U.S. EPA Completes Environmental Justice Action Plan for Land Protection, Cleanup Initiatives

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Land and Emergency Management has finalized an action plan detailing projects, tools, and practices applicable for its land pollution prevention and cleanup programs. The plan titled “EJ Action Plan: Building Up Environmental Justice in EPAs Land Protection and Cleanup Programs,” is part of the agency’s efforts to address the nation’s environmental justice challenges and will be updated periodically to highlight the agency’s latest efforts.

The plan is in alignment with President Biden’s pledge to eradicate environmental justice at the highest level of federal government and increase the agency’s duty towards providing justice and impartiality for all. The action plan identifies strategies, tools, and procedures to be employed to the Superfund, Brownfields, Emergency Response, Solid Waste Management, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act Corrective Action, and Underground Storage Tank Programs.

The momentous $3.5 billion funding in the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act will support execution of the plan, including the first wave of $1 billion to pledge cleanup and clear the backlog of 49 previously unfinanced Superfund sites and quicken cleanup at a number of other sites across the U.S.

In September, the EPA announced the creation of a new national program office devoted to advancing environmental justice and civil rights. This office will act as an enabler fulfilling the agency’s commitment to delivering justice and equity for all, while pushing the critical issues to the highest levels of the government, and ministering community-driven solutions.

The EJ Action Plan entails four critical aims, which intend to address the U.S’s environmental justice challenges. The first aim of the plan is to improve compliance with key environmental statutes, and entails developing a robust governance process and referral listing to assist follow up measures on community environmental matters. Secondly, the plan aims to incorporate environmental justice concerns throughout the regulatory expansion process, this entails evaluating effects to pollution-hampered, underserved, and tribal communities when creating Office of Land and Emergency Management policies, among other things.

The third aim of the plan is to enhance community action in rulemakings, enabling outcomes, and policies. This involves offering earlier and more regular meetings with pollution-laden and underserved neighbourhoods in carrying out Office of Land and Emergency Management programs. The last aim of the EJ Action Plan is the implementation of President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative, which entails offering benefits to underprivileged neighbourhoods with grant application resources and in allowing grant award rulings, to the extent permitted by regulation.

Moreover, the plan complements a 2021 report by the National Environmental Justice Advisory Council providing recommendations to integrate environmental justice into the cleanup and redevelopment of Superfund and other contaminated sites. The goal of the council is to tackle hurdles, create solutions, and advocate best procedures for enhancing the agency’s capability to advance Superfund clean-ups.