PLAN EJ 2014
 

LEGAL TOOLS DEVELOPMENT
 

DRAFT IMPLEMENTATION PLAN
 

Led by
 

Office of General Counsel
 

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.
                     

   

                             

   

Comments regarding the Legal Tools Development Draft Implementation Plan can be

submitted on Regulations.gov.

For more information on Plan EJ 2014, visit the US EPA’s Office of Environmental Justice

website at: http://www.epa.gov/environmentaljustice/plan‐ej/index.html.
                       

                              

                        

     

             

        

       

         

                              

                       

                      

       

                     

                 

  

                                 

              

                                  

                         

                              

                   

                     

                     

                             

   

                                 

                                  

                           

                            

                                 

                            

                   

Plan EJ 2104: Legal Tools Development Draft Implementation Plan, March 1, 2011

1.0 INTRODUCTION

Plan EJ 2014 established a roadmap to help EPA integrate environmental justice into its programs.

The Plan outlined five Cross‐Agency Focus Areas. The five focus areas are:

(1) Incorporating Environmental Justice into Rulemaking;

(2) Considering Environmental Justice Concerns in EPA’s Permitting Process;

(3) Accelerating Compliance and Enforcement Initiatives;

(4) Supporting Community‐Based Action Programs; and

(5) Fostering Administrative‐Wide Action on Environmental Justice.

In addition, Plan EJ 2014 identifies four Tools to support the Cross‐Agency efforts. One of the

Tools relates to identifying opportunities to use existing legal authorities to advance

environmental justice. The Office of General Counsel (OGC) has been assigned primary

responsibility for this Tool.

This Implementation Plan discusses the goal, strategy, and activities associated with the

development and dissemination of information about EPA’s environmental justice‐related legal

authorities.

1.1 Goal

The goal of this Initiative is to provide legal assistance to EPA policy makers and other Agency

decision‐makers to advance their environmental justice objectives.

Our vision is that the Agency will use law as a tool to advance environmental justice. By providing

advice on EPA’s discretionary legal authorities to advance environmental justice, OGC will support

the five Cross‐Agency Focus Areas. In particular, OGC’s advice will help EPA officials (1) to

implement forward‐leaning environmental justice policies with acceptable legal risk; and (2) to

identify new opportunities to promote their environmental justice policy objectives. This

initiative will advance the Administrator’s environmental justice priority, her commitment to the

rule of law, and EPA’s overarching mission to protect human health and the environment.

1.2 Organizational Structure

The Office of General Counsel (OGC) will give leadership to Plan EJ 2014’s focus areas by helping

EPA to integrate EJ into its day‐to‐day business. As the chief legal adviser to EPA, OGC provides

ongoing legal support for Agency rules and policies, case‐by‐case decisions (such as permits and

response actions), and legislation, which includes all of Plan EJ 2014’s elements. OGC’s practice

areas include all of the Agency’s media programs, as well as cross cutting law areas that including

environmental justice, tribal law and civil rights. OGC regularly interfaces with all EPA Program

Offices and Regions, as well as EPA’s ten Regional Counsel Offices.

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Plan EJ 2104: Legal Tools Development Draft Implementation Plan, March 1, 2011

2.0 IMPLEMENTATION

2.1 Strategy

OGC will accomplish its goal of providing legal assistance to EPA policy makers and other Agency

decision‐makers to advance their environmental justice objectives by providing legal support to

each Cross‐Agency Focus Area workgroup.

OGC’s activities will promote a sound legal framework for the tools and programs developed by

the five focus area workgroups. We will use the resources of the Office of General Counsel and

the Offices of Regional Counsel, both at the staff and senior leadership levels, to develop this

advice. The persons primarily responsible for coordinating the development and communication

of this advice will be the counseling attorneys assigned to each workgroup, in collaboration with

senior Agency attorneys and the General Counsel. The Office of General Counsel will conduct this

activity contemporaneously with the work of the five Cross‐Agency Focus Areas. OGC will

participate in the stakeholder outreach implemented by each focus area that we serve.

2.2 Activities

OGC will provide legal support to each Cross‐Agency Focus Area workgroup through the following

activities:

Activity 1: Counseling attorneys will serve as workgroup members for each Cross‐Agency Focus

Area; these attorneys are drawn from the Office of General Counsel and the Offices of Regional

Counsel.

Activity 2: Regional Counsels and OGC Associate General Counsels will convene regularly to

identify legal issues and develop advice in support of the five focus areas.

Activity 3: The General Counsel will provide active oversight, direction, and decision‐making on all

aspects of this initiative, in consultation with EPA’s Senior Leadership.

Activity 4: OGC will convene a group of senior attorneys from across the federal government to

promote the integration of EJ into their agencies’ actions.

2.3 Community Engagement and Stakeholder Partnership Plan

As noted above, we will participate in the stakeholder outreach implemented by each focus area

that we serve.

2.4 Adjustments

The Office of General Counsel might adjust this Plan after a period of implementation.

3.0 DELIVERABLES

This portion of the Plan incorporates by reference the deliverables, schedules, measures, and

reports identified in the Implementation Plans for the five Cross‐Area Focus Areas. For

information, please contact: David Coursen, 202‐564‐0781, coursen.david@epa.gov.

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