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March 27, 2020
Natural Resources Committee Chair Raul M. Grijalva (at podium) and Rep. Donald McEachin (wearing tie) introduce the Environmental Justice for All bill. Photo credit: Natural Resources Committee
Although climate change will affect everyone, the impacts of environmental hazards are not felt equally. Historically, low-income communities and communities of color bear a disproportionate burden of environmental risks and are severely impacted by climate change. On February 27, House Natural Resources Committee Chair Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and Representative Donald McEachin (D-Va.) introduced the Environmental Justice for All Act (H.R.5989), a federal policy approach to environmental justice focused on solving these disparities. The bill aims to integrate environmental justice considerations into all steps of federal decision-making, and is the result of a process that began in late 2018 and incorporated guidance from environmental justice leaders.
Environmental Justice for All Bill
According to the press release accompanying the bill’s introduction, the main features of the Environmental Justice for All bill are:
Much of the bill focuses on the unequal public health burden borne by environmental justice communities, which are communities that experience high environmental risks. Along with seeking to reduce these communities’ exposure to environmental and human health hazards, the Environmental Justice for All Act would take steps to protect vulnerable communities from the disproportionate impacts of climate change by introducing numerous economic and policy adjustments. As climate impacts worsen, populations that are already vulnerable will be the first, and most, affected. These impacts include reduced access to clean air, safe drinking water, food, and shelter. The Environmental Justice for All Act seeks to lay the groundwork for agencies to respond to vulnerable communities’ needs in respect to the impacts of climate change. The bill also charges the federal government with recognizing a right to “protection from climate hazards” along with clean air and water and ecosystem preservation.
The bill includes two specific mandates to federal agencies regarding climate change. First, the bill would create an Interagency Working Group on Environmental Justice that would promote environmental justice considerations and community involvement in future federal actions. The working group would also be mandated to develop a document to guide federal agencies in prioritizing environmental justice, which would include analysis of how climate change affects communities’ vulnerability and susceptibility to health and environmental risks.
Second, all federal agencies would have to consider the intersection of climate change with social and economic inequality by developing environmental justice strategies. Agencies would also be mandated to collect data on vulnerable communities when considering future climate impacts in order to ensure that all groups are considered when making decisions.
The bill has been well received by environmental groups and environmental justice leaders, who praise it for the protections it contains and the collaborative way it was developed. Another key component of the bill is its effort to ease the impacts of the energy transition on low-income and fossil fuel-dependent communities. For more information about the Federal Energy Transition Economic Development Assistance Fund, click here.
Author: Abby Neal
Top-Rated Climate Nonprofit – 4-Star Charity