and revise tools and recommendations as necessary
(November/December 2011).
Activity 5: Determine the best format(s) or vehicle(s) to convey and implement the
tools and recommendations (finalization, policy, rulemaking, etc.) (December
2011/January 2012).
Activity 6: Create a more detailed timeline for 2012-2014 deliverables for the
Workgroup (2012).
Pending funding availability, potential activities for 2012-2014 may include:
•	Implement first set of tools and recommendations via trainings at EPA;
•	Implement "train-the-trainers" seminars to help train community organizations on newly
developed tools and recommendations;
•	Continually review the effectiveness of the tools, recommendations and trainings, develop
additional tools and recommendations, and update and revise trainings; and
•	Engage in supporting and encouraging other federal agencies as well as state, local and tribal
permitting authorities to achieve environmental justice goals for their permit decisions
pursuant to existing federal environmental laws.
2.3 Community Engagement and Stakeholder Partnership Plan
The Workgroup will develop a stakeholder involvement and outreach plan in order to engage
stakeholders throughout the process. We will also consult with the Small Business Ombudsman
and the Office of Environmental Justice to create the plan. The plan may include meetings with
external experts and stakeholders to seek their input early in the process on the Draft
Implementation Plan and to discuss a process for stakeholder participation. The Workgroup is
currently exploring formalizing regular NEJAC participation. Additional external stakeholders may
include representatives from:
•	Association of State Drinking Water Administrators (ASDWA)
•	Association of State and Territorial Waste Management Officials (ASTSWMO)
•	Association of State & Interstate Water Pollution Control Administrators (ASIWPCA)
•	Business organizations and trade associations
•	Clean Air Act Advisory Committee (CAAAC)
•	Community advocacy groups
•	Environmental Council of the States (ECOS)
•	Ground Water Protection Council (GWPC)
•	Inter Agency Working Group on Environmental Justice
•	National Association of Clean Air Agencies (NACAA)
•	National Association for Clean Water Agencies (NACWA)
•	National Tribal Operations Committee (NTOC)
•	North American Hazardous Materials Management Association (NAHMMA)
•	Northeast Waste Management Officials' Association (NEWMOA)
•	Other federal agencies
•	State, local, and tribal permitting agencies
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Plan EJ 2014: Considering Environmental Justice in Permitting
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2.4 Adjustments
The Steering Committee proposes a process whereby this Draft Implementation Plan is discussed
and revised by both the Senior Leaders and the Workgroup over the next few months, with
additional input from external stakeholders.
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Plan EJ 2014: Considering Environmental Justice in Permitting
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3.0	DELIVERABLES
3.1	Schedule of Deliverables
ACTIVITIES
DELIVERABLES
MILESTONES
Activity 1.1: Conduct an initial
literature review - including a review
of previous NEJAC papers,
publications, and other
recommendations - to identify an
initial list of existing and needed tools
and recommendations
• See Appendix A
• Completed
Activity 1.2: Convene a cross-agency
workgroup
• The Workgroup met for the first time
on March 7, 2011 and will continue
to meet throughout the duration of
this project
• On-going
Activity 1.3: Review and evaluate the
permitting process for at a minimum
three federal permits with EJ
considerations to use as case studies to
identify existing and needed tools and
recommendations
•	Identification of at a minimum three
federal permits with EJ
considerations
•	List of existing and needed tools and
recommendations from the case
studies
•	March 31, 2011
•	May 2011
Activity 1.4: Coordinate overlapping
strategies with other EJ Plan 2014 cross-
Agency elements and consider integrating
and leveraging activities between them
• Regular meetings with other cross-
Agency workgroups
• On-going
Activity 1.5: Finalize this draft
implementation plan
• Final Implementation Plan
• After the May 10-
11, 2011 NEJAC
meeting
Activity 2: Solicit existing and
recommended tools and
recommendations from internal and
external stakeholders
• List of existing and needed tools and
recommendations from internal and
external stakeholders
• May 2011
Activity 3: Create an initial list of priority
needed tools and recommendations and
corresponding deliverables for year 1
• Initial list of deliverables (tools and
recommendations) for year 1
• June 2011
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Plan EJ 2014: Considering Environmental Justice in Permitting	Draft Implementation Plan, March 1, 2011
ACTIVITIES
DELIVERABLES
MILESTONES
Activity 4.1: Develop priority tools and
recommendations that need to be
developed, amend existing resources, and
identify those ready for potential
immediate use at EPA
• Initial set of developed tools and
recommendations
• August 2011
Activity 4.2: Identify opportunities to test
the draft tools and recommendations
through on-going permit activities, and
solicit comments and recommendations
• Comments and recommendations on
initial testing of tools and
recommendations
• October 2011
Activity 4.3: Solicit additional comments
both internally and externally
• Additional comments
• November 2011
Activity 4.4: Incorporate comments and
revise tools and recommendations as
necessary
• Revise tools and recommendations as
necessary
• December 2011
Activity 5: Determine the best format(s)
or vehicle(s) to convey and implement
the recommendations and tools
(finalization, policy, rulemaking, etc)
• Decision on how best to convey and
implementation the tools and
recommendations
• January 2012
Activity 6: Create a more detailed
timeline for 2012-2014 deliverables for
the Workgroup
• More detailed timeline
• 2012
3.2 Reporting
We will report annually on progress in implementing the Strategies outlined in this
implementation plan and will update, as necessary, the Activities and Deliverables outlined here.
For information, please contact: Michelle Roos, 202-573-2549, roos.michelle@epa.gov.
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Plan EJ 2014: Considering Environmental Justice in Permitting
Draft Implementation Plan, March 1, 2011
4.0 APPENDICES
Appendix A: Potential Tools and Resources
This Draft Implementation Plan outlines a process by which the Workgroup will determine and
develop a set of tools and resources to better enable disproportionately burdened communities to
have full and meaningful access to the permitting process and for permits to address
environmental justice issues to the greatest extent practicable.
Our initial literature review revealed a short list of potential tools and resources. We are not
committing to develop these, but will use them as a starting point. They include:
•	Environmental Justice Public Participation Plan/Guidelines/Best Practices (step by step
effective public engagement in the permitting process, including pre-application meetings,
advanced notification, periodic engagement mechanism to inform communities of project
changes, and recommendations on how to make public notification more effective)
•	Environmental Justice Public Participation Fact Sheet/Website
•	Environmental Justice Public Participation Outreach Template (as a pre-application
requirement)
•	Permit Checklist
•	Permit Process Flowchart
•	A collective learning forum for EPA staff and managers responding to specific permit
challenges
•	Regional open lists of community organizations and tribal government and indigenous
organization contacts
•	Community-based trainings/resources/websites to assist community members on the
permitting process, EJ tools, and/or risk assessment (could include a network of experts
accessible to the public)
•	Interim guidance on how to conduct an EJ Analysis2
•	Best practices/guidance/trainings on a variety of ways to integrate EJ into permit conditions,
including:
o Developing permits to include issues important to local communities such as increased
or enhanced local environmental monitoring, timely public releases of facility-specific
data, and transparent and corroborated analysis of the data relative to the host
community's environmental justice priorities and concerns
o Developing permit conditions with potential enforcement in mind
o Developing permit conditions to better address and protect indigenous peoples'
cultural and subsistence resources
2 The EJ Permitting Initiative will complement other Plan EJ 2014 Elements and will rely on deliverables
from these other Elements, including both the "technical analyses needed to determine when
disproportionate impacts are occurring" by the Rulemaking Element and the development of EJScreen - "a
nationally consistent screening and targeting tool to enhance EJ analysis and decision-making" by the
Information Element. As such, our proposed activities include developing interim guidance in this arena
until final guidance is issued by these other Elements.
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Plan EJ 2014: Considering Environmental Justice in Permitting
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o Avoiding issuance of emergency permits
•	Guidance/established protocol/trainings for utilizing the Interagency Working Group for
Environmental Justice to work across federal agencies on permits on tribal lands
•	Guidance/trainings on using resources/programs outside of permitting including:
o Helping communities develop and adopt community-specific, comprehensive
environmental justice plans
o Community Action for a Renewed Environment (CARE)
o Supplemental Environmental Projects (SEPs) to address environmental justice concerns
(possibly in addition to being a mitigation tool for violations)
o Good Neighbor/Environmental Benefit Agreements
o Performance Partnership Agreements
o Memoranda of Agreement/Understanding
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Plan EJ 2014: Considering Environmental Justice in Permitting
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Appendix B: Acronyms
ASDWA - Association of State Drinking Water Administrators
ASTSWMO - Association of State and Territorial Waste Management Officials
ASIWPCA - Association of State & Interstate Water Pollution Control Administrators
CARE - Community Action for a Renewed Environment
CAAAC - Clean Air Act Advisory Committee
ECOS - Environmental Council of the States
EJ - Environmental Justice
EPA - United States Environmental Protection Agency
GWPC - Ground Water Protection Council
NACAA - National Association of Clean Air Agencies, comprised of the State and Territorial Air
Pollution Program Administrators (STAPPA) and the Association of Local Air Pollution Control
Officials (ALAPCO)
NACWA - National Association for Clean Water Agencies
NAHMMA - North American Hazardous Materials Management Association
NEWMOA - Northeast Waste Management Officials' Association
NEJAC - National Environmental Justice Advisory Council
NEPA - National Environmental Policy Act
NSR - New Source Review
NTAA - National Tribal Air Association
NTOC - National Tribal Operations Committee
PSD - Prevention of Significant Deterioration
RCRA - Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
SEPs - Supplemental Environmental Projects
UIC - Underground Injection Controls
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